post processing method

[reemas]

Do you guys write down or have some organized way of tracking your post processing steps? I look back at my photos and wonder what steps I did.

I have many RAW files that I post process in Photoshop CS 2, but just wondering if there is a way to track it.

Thanks.

[pcasciola]

In CS, you can turn on "History" in general preferences. If you leave it on the default of "Metadeta" it will save every action along with the values in each image's metadata. If you choose "Text File", all of your actions will be logged to the a single log file that you specify. There is also an option to do both metadata and text file history logging.

I'm not sure if CS2 changes the way any of this operates.

[vjack]

Saving actions can help too. I have a few procedures that I apply to almost all photos, and saving them as actions speeds the process a bit.

[Robert_Lay]

Wouldn't it be clever to just automate each type of processing that you do with a unique name (it's just giving a name to a batch process)?

In that way, you would never have to worry about any of the steps - they would be repeated, exactly, every time - and there is a permanent record for each such process.

[reemas]

but each photo for me, is too different. cropping contrast, etc...

[PacAce]

but each photo for me, is too different. cropping contrast, etc...
You'll be surprised how much of your workflow for almost every image is more than 90% similar. Yes, cropping may be different for different images as will be a few other things like color balance but the overall processing should be pretty much standardized for all your images.