Getting to work – Image ingestion

Original Article Getting to work – Image ingestion Patricia Russotti visual artist and educator, is a Professor in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, College of Imaging Arts & Sciences at Rochester Institute of Technology. She is an active digital and photographic imaging artist producing a wide range of work for corporations, public service organizations, museums, Individual artistic commissions, funded projects and public exhibitions. She has done extensive consulting for in-house graphic service departments, ad agencies and photography studios. These endeavors focus on assessing, refining and creating workflows, best practices, and providing training programs. Patti is also committed in assisting educators with the integration of current industry best practices, technology and software into their curriculums. Patti has been training and presenting on Adobe Photoshop since the first version of the application. She is a long time Adobe Beta Tester. She develops and presents technical and creative corporate seminars, workshops and training programs internationally. Patti’s career has a breadth and depth of experience and skill in workflow, image making (analog, digital, alternative and historic processes), the creative process, design and education. She is the co-author or Digital Photography Best Practices and Workflow Handbook, A Guide to Staying Ahead of the Workflow Curve. © 2010, published by Elsevier Inc, Focal Press. Patti’s positions previous to and concurrent with RIT include: the management and operation of a multimedia lab, ownership and operation of an advertising photography studio and an imaging services, consulting group. Patti holds MS and EdS degrees from Indiana University. Richard Anderson is an advertising and corporate photographer based in Baltimore, MD (USA). He made the transition from film to digital photography in 1999 and now uses a completely digital workflow. Anderson has conducted numerous seminars and written magazine articles on digital workflow and quality issues for photographers. He is an ASMP Board officer and chairs the ASMP Digital Standards Committee. He was the principle author of the Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines (UPDIG). He is the project leader for dpBestflow, a project jointly funded by the US Library of Congress and the ASMP to promote best practices for digital imaging workflow and digital image preservation. In addition to the aforementioned book, the project has published a website, dpBestflow.org., which is a resource for the digital photography community worldwide. Anderson received a 2009 International Photographic Council (IPC) Photographer Leadership Award in recognition for his volunteer work as an ASMP board member, for his contributions to the trade through his role in developing UPDIG, for his efforts in securing a 3-year award from the Library of Congress to further his work on digital standards, and for his educational outreach to the photographic community. ABSTRACT Chapter 7, Getting To Work – Image Ingestion, covers the key components of getting digital images from the camera into the computer. The ingestion step is one of the most important steps in a safe and efficient digital image workflow. Performing this step properly can provide the best opportunity to automate the digital workflow and ensure organization and safe-keeping of the photographer’s work. We discuss best practices for: options for safe transfer of images utilizing dedicated ingestion software, creating a file and folder backup; file naming conventions and strategies; adding metadata and building templates for reuse; and • visually verifying images in an image browser before the memory cards are reformatted. • • • • Journal of Digital Asset Management (2010) 6, 139–146. doi:10.1057/dam.2010.16 Keywords: digital; photography; workflow; best practices Correspondence: Patricia Russotti School of Photographic Arts and Sciences, Rochester Institute of Technology, One Lomb Memorial Drive, Rochester, NY 146235603, USA E-mail: patti.russotti@ rit.edu INTRODUCTION This book is a guide for photographers, imagemakers, or anyone who will be working with image files during the course of their work. It is also a handbook for knowing who should be © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1743–6540 doing what, within an Eagle’s view of workflow as well as all the iterations that a file will take on during its lifespan. It is for anyone wanting to know the choices for developing a workflow to create consistent, and reliable results in their work. Journal of Digital Asset Management Vol. 6, 3, 139–146 www.palgrave-journals.com/dam/ Russotti and Anderson The goals are to: • Show how each piece of hardware and software might fit into the bigger digital workflow picture. • Help our audience understand how to choose hardware, software and a process that is optimal for their photographic goals. • Show how to make informed decisions about choosing the correct workflow for your needs. • Provide a framework for keeping up with the evolving digital photographic workflow and ecosystem. • Provide realistic strategies to preserve digital image files (and the work that you do to them) for the short, and especially the long term, as they are an important part of our history and culture. During the last few years, the term ‘Workflow’ has migrated from a primarily print and publishing, graphic arts industry persona to an imaging-at-large term. This has resulted in the need for photographers, artists, trainers and educators to integrate this concept and material into their vocabulary and curriculums. Yet, up until now, there has not been a single and complete resource that puts each of the seemingly disparate processes together. There has been a need to create a harmonious map and guide among all the disciplines that ultimately need to work together. In other words, a resource that unites and leads to all the things you need to do within a workflow. Perhaps the root cause of this lack of understanding and consistency lives in the many definitions or views of workflow, which exist depending on one’s background and discipline. This text provides the necessary components to help build a cohesive workflow that implements best practices and provides solutions for imaging professionals and educators. Digital Photography Best Practices and Workflow is a coherent, concise guide to • the key aspects of the digital photography workflow; • a list of resources and links to stay current and up to speed with the rapid changes in technology; • a glossary to help standardize the language and definitions as one implements best practices 140 © 2010 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. 1743–6540 and to synthesize the workflow and communication process; • what works, why things work, and what choices you need to make for consistency, efficiency and repeatability. It is sometimes difficult to get direct answers to specific questions; everyone has a position and wants t (...truncated)