Thousands of Images, Now What

CH A P T E RCH A P T E R

1Building a Manageable

Image Collection

MOST PEOPLE BEGIN taking digital photographs, often without regard to how their image collection is organized. It’s likely that even

the fi ne group of folks in Figure 1-1 aren’t thinking about it all that much at the moment—and it looks like they take their photography pretty seriously. The truth is that most people usually just download photos to their computer’s main hard drive, to wherever their software instructs them.

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TH O U S A N D S O F IM A G E S , NO W WH AT? MI K E HA G E N

After a year or so of doing this, inevitably, the hard drive has no more space avail-able. One common solution is to buy an external storage device for added capacity. It is usually at this point when photographers realize that their image collection is a complete mess; thus begins the search for better ways to organize digital images.

If you are in the early stages of exploring digital photography, take this opportunity to design your system from the ground up. But even if you already have a few years of photos stored on your computer, don’t hesitate to make the changes suggested in this book to optimize your system. It’s never too late to improve the management and storage of your image collection.

Understanding the Elements of Your Digital SystemCreating a manageable image collection requires many pieces of technology that must all work together in a well-choreographed system. Expensive software is sometimes required to provide access to your storage devices, although often, your computer’s operating system is already capable of doing this. Your computer’s com-munication ports, such as USB and FireWire, along with any necessary cabling and card readers need to reliably transfer data from your camera’s memory cards directly to your storage device. (Many newer computers have integrated card readers, so you might not need to worry about that.) Software must be kept current so that it can open digital raw fi les from the newest camera bodies. If any piece in this chain is broken, your overall system will not work.

Figure 1-1 Whether you are

new to digital photography or

have been shooting for years,

now is the time to take control of

your image collection.

Nikon D700, 14–24mm f/2.8,

ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/320 second


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BU I L D I N G A MA N A G E A B L E IM A G E CO L L E C T I O N

Here’s a quick discussion of the different elements and processes that form a com-plete digital photo system.

Image Capture

Image capture refers to the process of generating digital photo images. Today, this can be done by using digital single lens refl ex (dSLR) bodies, point-and-shoot cameras, cell phones, slide scanners, and an increasing array of other portable digital devices (See Figure 1-2). For many photographers, image capture can also include scanning slides, negatives, or other fl at art.

Most people think of capture as creating a single image, but in today’s world, we are often capturing multi-image, bracketed photo sequences to use in High Dynamic Range (HDR) photography such as that in Figure 1-3. We also take multiple shots in a sequence to create panorama merges. These images are later combined to become one fi nal, usable photo. Your image management system needs to accommodate these multiple exposures.

Figure 1-3 This image of Zion

National Park was created by pho-

tographing the same scene using

nine different exposures. I used HDR

Efex Pro by Nik Software, Inc. to

merge these images into one fi nal

HDR image. My photo organization

system needs to take into account

multiple exposures.

Nikon D700, 14–24mm f/2.8,

9-frame HDR sequence.

Figure 1-2 Capture can include taking

photos with a dSLR, scanning slides (as

shown here), or any other method of

creating digital image fi les.


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Downloading/Ingesting Your Images

This is the process of transferring images from the capture device (typically your camera) to long-term storage devices. The terms downloading and ingesting are syn-onymous and can be used interchangeably. Downloading images from your camera is often accomplished by using a memory card reader, such as the one displayed in Figure 1-4, and some type of software to facilitate the transfer. The simplest ways to ingest fi les is either by copying them from your memory card and then pasting them to your storage device, or by just dragging them from the card and dropping them into the appropriate directory on the storage device. Another method is to use a soft-ware package such as Adobe Photoshop Lightroom to ingest the images. During the ingest process, Lightroom (and other comparable programs) can rename your fi les, add keywords, and even simultaneously back up the images to a second storage device.

parable programs) can rename your fi les,

Renaming Your Images

Every image should be renamed from the camera’s default naming convention to something that is more descriptive and recognizable by you (see Figure 1-5). Most photographers consider it to be bad form to use the original naming conven-tion that’s defi ned by the camera body. For example, Nikon and Canon cameras use a three-letter prefi x followed by a number sequence such as DSC_####.jpg or IMG_####.jpg. (DSC stands for Digital Still Camera; IMG stands for image.) These factory naming conventions are limited to 9,999 unique names; therefore, you should use them only on a temporary basis, because you will eventually start dupli-cating fi lenames once you take more than 10,000 photos. You should generally rename your photos at the same time you ingest them.

