Now that you’re blazing away with your digital camera, making images left and right, it’s time to consider how you’re going to manage those photos. Ideally, you’re going to have a set process, called a workflow, to manage an image from the time you shoot it through its display, printing, and storage so you can find that same image again years later. Back in the days of film, you would take your photos, send the film out for processing, and have your prints returned. From that point on, you may have displayed your prints in photo albums and stored your negatives in shoeboxes in the closet—neat, workable system that offers some sense of organization, and one that still applies to digital photography. Today, you can drop your memory card off at the local department store, get prints and CD-ROMs made, and store the CDs in storage cases (or shoeboxes if you prefer). This basic system represents the simplest form of workflow possible. It treats digital photography about the same as film photography and keeps life simple. What it doesn’t do, however, is take advantage of digital photography’s power. Developing a digital workflow is all about developing good image management habits. Remember, you’re not just dealing with the handful of images you’re processing today, you’re positioning yourself to manage the images you accumulate over the years. Picture your situation a decade from now, when you may have thousands or hundreds of thousands of images to search through in order to find one specific shot. Good habits now can help you find that picture later. In this article, I help you find the quickest, most thorough, and most efficient way to process your photos. I discuss JPEG/TIFF and Raw format workflows, as well as image-processing workflows for each format. Workflow should be a fairly personal thing. Although certain guidelines about task placement are absolute, such as making sharpening your last step and sharpening for a specific use, there is enough flexibility overall for you to design a workflow system consistent with your needs and preferences. Depending upon your needs, you can tailor the following steps to meet your own requirements. A workflow should take care of these tasks:

1. Capture images from your camera to your computer

2. Let you evaluate your files to determine which you want to keep and which you want to delete.

3. Provide an initial archive of your original files. (You can switch the order of steps 2 and 3 if you feel saving a copy of every photo you shoot is important.)

4. Keyword your images. Keywording is the process of attaching keywords to a file so an image-cataloging program can search through files looking for a user-specific keyword. For instance, if you keyword regularly, and someday you need to search for every picture you’ve ever taken of your cat Fluffy, you can just enter a keyword search for Fluffy, and the image cataloging program locates all photos containing the keyword Fluffy. This process can be automated in Photoshop so you don’t have to manually enter these keywords into every photo yourself.

5. Select files for processing. (You may or may not want to process and print every photo you take.)

6. Process your photos for universal use. You can perform certain processing steps on your images that are the same no matter how you plan on using the images. Save use-specific steps (such as setting resolution and sharpening) for later because these steps will vary depending on whether you’re using the files for the web, multimedia presentations, or simply getting prints made. Some people feel this is a good time to make a second archival CD-ROM, because you’ve taken your images about as far as you can, while still keeping them available for any use.

7. Process your files for their specific use.

8. Archive the final files if necessary. Depending on how much work you do to your files as a result of step 7, you may or may not want an additional archive of these images. Of course, you may be saving your files to yet another CD, anyway, so you can deliver them to a printer or take them to another computer for creating a multimedia presentation .

9. Add your files to a master image catalog. You should perform this step somewhere in your workflow. This way your master images catalog remains an accurate resource.

Many digital cameras offer a choice between JPEG, TIFF, or Raw capture, so this article covers the JPEG/TIFF workflow and the Raw workflow methods. Feel free to tweak the suggested workflows, as you like, keeping in mind that some tweaks affect your final image. Often, the quality returned by digital cameras shooting in JPEG mode is more than good enough for your needs. Because JPEG mode lets the camera process faster and store more images than TIFF or Raw modes do, JPEG mode is certainly an attractive option. It’s also a slightly easier workflow because the camera may do some image processing for you beforehand depending on whether or not you’ve changed its internal parameters. (Refer to your camera’s owner’s manual to see if you can change internal parameters with your specific model.) This workflow is divided up into three distinct phases of the workflow process: capturing, processing, and printing images. For most photographers, image transfer is fairly straightforward. You can transfer your images from camera to computer, media to card reader, media to card adapter, or possibly someday in the future, through transmission from camera to computer. The following steps walk you through transferring your images to the computer and reviewing them for quality:

1. Capture your images to a hard drive (preferable), partition, or folder specifically created for photo storage. I usually create a sub-folder for each month’s work, and then nest sub-folders by date and identification for each specific shoot. It might be helpful to review your images without capturing your entire shoot to your computer. This way you can delete bad shots and only transfer the keepers. Many image cataloging programs will let you view the images while they’re still on the media card. You can then select the ones you want to capture to your hard drive.

2. Review your images. You can review images through Photoshop’s file browser or through a third party image browser/cataloging program such as ACDsee for the PC or iView for the Mac. I prefer to use an image browser/cataloger that lets me view full screen preview files quickly, which is why I don’t use Photoshop’s file browser for this task. I should note that I frequently have to view hundreds of images, so anything that speeds the process is very important. But if you typically only look at a couple of dozen images, a file browser might be all you need. A good image browser/cataloging program helps you move files, reorganize them, and add notes, among other things.

3. Cull rejects from your shoot. Even with JPEG compression, one- and two-megabyte image files start to add up on your hard drive. If you’re the type who can’t bear to throw any image away; burn a CD of the complete shoot now, and cull the rejects later. By burning a CD, you have at least one complete record of everything you shoot, while still maximizing space on your hard drive. (Making a CD backup early in the process is a good idea, too.)

4. Rename your files. Should you rename your files or leave them in your camera’s nomenclature? If your camera repeats numbers after reaching a milestone such as 1,000 or 10,000 images, then it’s probably smarter to rename your files. Otherwise, you can search for one image and end up with a completely different one with the same filename. Fortunately, image-browsing/cataloging programs usually offer renaming capabilities. Photoshop users can also create a batch processing setup to rename their files. Although this step isn’t vital, renaming your files can simplify finding a particular image later on.

