Finished Image File Management

[batcher]

Hello,

A new guy here looking for some help managing image files for different printers, papers and sizes.

Some photos use different papers on different printers and even different sizes. 8x10, 8.5x11 etc.
How can I keep track of all these differences without having a ton of different files or having to crop or readjust for each profile? I’m thinking they would end up inconsistent from time to time.

Also, do you use different folders for your different finished images?

I have LR3 and CS5 and I'm not the most organized person so looking for something clean and simple.

Thanks for any guidance and hoping this is the proper forum.

Richard

[alain]

If you're running on a PC, take a good look at Qimage first.

[batcher]

Thanks Alain,

I'm looking into it right now.

[Philip Weber]

I'd recommend buying the video tutorial on Digital Asset Management from this site. It covers everything and would be invaluable for anyone starting out on their file organization.

All the best,
Phil

[batcher]

Ok, I’m back

I talked to a friend who has the LL dvd’s mentioned and he said he couldn’t see where it covered what I wanted to know. I checked Qimage and tho it does some nifty things and would work for me if I had different printers etc, I couldn’t determine that it answered my question.

So an example.

1.   I make adjustments to my raw files in Light Room

2.   I then edit a tiff in Photo Shop using Prophoto RGB color space to get the image the way I want it. This is my master working file. I now have 2 files

3.   I now duplicate that open image, turn gamut warning on and attach my Premium Luster printer profile to see how it compares. I make adjustments accordingly. I save this file with a unique name for printing to my printer and the paper I’ll use. Now 3 files

4.   So now I want a larger print. You have a 9600 and will print for me. You send me your profile. I open my master and dupe it. Gamut warning on and your profile attached. I make the adjustments and save with another unique name for the 9600. Now 4 files.

5.    I send you the file.

I have 4 files now. 3 have unique names, 3 are tiffs. I can group my adjustments in the 3rd copy in PS, Copy the group, turn the first group off and make adjustments in the second group for the 9600 and save. 2 profiles in one file. This would work for me if I had more than 1 printer next to me but I still need to send it to you so I save it. I now have 4 files again, essentially the same but with different names.

Do you park these finished files in a unique folder for that printer/profile/company?
Do you just give them a unique name and park them in a finished/print folder?
Do you flatten the tiffs to reduce size and now have 6 tiff files?
Do you do all of the adjustments each time they're needed and then trash em?

Am I barking up the wrong tree?

I really don’t think I need another application for this as I’m just trying to avoid having so many copies eating up so much space, if at all possible. Not everything is printed from LR or PS to my printer.

So, what do you do when you have more than 1 copy of the same file?

[David Sutton]

I think the most important thing is to find a workflow that suits you, because we are all going end up with a lot of files and we need to be able to access them easily.
Which is more valuable: your time or your hard drive space? For me it's my time, so I never flatten a tiff and I don't care if I have several versions of a file as long as they have unique names so they can never be mixed up. As printer technology improves I find I have to go back and re-do layers in files to correct faults that were originally invisible.
FWIW, here's my set up. Your mileage may vary.
I start with a folder for the year. E.g. PHOTOGRAPHS 2009. Capital letters mean a major file.
Then a folder for the shoot with the date and some information e.g. 20090926timbuktuzoo. This name is also in the filename of each image..
Then usually three subfolders: Raw, Edits and Print. Self-explanatory. The edited tiffs have the softproofing in the top layer which is turned off. There may be two or three softproofing layers if I am trying out different papers. The only exception is when the file size is well over 1 gb. It takes too long to open and edit so I copy the file and flatten the layers and call it filenameMaster_1. Then carry on with the editing.
For printing I turn on the relevant softproof layer and flatten the file, set it to the correct document size for the print I want and paste it onto a white background to give me a border,  and save it in the Print folder. I append the details to the file name e.g. FilenameSpIlGFSRelCanned6300  means softproofed for Ilford Gold Fibre Silk, relative rendering intent, using Ilford's profile for the Canon 6300 printer. Any other notes are added to the metadata in LR (e.g. paper size).
In Qimage I have the paper size, printer specifications, profile, rendering intent, sharpening and so on saved as presets, so I just hit Recall. In LR I right-click and select “Edit in Qimage” and am good to go.
I really recommend you support this site and yourself and get the videos.

[batcher]

Thank you for sharing David. That's more along the lines of what I was looking for rather than just buy or look at another program or book.
My time is more valuable than hard drives. I just wish the drives would quit failing.

Also, I have supported this site and myself by having purchased 2 of the video series. Just not the one mentioned.

[Wayne Fox]

2.   I then edit a tiff in Photo Shop using Prophoto RGB color space to get the image the way I want it. This is my master working file. I now have 2 files

3.   I now duplicate that open image, turn gamut warning on and attach my Premium Luster printer profile to see how it compares. I make adjustments accordingly. I save this file with a unique name for printing to my printer and the paper I’ll use. Now 3 files

4.   So now I want a larger print. You have a 9600 and will print for me. You send me your profile. I open my master and dupe it. Gamut warning on and your profile attached. I make the adjustments and save with another unique name for the 9600. Now 4 files.

So, what do you do when you have more than 1 copy of the same file?

You may find you only need 1 copy of the file.  Once you have your master tiff file, create a layer grp for each output device.  Do all of your soft proof adjustments inside that layer group .. you shouldn't need to directly edit any thing you've already done.  If you need to output it to a different device, create a layer group for those adjustments.

In my case I would then go back to lightroom making sure I have only the layers for the device I'm printing out to active, and either print it, or output it to a correct file size to be sent to someone else to print (11x14 at 360ppi for example) , and let LR apply output sharpening.  I don't' think I've printed anything from PS since LR 3 came out.

[batcher]

Thank you Wayne. I like the idea. Everything in one place. I've kinda been of leaning that way.

Thanks again

[Bill Koenig]

Lightroom 3 is all you need, and just one single file that can be exported to PS for soft proofing and all the things you can do in Lr, then back to Lr for resizing, saving as JPG, or printing, and output sharpening. All of this with just one file.
It doesn't sound like you have a good understanding of how to use it the way it was designed to be used.
You might want to consider L-L Guide to Lightroom 3 To get you going in the right direction.
http://store.luminous-landscape.com/zencart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25&products_id=244

[Sigi]

Hello Richard,

have a look at the "DAM book" from Peter Krogh.

Sigi