Digital Workflow Part 2

I am listening and watching my Library of Memories videos from Kayla Lamoureaux again. I recently returned from a two-week road trip to Utah with almost 2000 photos in tow. My workflow HAS to get better. I found this program for cheap-cheap and decided to give it a try. I am tired of PSE Organizer being so SLOW. Here I am starting over again!

First I have been working on the file organization on my hard drive. I have a folder for each year and a subfolder for each month. I upload photos with their date and number into their month folder. I have to rename lots of files this way-not sure that is a good use of my time.

I moved my pictures from my desktop into My Pictures folder on my laptop and have created a little bit of a mess. I have not been consistent in how and where I saved photos that I had edited or used for projects so things are not tidy. This bugs me to no end. I am reorganizing the files now. I had subfolders by day and found this to be totally cumbersome. I already moved the pics out of those, but I need to delete those folders. This just seems so stupid to me, but I feel like I can't move forward without this basic structure in place and solid.

I realized something recently . . . If I rate my photos first, then keyword, I don't have to keyword so many. That's that photo haystack that Kayla/Stacy are talking about. I have to narrow down the choices. That does not mean I have to keyword EVERY SINGLE PHOTO, just the ones that I might use. I don't even have to delete the ones that I might not use. That is a concept.

Importing: Upload to Monthly Folder
Backing Up
Paring Down Purge pics with no potential
Rating
Do not rate: Duplicates, Not special but don't want to trash

1. Maybe/Details/Overview of Story 
2. Main Idea/Theme/Got to Scrapbook/Focal Point Photo/Represent People, Places, Things, Us, School
3. The Best of the Best

Batch BASIC Keywords to ALL PHOTOS: Who, What, and Where when you download
Who is in this picture?
What are we doing? i.e. Whitney's Birthday, Norwich Fair
Where are we? (This can be a tag that has the gps data attached to it)

ADVANCED Keywords are only applied to 2 and 3 stars. Category Drawer Keywords are also applied to these images.

BACKUP One off site for star-rated photos only!

Paperclipping.com September Monthly Challenge

I haven't submitted anything for a while because I seem to want to spend more time editing and sorting my photos than making layouts! I can always count on the Paperclipping challenges to help me find my mojo. I created this layout with the topic of wide angle photos and my natural surroundings in mind. I am experimenting with layouts that have less "stuff" on them and more photos and words. I love the idea of a big photo used as a background to draw the viewer immediately into the action of this story. It seems to say, "Let's go explore!" As we entered the field that evening the sun was just starting to set and the light was waning fast. I loved the texture of the mushrooms and saw my daughter walking out of the frame as I crouched down to capture its remarkable texture. Again, the photo says, "Hey, wait for me!"

My second goal with this layout was to make it look like I printed the photos on canvas, then laid it out on some cardstock, added the butterfly and took a picture of it. I played a lot with the placement of objects and the painting on the edges of the background photo to create a frame. Although I was trying to keep it simple, I couldn't help but try to see how a visual triangle would fit in. As I added the finishing touches to the title I realized that the buttons, the butterfly, and the scripted text in the title create a visual triangle, directing the viewer into the story. ( I just love this design stuff!! (Hee-hee)) This was so much fun! I think I might have woken my muse!!!

{Melissa Bennett buttons and background papers from "Autumn Memories" (TDF21; thedailydigi.com)}

Summary of PDS011-Lots of Rabbit Holes

There were so many designer names and resources mentioned in this week's Paperclipping Digi Show that I wanted to make a summary of them all. I hope others will find this useful to. If you have listened to the show and I have an error here please post a comment so I can fix it! Thanks, Angie

Show Notes

Digi Tips for Beginners Summarized

•     Get a good feel for the software
•     Undo is your best friend
•     Print out your first few pages
•     Start with Templates
•     Join a community
•     Possible: attend live events
•     Favorite Tools
•     Find Good Resources
•     Ask Questions on the forums

Meetup- Izzy talks about this website for trying to find other digi scrappers in your area.
   