Figure 1-4 Best practice for ingesting your images

from your memory card is to use a card reader. Buy a

high-quality card reader (if your computer doesn’t

already have one built in) that transfers data quickly.

Figure 1-5 Almost every soft-

ware package offers a utility for

renaming images. Use the batch

renaming function to automate

the process.


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Backing Up Your Images

Backing up your photos is the fi rst step of security in the image management pro-cess. As part of this process, you should ensure that your photographs are stored on at least two independent data storage devices. All competent image manage-ment systems allow you to target a primary “working” storage device and multiple “offl ine” devices. It’s pretty much axiomatic that your working storage device will fail at some point—it isn’t a matter of if, but of when. Therefore, you should main-tain multiple backups, such as those presented in Figure 1-6, to prevent a data disaster.

Figure 1-6 All robust image

management systems should

implement a strategy of multiple

cloned disks, containing the same

information. This redundancy

ensures data integrity when (not

if) a storage device fails.

Adding Metadata to Your Images

One of the most valuable things you can do for your image archive is to add relevant metadata to your images. Metadata literally means “data about the data” and comes in many forms. The data you add to your images, such as keywords (Figure 1-7), star ratings, and color labels is critical to creating a usable image archive. Your diligent effort in consistently adding this data to your images is what will allow you make full use of your image archive long into the future.

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Figure 1-7 Adding keywords

and other metadata to your

images adds tremendous value

to your archives.


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Grouping and Arranging Images

You should always try to arrange and fi le your photos in logical groups, families, genres, or subjects. Most software allows you to organize your shots via virtual sets, stacks, or other organizational methods. Virtual means that you don’t actually store photos in the same folder, but rather connect them via virtual sets. Using virtual sets, you have the ability to sort images in just about any way that you can imagine, including by family members, animals, genus, species, country, date, and so on. Relational database programs such as Lightroom, Apple Aperture, and MediaPro by Phase One support this feature.

Archiving

Archiving involves storing digital assets in a way that allows safe and permanent access to them many years down the road. By defi nition, an archive will protect your data from most types of damage, including fi re, water, earthquake, and electrical/static charge.

Be aware that an archive is different than a backup. An archive preserves important data on a more permanent basis, whereas a backup provides quick access in the event of failure of your primary storage device or any other problem that renders the original fi le unusable. In the digital photography world, archiving refers to storing data in a way that is robust, safe, and protected. Today, this means copying your most important images to DVD, Blu-ray disc, or some other form of write-once media (see Figure 1-8). However, as with all technologies, CDs, DVDs, and Blue-ray will at some point become obsolete, so you will need to remember to migrate your data to newer generations of permanent storage before the older generation becomes com-pletely inaccessible.

Figure 1-8 An archive serves to protect your

images from disaster over a long period of time.

Currently, DVDs, CDs, and Blu-ray discs are good

options for this purpose because they tend to

be more stable than hard drives. Be prepared to

migrate your archive to future storage technolo-

gies as they become available.


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Maintaining an Image Collection

All digital image collections require constant maintenance. This involves keeping your database current, migrating image fi les to new storage media, and staying up to date with new technology. A common part of the maintenance process is ensur-ing that your software is current. Most software companies, such as Adobe, Apple, and Phase One regularly update their software so that it can open new camera fi le formats. Your task is to make sure all software is up to date.

The same goes for your storage devices, computer operating systems, and storage options in the cloud. The digital landscape is always changing, and you need to stay current to preserve the integrity and usability of your image collection.

The Forecast Calls for Clouds

Cloud computing is a general term that refers to utilizing fee-based, hosted services over the Internet. It’s common these days for people to save documents, photographs, and videos on a host site, giving them the ability to access this information anywhere that they can make a connection to the Internet.

Exporting, Outputting, and Publishing Your Photographs

Ultimately, your goal is to create something that is visually unique and special. We use our images in prints, as gifts, in memory books, for advertising campaigns, and in online image galleries. Thus, the last element of the imaging process is the output.

Most digital photography software includes some type of function for enhancing, exporting, publishing, or printing. It might be argued that the fi les you output are your most important assets, because images such as that shown in Figure 1-9 are what the world actually sees.

Figure 1-9 Presenting beautiful images to

the world is the ultimate goal of photog-

raphers everywhere. Therefore, printing,

publishing, or displaying your images in a

web gallery is the fi nal step in the digital

management system.

