Hi,
I am moving from Windows to Mac so I thought it might be a good time to revisit my picture organization structure.
Thus far I used year/event name/photos(tiff, psd)/NEFs structure. I kept original NEF (raw files) as a sub-directory of the actual image location. I used Picasa to browse through my images. I usually removed NEF folders from Picasa to avoid confusion. I also never renamed image file names; I kept default names generated by camera.
I'd like to set up my computer (MM) with either Lightroom or Aperture (leaning towards A to spend my BTS promo money as both programs seem fairly similar in features). This will be great improvement over Picasa. I also realized that some of my old habits might (and perhaps should) change. I will eventually use PS for more sophisticated editing if required, but I'd like to do most of post-processing in A.
To my questions:
0. Import: do you import from camera to A or do you copy files to HD first (via Finder)? I'd probably copy it first ... old habit.
1. Where to put raw files? I am thinking to put them directly to year/event name/ folder.
2. Rename or rename-not the imported raw files? I lean towards batch renaming (raw) files to year.mm.dd_sequential or similar format.
3. Backing up: Since I will be working with reference library I think I should back up: i) original raw files, ii) A library to maintain edits, corrections, and meta data. I also like to back up "processed" images in some sort of "universal" format in case I cannot access/read my raw files. I use highest quality jpeg. I suspect I'd have to export from A and save as jpeg. Then back-up together with original raw files.
I would greatly appreciate if you could comment on my suggested process and picture organization. Feel free to offer your own work flow. I am opened to any suggestions.
I will be testing both LR and A in next couple weeks, but I'd like to learn a bit about each program before I download trail versions. I remember testing LR years ago and I remember finding it somewhat confusing.
Regards,
R>
I am moving from Windows to Mac so I thought it might be a good time to revisit my picture organization structure.
Thus far I used year/event name/photos(tiff, psd)/NEFs structure. I kept original NEF (raw files) as a sub-directory of the actual image location. I used Picasa to browse through my images. I usually removed NEF folders from Picasa to avoid confusion. I also never renamed image file names; I kept default names generated by camera.
I'd like to set up my computer (MM) with either Lightroom or Aperture (leaning towards A to spend my BTS promo money as both programs seem fairly similar in features). This will be great improvement over Picasa. I also realized that some of my old habits might (and perhaps should) change. I will eventually use PS for more sophisticated editing if required, but I'd like to do most of post-processing in A.
To my questions:
0. Import: do you import from camera to A or do you copy files to HD first (via Finder)? I'd probably copy it first ... old habit.
1. Where to put raw files? I am thinking to put them directly to year/event name/ folder.
2. Rename or rename-not the imported raw files? I lean towards batch renaming (raw) files to year.mm.dd_sequential or similar format.
3. Backing up: Since I will be working with reference library I think I should back up: i) original raw files, ii) A library to maintain edits, corrections, and meta data. I also like to back up "processed" images in some sort of "universal" format in case I cannot access/read my raw files. I use highest quality jpeg. I suspect I'd have to export from A and save as jpeg. Then back-up together with original raw files.
I would greatly appreciate if you could comment on my suggested process and picture organization. Feel free to offer your own work flow. I am opened to any suggestions.
I will be testing both LR and A in next couple weeks, but I'd like to learn a bit about each program before I download trail versions. I remember testing LR years ago and I remember finding it somewhat confusing.
Regards,
R>