Image management (workflow) ideas (PowerShot G2/PowerMac G4)

[francism]

Hi, This is my first posting, so I apologize in advance if I'm breaking any rules.

I have a Canon PowerShot G2 camera and an Apple PowerMac G4 computer. I generally use JPEG file format, but I do sometimes use the raw format.

I am attempting to figure out an ideal workflow to download my images and then edit them. What follows are some of my ideas and the problems I've encountered.

1) Use iPhoto 4 to manage images.
Plus: Images are automatically organized by image capture date/time.
Plus: Images can be edited in iPhoto or Adobe PhotoShop
Plus: Retains original image when rotating or editing
Plus: Program has some very nice features. Version 4 display of thumbnails is very fast
Minus: iPhoto cannot download/edit raw images

2) Use Canon ImageBrowser to manage images.
Plus: Images can be edited in Adobe Photoshop
Plus: Converts raw images
Minus: Image organization is not automatic
Minus: thumbnail display is very slow
Minus: Program is very light on features - simply allows you to navigate folders

3) Use Canon ImageBrowser to download images. Then use Adobe PhotoShop to convert JPEG images to TIFF. Then use iPhoto to manage images.
Plus: File conversion from JPEG to TIFF ensures
Minus: Slows down the image management process.

I have a couple of other questions.

a) Am I correct in assuming that JPEG and TIFF are the only two file formats that retain the camera settings and image capture date/time?

b) Am I correct in assuming that working on TIFF files will not result in loss of quality (if no compression is selected)?

I would love to hear from a few people that have optimized their image management.

Thanks,

Francis

[w10d]

Hi Francis,

I use iPhoto to organise my 'snapshots', it's very simple and quick to use (as you know!).

For everything else I just keep images in folders and sub folders like any other files. If you have Photoshop CS, the file browser if very easy to use and a great help with the digital workflow. Also, you can use the filebrowser/RAW file converter to read images from a card reader, and skip using Canon's software.

PS's native file format retains image data as well, (and you can see all the data in a side pane on the File Browser).

Re-saving TIFFs will not cause any quality loss (though working on them might!)

:)

[francism]

W10D,

Thanks for your input.

Cheers,

Francis