5. Make a backup CD (if you haven’t already). Not only is it a good idea to make a backup CD of your original files early in the process, it’s also a good idea to make a backup CD at the end of the process. Ideally, you should make multiple backup copies of each shoot with the idea of having one set of backups at your home or studio (in case your hard drive dies) and a second set offsite (in case of fire or natural disaster). Implementing a workflow process that builds in a couple of CD burning sessions helps make sure you create multiple layers of safety in your archives. I usually create a CD for each shoot (because most of my shoots create enough images to fill one or more CDs). If your shoots don’t produce enough files to justify burning a CD, create a subfolder marked Burn to CD (or something similar) and stage files there until you have enough images to fill a CD. Once you burn a CD, make sure you label it in such a way that facilitates finding it later.

If you have a computer with a DVD burner, by all means, use it. I personally prefer to burn a CD after culling rejects, and later write files to a DVD-RAM disc for a second backup. I’ve also added a DVD-R/-RW drive to my computer so I can burn DVD-R discs for additional backup. If you’re confused about DVD formats and want to wait a while before committing to one style, by all means, take your time. My opinion is that a combination of CDs, DVDs, and backup hard drives is the safest way to go, but the needs of a professional photographer and a hobbyist aren’t quite the same. Hobbyists can make do with a pair of CD backups. Now that you’ve captured, reviewed, and backed up your images, they’re ready to be processed in Photoshop. The following workflow tweaks your photos nicely. It’s not the most complicated system in the world, and it’s not designed to be. It’s fast and simple, and you don’t have to have a graphic arts degree to follow it. To help you better understand the image processing workflow, I use one particular example photo throughout this article. This photo of a butterfly will do nicely. Follow these steps to begin processing the image:

1. Crop your files. Reducing file size as early in the workflow as possible makes image processing much easier, particularly if you’re using an older or less powerful computer. If you plan to upress (increasing the image’s resolution) an image you can always wait until after you’ve performed steps that can be done before increasing the image’s resolution. Cropping first is a good idea, but it doesn’t have to be a steadfast rule: You want to make other image-processing decisions based on information in the cropped image.

2. Rotate the image if necessary. Sometimes it’s necessary to correct an image whose composition is slightly off. You can easily do this with Photoshop’s Measure tool, found on the tool palette grouped with the Eyedropper and Color Sampler tools. Click and hold on whichever tool is showing until a sub-menu of the three tools appears. Choose the one that looks like a ruler. Find a horizon line or baseline in the image that represents true horizontal. Place the Measure tool at one end of the horizon line, then click and drag until you reach the other end of the horizon line. Release the mouse button. Choose File ➪Image ➪Rotate Canvas ➪Arbitrary to enter the value discovered by the Measure tool. Click OK, and the image rotates appropriately. (You will probably have to re-crop at this point.) Select any other Photoshop tool to make the Measure tool’s line disappear.

3. Create a Levels Adjustment layer. I’m a big fan of nondestructive editing techniques, so whenever I can, I prefer to choose such image processing methods. If you don’t care, then just create a Levels Adjustment layer with the levels command. I prefer to set white and black points as necessary through each of the red, green, and blue channels.

4. Click on the small rectangle next to the Adjustment layer icon (the half black, half white circle) to activate the Adjustment layer’s mask. This mask allows you to decrease the effect of the Adjustment layer on certain parts of the image by blocking some of its effect. You do this by painting on the Adjustment layer mask as follows. Choose the Brush tool and then go to the Brush Options menu at the top of the screen. Select a soft edged brush and use black to burn in (darken) bright areas and white to lighten. Press and hold down the Option key (Mac) or the Alt key (PC) while you click on the line between the layer and the adjustment layer. This locks the adjustment layer to the original layer.

5. Create a new layer. Set the Layer Blending mode to Color Dodge. Choose File ➪Edit ➪Fill, and select 50 percent gray from the drop-down box. Set Layer Opacity to about 10 percent. This will give the image some extra pop.

6. Check for dust spots or other imperfections you need to clean up. This is also the time to consider manipulating your image (adding or removing elements, changing colors, re-positioning elements, and so on).

7. Add a warming or cooling filter if necessary. I’m happy with the colors of this image. If I wasn’t, I could warm or cool the image by adding a digital color filter. Access the Photo Filter tool in Photoshop CS by choosing Image ➪Adjustments ➪Photo Filter.

8. The graduated neutral density filter can be re-created in the digital darkroom. Choose the Gradient tool from the Tools palette and select a black to white gradient from the options menu at the top of the screen. Apply the gradient from top to bottom (click at the top of the image and drag downward) if you want to reduce exposure to the top part of the scene, or from bottom to top (click on the bottom of the image and drag to the top) to reduce exposure to the bottom portion of the image. Set the blending mode to Overlay (on the Layers palette) and lower the layer’s opacity until you get the effect you like. Remember, at reduced opacity you can paint on this layer with a black brush to further darken portions of the image, or you can paint with a white brush to lighten portions of the image. Keep in mind, a digitally generated graduated neutral density filter isn’t as good as using a real one in the field. It can only help you if your image still has some detail in the highlight areas.

9. Choose File ➪File Info to add your copyright information and to store other information about the image. This information stays with the image and can be read by any program that recognizes EXIF or IPTC information (most image browsers and image editing programs).

10. Haze burn sharpening. This technique is used to burn off the haze found in digital images. Choose File ➪Filter ➪Sharpen ➪Unsharp Mask to select the original image layer and apply an unsharp mask. Set the amount to 16, the radius to 40, and the threshold to 0. Go to Step 11 if you want to do high-pass sharpening. Or choose another sharpening method.