Nikon D700, Nikkor 14–24mm f/2.8,

ISO 1000, f/11, 8 seconds


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Start with a New System Now—Don’t Wait

I know a lot of photographers who have thousands and thousands of images but have never taken the time to organize them into any particular system. Typically, they claim to be waiting for the perfect solution to come along before putting the effort into implementing a scheme. The trouble is, the longer they delay doing something, the more they expose themselves to the risk of losing everything to a computer failure or other catastrophe.

The good news is that anyone can start creating a new digital organizational system right now, and then worry about integrating older fi les as time permits.

I strongly recommend that you stop waiting and start working on your organization process immediately. In fact, there is no reason why you shouldn’t start with the very next memory card of pictures that you download from your camera. My sugges-tion is to buy a copy of Lightroom (Figure 1-10) or Aperture and get started straight-away. Import your new images into the software, rename them, keyword them, and then put them into the correct fi le locations. Immediately back up the photos to a

second storage device, and voilà! You’re well on your way to a robust image collection.sea a

Figure 1-10 Start organizing your

image collection right now with a

software program such as Adobe

Photoshop Lightroom.

By taking an extra ten minutes right now, with the click of a mouse, you’ll be able to fi nd your photos at any time in the

future, easily and conveniently. Your images will be backed up, safe and sound, and you can rest assured that the time you spend today will pay ten-fold benefi ts in the future. I guarantee it!

How to Deal with Your Existing, Unorganized Images

Most new digital photographers have thousands or tens of thousands of images that are not organized in a well-designed system. If you fi nd yourself in this quandary, then consider yourself to be in good and numerous company! Your long-term goal should be to get those images into your new organizational system, complete with keywords, new fi lenames, star ratings, labels, and groups.


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However, don’t feel as though you have to apply all the keywords and ratings imme-diately. In my case, I still have at least a few years’ worth of images that I took back in the early part of the 2000s that haven’t been updated into my current system (Figure 1-11). My approach is to spend a few hours every month going back through these older shots, migrating them, chunk by chunk, into my current organizational structure. It takes a long time to go through your old shots, but my tenacity has proven valuable. For example, I’ve found some amazing images that I’d long forgot-ten about.

Figure 1-11 The images in

this catalog haven’t been

fully converted into my

new organizational system.

These pictures are dated

from the early 2000s and

include 34,548 fi les that

need to be renamed, rated,

placed into appropriate

folders, and have keywords

added. I’ll get to them some

day!

Here’s my approach for dealing with old, unorganized image fi les and folders:

1. Navigate to an old folder and move it to the desired target location on the working storage device.

2. Rename the folder to match my current folder-naming convention (see Chapter 3 [Downloading and Ingesting Your Images]).

3. Import the folder into a database program (see Chapter 3).

4. Add copyright and ownership information (again, see Chapter 3).

5. Apply keywords, ratings, and add metadata to all images in the folder (see Chapter 4 [Keywords, Ratings, and Tags]).

6. Save the database fi le.

7. Clone all changes that were made to the main working storage device to your backup device (see Chapter 6 [Protecting Your Data]).


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One of your priorities should be to get your image fi les off of your main computer’s boot hard drive (i.e., the C drive) and onto an external storage device. Next, you should clone the same data to a second and third storage device. Now, you can begin to purge your main computer of all your digital picture fi les, which can help to increase the speed and performance of your computer.

Make Your Software Work for You, Not the Other Way Around

When you install most modern imaging software, you usually need to determine if you want to make it your default imaging program. If you designate it as such, then every time you connect your camera or memory card to the computer, the program automatically starts ingesting images to your computer. This process is fi ne if you only have one software package on your computer, but it can be a big pain in the neck if you use multiple programs, such as Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, Camera Bits Photo Mechanic, and so on.

I generally recommend turning off all automated software utilities in order to pre-vent the software from incorrectly handling the images in the absence of any direct user input. Many new photographers start using a software program such as Light-room or Aperture without fully understanding what the program actually does with their images. For example, Aperture takes images and places them in its own internal folder system. If you want to access your original fi les, then you need to export an original copy from the folder. However, Aperture also gives you the option to keep your fi les on the original storage device, accessing them remotely. In my opinion, this is the better option, because it allows you to quickly access those fi les from other image enhancement programs such as Photoshop or Nikon Capture NX2.

With most software packages, you can make similar decisions from the program’s preferences menu. Make sure that you are in control of your software, and not the other way around.

