| 3.
Introduction to Digital Image Cataloging
Article
3 of 100
Cataloging the image - this is the stage where metadata
is added to make it easier to manage your image library. I
keep this stage separate from the archival storage stage because
it does not necessarily need to store everything you have
shot and can be project driven. Cataloging software also changes
over time and archival storage has to last forever.
| |
| Adobe
Lightroom Keywords screen |
What
and how you catalog or organize your digital image files has
a lot to do with what kind of photographer you are. To keep
things simple in this series of articles I am going to concentrate
on professional and advanced level photographers who will
shoot a few hundred images on a given day (occasionally more)
but are mostly interested in creating individual unique images
for illustrative or art reproduction purposes. Event photographers
and other photographic specialists have special needs, they
may learn something from this series of articles but I will
not be addressing their needs specifically.
Just
like most photographers cataloging and organizing my image
files is becoming more and more important every day though.
I have a pretty good memory and can remember that there was
an image of a Laos soldier on a motorcycle in a batch of pictures
I took on a Visa run in 1995 but it would be a lot easier
if I could just punch Laos, soldier, and motorcycle into my
cataloging software and instantly have the image come up on
the screen.
Adobe
Lightroom allows you to assign keywords and image ratings
on the fly while you are editing and sorting your photographic
images. In the example above (which is a picture of my son
Man in front of the Quoddy West lighthouse on the coast of
Maine), I have added the keywords Maine, Man, Quoddy West,
boy, and lighthouse. A simple tap of the return key and the
keywords are registered.
We
will go into the cataloging features of Adobe Lightroom in
more depth later and also cover the incredible capabilities
of Adobe Bridge.
Cataloging
and Archiving the Edited image
- it is important to keep a permanent and accessible record
of your digital darkroom work without disturbing the original
archived images.
I
was taken to task by a reader today for not including the
practice of renaming of image files at the top of my image
archiving process. His contention was that I was an unprofessional
fool and an idiot for not immediately renaming all files to
reflect their content.
I
realize that some photographers do subscribe to this practice
but I am not one of them. For one I like to archive (back
up my image files) immediately after removing them from the
camera, without touching the image files or their content.
I
do rename files, but only for specific projects, during the
cataloging and editing process. I then make sure to archive
these edited files in a separate folder, under their project
name.
P.S.
Please do not get upset
if your personal experience and views are different from my
own. These opinions are mine exclusively and do not reflect
the views or policies of any of the manufacturers mentioned
in this article...... George
Mann |
