Folders and Image Saving Stress

[jlg759]

I am stressing over the best way to keep my photos and to date I have not come to a final solution. Here is the problem when I get home from a shoot I copy all of my photos into a folders by month. I then delete the bad files. I then find a few that I might want to do other post processing work and do it. Wheni do this I have distroyed the original and I am sure this is not a good practice. So I am asking for help as to how others do this. Do you have a folder for new photos , processed photos , and then keepers. If this is so or for whatever you do what if you make a photo by combining parts of two photos do you keep it as a new photo in your catalog. Any help / ideas would be appreciated

[Dchemist]

I keep a copy of my originals and working files in a dated directory like you. To "archive" them I burn them to a CD or DVD every shoot by date. As long as I know about when the image was taken I can find the original. Good luck, Dennis

[jlg759]

So you keep two versions of the same photo? And once finished with the working image do you replace original in your keepers folder?

[rfreschner]

Have a look at this book. (http://www.amazon.com/DAM-Book-Digital-Management-Photographers/dp/0596100183/sr=8-1/qid=1166544817/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-2227546-2955858?ie=UTF8&s=books)

[davidcrebelxt]

So you keep two versions of the same photo? And once finished with the working image do you replace original in your keepers folder?

Simply put, yes...

Either always work on a backup copy, or when saving use "Save As" and give it a new name.... first option is preferred, since it prevents accidently hitting "SAVE" and overwritting. After my edits, I'll usually give it a name referring to what I did (ie: IMG_2345_unsharp_4x6crop.jpg)

Once you have the edits you like, where you place files is up to you. I usually keep it alongside original. Some place new files in subdirectory called "Edits" or the like.

[BrandonSi]

I created a 4.3GB partition on my PC and create a directory for each shoot. Then I copy the raw files into the SHOOT_NAME/RAW directory, the process and export to SHOOT_NAME/TIFF_PROCESSED directory. From there I'll resize or make whatever changes and then save the files like ORIGINALFILENAME_LEVELS.TIF, etc..

Then when the drive fills up I burn it to DVD-R, and wipe it clean and start over.

[davidcrebelxt]

I created a 4.3GB partition on my PC and create a directory for each shoot. Then I copy the raw files into the SHOOT_NAME/RAW directory, the process and export to SHOOT_NAME/TIFF_PROCESSED directory. From there I'll resize or make whatever changes and then save the files like ORIGINALFILENAME_LEVELS.TIF, etc..

Then when the drive fills up I burn it to DVD-R, and wipe it clean and start over.


That's a great Idea with the partition... I've just been keeping folders, and when each folder fills up to size I've been burning to disk.

[BrandonSi]

That's a great Idea with the partition... I've just been keeping folders, and when each folder fills up to size I've been burning to disk.

Thanks! I'm sure you could get closer to 4.7GB than 4.3, I just didn't want to do the math at that time :)

I do miss my 20" iMac and Aperture though :( Made things much easier.

[Mcary]

I find that using the same basic names for folders and images makes it very easy to organize and keep track of things.

a. Shoot folder IE Christina16Dec06
i. DNG folder-files converted and renamed using DNG to something like Christina16Dec06_001-Christina16Dec_06_999
ii. Subfolder called Edits TIFF files saved here IE Christina16Dec06_075e1, Christina16Dec06_075e3 the number after the “e” tells me how many different version of the images I’ve edited. If the image has been cropped to a certain ration I’ll add that information to the end of the file name IE Christina16Dec06_075e3_11x14.

Going from DNG to TIFF to JPEG the basic file name never changes. If someone looks on my website and asks for a print of Amber10Oct06_001e1 I know exactly where on my HDs or which DVD I’ll find the TIFF.

Mike