Indispensible Products
Karen:
        Shadow Actions
            Jenn Barrette at ScrapMatters.com (can't find)
            Kristin Rice "Shadows Perfected" 2 kits at CatScrap
            Traci Murphy (can't find - shop at ScrapArtist)
            Flergalicious 
        Kraft Paper
            Ann deJong "ChromaPhobia" (ScrapArtist.com - unavailable when I looked)
            Robin Carlton (can't find)
        Font
            Steph's Printing Primer
        Stitches
            Anna Aspnes
            Lauren Reid
            Syrin         

Aaron:
        Shadow Actions
            Jenn Barrette (see above)
            Krystal Hartley - free, great for light background
            SimplyScraps (Laura Banasiak)
            From Aaron's Blog: Five Resources for Awesome Drop Shadows and Drop Shadows Revisited
        Font
            Gimme Space by Laura Reid
        Stitches
            Tracy Ried's Bad Stitches                  
       His Kit for the bright colors and stitching mentioned by Steph
            Boy Oh Boy

Forums (non-shop related)
    DigiScrapAddicts
    DigiShopTalk
    MyScrapbookArt
    Scrapbook.com
   

Back to RAW

A recent comment by Kayla Lamoureaux got me thinking about the file format of my digital images. She shoots in RAW because she wants to be able to make up for the fact that she isn't a fabulous photographer and RAW gives her more flexibility with her final product. She has just started using LightRoom to organize her files, which I am not ready to do ($200 for the software) so I started looking for ways to put RAW back into my workflow.

When I started getting into digital scrapping more and more I made the decision to shoot in JPEG only. I was finding my workflow to be interrupted by having to convert to JPEG from RAW. It was also slower to shoot in RAW as the camera had to write the larger file to the memory card. JPEGs are universal, but they are lossy. This means that the files are compressed with every save and data is lost  from the file. This bothers me. Having read about the minimal effect of this compression on the quality of photos as viewed by the average person, I decided I didn't want the take the time to convert to JPEG before I scrapped my photos. I also learned that you could edit JPEGs from inside Camera Raw, Adobe's Raw file processor that comes with Photoshop Elements. This made the decision to stay with JPEG easier as I like the flexibility that application offers.

The RAW files are huge. They slow down the camera. They take up storage space on my memory card and on my computer and external hard drive. Not all browsers read them, including VISTA, and Facebook only reads jpeg.

As I have been getting my digital Library of Memories up and running and defining my workflow, I have found that I am rethinking and understanding why RAW might be the better choice. Both my Panasonic Lumix FZ-18 and my Nikon D60 shoot in RAW, so going back is not that hard in terms of taking the pictures. My perception is that the RAW files are giving me more opportunity to improve the quality of my photos. That is also what I hear the experts say about it. I need to find out for myself because the RAW files do require an additional step in my workflow, and one that is potentially quite time consuming.

Here's my assignment:
I recently shot pictures at Weirs Beach in RAW. I discovered that in the RAW format the blown out areas are highlighted within Camera Raw allowing me to make sure I correct that to recover details lost. I am going to take the same picture and convert it to JPEG and edit the RAW file and the JPEG file to see if I can see any big difference. I do need to consider what might be coming in the future. Perhaps there will be software to preserve the JPEGs or to fix the artifacts (what's left behind when pixels are lost), but I don't know about that now. I will post the results of my little experiment right here. Meanwhile go to this video by Scott Kelby and see if you think shooting in RAW is the better choice.

Defining My Digital Workflow, Part 1

Goals for what I want to do with pictures:

1. Scrapbook my favorites to document the everyday, the special, and the insightful.
2. Share with others on Flickr, AllThoseLayouts.blogspot.com, and Facebook
3. Print some for frames.
4. Add to digital frame.

Steps in the process from taking the photos to final product.

As I write this I am using pictures taken yesterday at Wiers Beach. I took about 50 pictures.

1. Take pictures, lots of pictures, lots and lots of pictures. Shooting in RAW??
2. Upload to computer using PSE7 Organizer. Files loaded into folder for date: One folder for each month within a year. Format file name "yyyy mm dd". Add copyright info in upload screen.
3. Keywording, Captioning, and Rating:
1. Geotag Batch while in small import folder. (Where?)
2. Tag for Places We Go/Things We Do-any tags that can be generalized (What?)
3. Find Faces for Tagging (Who?)-this won't get all of them, but it's a start
4. Move through deleting and captioning photos. Checking basic keywords, tag for edits (if a certain effect is in mind), apply star rating
1. 1-star: Might Scrapbook or have some caption
2. 2-star: Great Images that represent the event
3. 3-star: Gotta Scrapbook-The BEST
5. Write metadata to files. (Do this while you are still in the new batch window or else select batch and write. Otherwise, it will write metadata for ALL files.)
6. Show "To Be Deleted" and delete those.
7. Backup to Maxtor. (Maxtor will backup automatically any day that I upload. Make sure to do so before I log off. The files are backed up initially. The original versions are kept in the "History" folder. The current version of the files is in the folder labeled "C" or "D" drive. Once metadata or edits have been made those will be saved in the current folder.)

