Source File

Sample Filing System Workflow

File and rename photos by date taken: YYYYMMDD_filename inside a folder called YYYYMMDD.

If you haven’t already, make sure you have your subjects cross-referenced with the date shot. Google calendar or a Word document are both great for this.

As you choose and edit photos, copy the edited versions into a folder inside your YYYYMMDD folder, called “edit”. This leaves your original files untouched, in case you have to go back and start over on a photo.

If you resize photos for a certain application, like 800 pixels wide for online, rename those files “800_YYYYMMDD”. Then, they will all be together and you know know the size instantly when you are looking for files later.

Adobe Software

Information about buying Adobe software at IPFW is here.

Either of the premium packages would be good for this class. What you're really after is Photoshop. Photoshop Elements is not the same thing as Photoshop Extended. Elements is a stripped-down version of the software. Lightroom is a great tool to make organizing your photographs easier.

Omnibus Lecture on The Future of Media

This is all from an IPFW press release:

● 2010-2011 Omnibus Lecture Season
● 7:30 p.m.
● The John and Ruth Rhinehart Music Center

IPFW Announces 2010–2011 Omnibus Lecture Season

FORT WAYNE, Ind.—Indiana University–Purdue University Fort
Wayne’s (IPFW) Omnibus Lecture Series, featuring nationally
recognized speakers, celebrates its sixteenth season of offering free
lectures to the public.

Ken Auletta, media commentator
Thursday, October 7, 2010, 7:30 p.m.
Googled: The Future of Media
NO TICKETS REQUIRED

Author and media columnist for The New Yorker, Ken Auletta is “the
James Bond of the media world,” wrote Business Week, “a man who
combines the probing mind and easy charm of a top intelligence agent
with the glamour that benefits the holder of a high-profile job.” In
his award-winning “Annals of Communications,” Auletta profiles media
personalities. “The Lost Tycoon,” a story about Ted Turner, won the
National Magazine Award. Auletta’s new book, Googled: The End of The
World As We Know It, is a New York Times business bestseller. He has
written four other national bestsellers and has published articles in
The New York Times, Vanity Fair, Esquire, and The New Republic.

IPFW is grateful for the support of the Omnibus Lecture series founding
sponsor, the English, Bonter, Mitchell Foundation, and media sponsors
WANE-TV NewsChannel 15 and Northeast Indiana Public Radio. Additionally, 2010–2011 lecture cosponsors include Greater Fort Wayne Business
Weekly, WFWA PBS 39, NIPR, and Anthony Wayne Services.

Each lecture will be held on the IPFW campus in The John and Ruth
Rhinehart Music Center’s 1,600-seat Auer Performance Hall. All
lectures begin at 7:30 p.m. and doors open at 6:30 p.m. There is no
charge for the events and parking is free. However, due to campus
construction affecting access to and parking near the Rhinehart Music
Center, patrons are advised to arrive early, allowing additional time
for traffic and parking.

The John and Ruth Rhinehart Music Center is located on the north end of
campus in the arts plaza next to the Ernest E. Williams Theatre and the
Visual Arts Building, and behind the Medical Education Center.

For a parking map, more information, and speaker photos, visit
www.omnibuslectures.org.

His book is available at the Allen County Public Library.

Batch Renaming

Some workflows allow your computer to do all of your renaming for you, when you import. Others force you to do it yourself, manually. While I don't agree with everything Pete Bauer says in this story, I like that he has a clear description of how to batch rename files in PhotoShop.

If you can't, or don't want to, use PhotoShop, I've also used Photo Mechanic. It's available for both PC and Mac systems. It's a little expensive ($150), but it can simplify things, and there is a demo version you can use for 20 days.

I haven't used Aperture, which is made by Apple, but I've heard good things about it. You can get a fully-featured trial version for 30 days. The academic version costs $180. It is more powerful than Photo Mechanic, but it still doesn't (I hear) work as a complete replacement for PhotoShop.

Screen Shots and Your Digital Archive

If you archive on DVDs or CDs, or use those types of disks as a backup system, it can be tedious to label those disks accurately. There are some concerns about if permanent markers in some way damage the disks. Also, handwriting can be hard to read. Using labels that stick onto a disk can be just as problematic. Some labels can cause disks to become stuck in some readers, potentially breaking them, or at least jamming up your system. Also, the adhesive on the label is almost certainly not archival.

What to do? I like to take a screen shot of a window containing the files I am burning/have burned to disk. On a PC, press CTRL, ALT and 'Print Screen' at the same time. This creates a screen shot of just the "active" window, so make sure that the window you want to copy is on top of everything. You can then paste the screen shot into either PhotoShop or Word.

In PhotoShop, just start a new document. The software will automatically size the new document to the same size as the screen shot (which is on your system's clipboard). Paste your screen shot into your new document. Crop and resize, if needed, and print on plain paper. I find a 5" square is good for most sleeve disk systems, but experiment with what works best for you. I then just cut out the label with scissors and slip it into the sleeve along with the disk.

On a Mac, hold down control-command-shift-4. A crosshair cursor will appear. Simply drag the cursor over the part of your screen you wish to capture. This will copy a screen shot of the area to your clipboard, and you can continue as above.

Starting Out

I'm writing this blog to help the students of my Journalism 210 class at IPFW.