Organize Your Images in a Manner That Makes Sense to You

I encourage you to organize your digital photos in a way that makes the most sense to you. Trying to use someone else’s fi ling system is like trying to fi t into someone else’s pants; they just don’t fi t right. You know better than anyone else how your brain works, so design your folders to match your mental picture of organization.


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After your folders are organized, allow your software to catalog the data from there. The alternative is to let your software decide for you, and that almost always ends in frustration and disarray.

I like to make sure that my images are stored independent of any specifi c piece of software. I want my organization and fi le system to be accessible, readable, and understandable when looking at it via interfaces, such as Photo Mechanic, Microsoft Windows Explorer, Lightroom, MediaPro, or any other program. If the images and organizational structure are locked into the proprietary architecture of a specifi c soft-ware package, then that severely limits how I’m able to work.

I often use different software programs because each has certain strengths. I’ll use Lightroom for printing, but Nikon Capture NX2 to enhance the photo. Other times, I’ll use MediaPro for adding keywords and star ratings, but Photoshop for creating panoramas or HDR merges. Because I have set up my fi le system in a simple-to-use format, it is easy for me to fi nd and work on images in any software I choose.

Like most photographers, you probably have a few thousand unorganized photos in random folders. The quickest and easiest thing to do with these is to move them into folders organized by year. Simply create different folders, as shown in Figure 1-12.

Figure 1-12 To begin moving older

images into your new fi ling system,

start by creating folders organized

by year.

Optionally, within the folder for a given year, you can also add folders for individual months to further segregate your images, if necessary. Alternatively, you can just move existing folders into the appropriate year folders (see Figure 1-13) and worry about renaming the folders at a later date (see Chapter 4 for more information about naming folders).

Figure 1-13 Move your folders

containing the actual images into

your main “year” folder. You can

rename these folders at a later date.


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If you are having trouble determining what year your photos were shot, consider searching for your images by using the Created date attribute, as shown in Figure 1-14. Microsoft Windows Explorer and the Mac Finder both have built-in search tools that facilitate searching for fi les by specifi c criteria.

Figure 1-14 Mac Finder

and Windows Explorer

both make it easy to

search for images on

your hard drive by the

Created date.

Once you’ve found these images, copy and paste them to the folder for the appropri-ate year on your external storage device. Using the copy and paste function is impor-tant here; you don’t want to simply move the images, because you want to ensure that you always have the data in at least two places—three is even better. Be sure that you don’t delete your images from the original location until you’ve cloned the photos on your external device to at least one additional location.

Now that your old fi les are organized in a simple folder structure based on the date, you can import them into your favorite catalog software or simply fi nd them with browsing software. See Chapter 2 (Database or Browser-Based Photo Management System: Which Should You Use?) for a discussion on the differences between brows-ers and database programs.

Don’t Let Your Software Dictate How It Has to Be

One of the traps in which you can become ensnared in your early digital life is assuming that the automated tools that pop up when you plug in your memory cards is the best way to work with your fi les. These automated utilities do all kinds of helpful tasks, but they can also ruin your day if you aren’t careful.

Many automated imaging utilities rename fi les, add keywords, insert copyright infor-mation, automatically fi le, and even delete the original images from your memory card.


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For example, Microsoft Windows launches the Autoplay dialog box, which asks you what you want to do. Lightroom has an auto importer; so does Nikon View NX2 and Photoshop Elements. Which one do you use and how do you initially know every-thing it will do to your precious photos? As I stated earlier, I strongly suggest turning off the automated features until you are 100 percent positive that you understand everything that is happening in the dialog box (Figure 1-15).

Figure 1-15 Here’s an example of

an automated dialog box from Photo

Mechanic. You should disable this

function until you fully understand

what each item means and how it

impacts your workfl ow.

Instead, I recommend that you keep things simple and uncomplicated by ingesting your photos by using the drag-and-drop method. By that, I mean to plug in your CF or SD memory card reader, select your photos, and then drag them from the memory card to your desired stor-age location.

Once your photos are in their fi nal resting spot, you can import the images to your current working database and begin to apply keywords, ratings, and edit your images. This approach ensures that you know exactly where your images are located and exactly what they are doing at any time.

Understanding the Terminology

A good image management system relies on many parts, all working seamlessly together. These parts include your camera, storage devices, software, computers, and more. Learning what it all means is just as important as creating a robust system. In the following sections, I’ll introduce these components and provide descriptions of each.


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Digital Asset Management

Digital Asset Management (DAM) refers to the process by which you capture, down-load, rename, backup, rate and rank, keyword, group, archive, maintain, and export your fi les.

For the purposes of this book, I won’t focus on the broader fi eld of managing all of your digital assets, such as movies, audio recordings, music, documents, photos, and so on. Rather, I focus only on Digital Photo Management (DPM). The concepts I use for DPM are easily transferable to the broader fi eld of DAM, but too many acronyms in a book make for an awkward read! I will use DAM for the rest of this book when referring to the process of managing your digital photographs.

Your DAM system can be as simple as saving images on a computer hard drive or as complex as a networked RAID system (this stands for Redundant Array of Inexpen-sive Disks, which is a fairly intricate but very safe storage architecture), accessed by multiple computers and backed up with cloud storage.

Databases

Throughout this book, I talk about database systems versus browser systems. My preference is a database-driven system because that’s how my mind works. Your pref-erence, however, might be a browser-driven system. That’s perfectly fi ne, too. Both are valid systems, and each has pros and cons.

A database is basically an electronic summary of all your data. The user can search the database to fi nd images or to fi nd information about the images. Common database software includes programs, such as Lightroom, Aperture, and MediaPro (Figure 1-16). These programs are professional-level tools that allow you to get the most out of your image library.

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Figure 1-16 Phase One’s MediaPro is an

excellent database program. I use this software

package as my main organizational tool.


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Most database programs don’t actually include the images; instead, they merely ref-erence the images. Think of these database programs as being analogous to the old card catalog in a library. The card catalog included information about the books, but didn’t actually store the books. Instead, the books are stored on shelves (i.e., folders) and the catalog (database) references the books. You can use the database to search for images by just about any metadata included in the original fi le.

Browsers

A browser is a tool with which you can view images inside a folder. Browsers don’t store data like a database; rather, they can only view photographs in folders that are currently open. Using a browser is analogous to walking up and down the aisles of a library until you fi nd your book. If you know where your photo is located, then a browser can be one of the fastest ways to access the image. Some popular browsing programs include Photo Mechanic, Adobe Bridge, Nikon View NX2, and Breeze-Browser Pro.

Even though browsers can only show you photos when you are looking directly into the folder, most allow you to search for your photos across your storage device by using metadata such as keywords or star ratings.

One of the advantages of browsing software is that it’s fast and doesn’t require many computer resources to run, such as RAM or CPU cycles. Most tasks you accomplish in a browser can be done quickly and effi ciently. For example, converting fi les from RAW to JPEG or adding keywords/ratings can be accomplished very quickly.

! CAUTION: If you make changes to your images in a fi le browser, such as renaming a fi le or adding keywords, then those changes won’t be “seen” by your database program. To include the changes to your database, you’ll need to synchronize the fi les.

Another advantage of using browser software is that you can often render a preview of the image almost instantaneously. In a database system, previews often take a few seconds each to render because the software has to build the preview from the origi-nal fi le. Using browsers to quickly view images on external hard drives or memory cards is one of the fastest ways to review pictures.


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Backups

A backup is a copy of your working fi les. Backups are generally stored on site or off site and are there to protect your image collection in the event that your working storage device becomes unusable. Storage devices can and do fail. It is particularly common for hard drives to fail, and I’ve experienced failures from just about every major hard drive manufacturer out there. Other catastrophic problems include cor-rupt data, losing the disk, theft, or environmental damage from fi re, water, heat, and humidity.

I cover backups in depth in Chapter 6, but at a minimum, you should have at least one functional backup of all your images. This means that you have a working device and a second backup device. As I point out in Chapter 6, you should also have a third off-site storage device, and you might even consider storing your most important backup fi les on different media such as tape, DVD/Disc, or cloud storage.

Archives

An archive is generally considered to be an original fi le that is in a pristine and unmodifi ed condition. Archived fi les should not be working fi les; they exist in case you have a complete meltdown of your imaging system. Your archived fi les should be stored in a secure location, away from the remainder of your image fi les. This pro-tects you from situations such as electrical storms, fi re, water damage, and theft.

Most photographers today use write-once media for their archived images. Technol-ogy such as CD, DVD, Blu-ray, and Gold Archive DVD discs make the most sense for photo archives. Because they are write-once media, they prevent anyone from accidentally erasing the pictures they contain. However, like everything else in the digital world, nothing is permanent. Even discs can be damaged by scratching the surface or by being left out in direct sunlight. Also, it is a certainty that these tech-nologies will become obsolete in the near future. Therefore, you’ll need to transfer the data from your archive to newer technologies as they come online.


Documents

Thousands of Images, Now What