The last two steps I need to work out:

1. Before any sharing can happen I have to convert files from RAW to JPEG.
2. Upload 2-stars and higher to Flickr-even without any edits-just to get that backup. Any edits can be made later.

I can't upload RAW files to Flickr. When I open them in Camera Raw and edit them, I am saving them as dng - another incompatible file type. Maybe I just export them. I don't know I have to figure this out. RAW definitely gives me more flexibility with the photos and helps me to make up for the fact that I make mistakes as a beginning photographer. 

More work to go!

These are the basic steps for setting up my Library of Memories. Now I have to work backwards by date and/or in 15-minute batches practicing applying these steps. Next I will define my inspiration workflow which will outline how to share these photos.

1. 
   

PSE7 Organizer vs. Picasa, For Me

Let me define a workflow:

Messing around with Picasa. Now I know how to create a collage to post pictures to my blog or to facebook. I like that I have this option. It just adds some variety, don't ya think? 

My big dilemma lately has been to figure out if Photoshop Elements 7 Organizer or Picasa would be the better choice for organizing my photos.  I have about five months of photos sorted and tagged in PSE. The problem is that the tags don't transfer from Picasa into PSE as keyword tags. The tags are written to the metadata, but they aren't searchable inside PSE. Other fields in the metadata are searchable except for the IPTC field in which tags are stored. That is a problem.

From inside Picasa I can search the tags created in PSE as long as I have written the tags to the metadata-a separate, and oft time-consuming, step. I have put more photos into Picasa to use the face recognition feature, but the name tags are also not written to the metadata. I have to go to each person's album and add the name tag separately. So weird. But future editions of Picasa will probably change that. Picasa's geotagging feature is easy to use and I can do that and have the latitude and longitude added to the metadata and PSE's is also easy enough. 

I just downloaded Microsoft Pro Photo Tools to manipulate the metadata. I haven't figured out if I can search the metadata, but I can add a "Photographed by" field and the names of actual locations in addition to the lat/long info. That would be something I might want to search for later. Apparently metadata is the way to go in terms of sorting your photos. It is automatically included with each file (in most applications or web-apps) and is the way professional photographers organize their photos. Applications have been designed to make manipulating the metadata easier for the amateur, but since the explosion of digital photography programmers have not agreed to an industry standard on how to store tags and other information important to photographers. I can only hope that the coming year will bring change in this.

As I define my workflow I am using tools that I learned about in the Library of Memories class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. Kayla Lamoureaux's videos in class have been very helpful. I have consulted the forums looking for others who also are trying to figure out which program is best for them. The bottom line is that the program I choose has to fit my preferences and my habits and just feel good to me. I started using the organizer in PSE5. It crashed my computer so I moved to Picasa, 2 I think. When I upgraded to PSE7 I decided that since I spent the money on the software, I might as well use the whole package. It bothers me that it does get bogged down sometimes and is slow to respond. For example, I hate the way the delete file works. If I am looking through a series of thumbnail-sized photos and I delete one in the middle of the collection, I am returned to the top of that date. I have created a separate "To Be Deleted" tag to work around this, but that is still a separate scroll to it. I wonder if I can configure the tags differently. When working with a lot of tags it is very cumbersome scrolling up and down. In Picasa it's a little easier to do the tagging. I can't manipulate any of the files from within Picasa if I want to also use PSE7, because PSE7 would lose track of the files and then that's a whole other bother reconnecting and deleting. Tagging in PSE7 does make more sense though. The tags are organized hierarchical and that makes it easier to find what I want.

I've gone off and done a little more research and figured out that I can use PSE7 to upload to Flickr from inside the program. That is very useful. I even have my Facebook account and my blog linked. I want to be able to easily upload photos and layouts to my blog and to my Facebook status. I can only share PUBLIC photos so I have to decide if that's going to work. I don't really like the idea of posting pictures of my kids for the world to see, but since so many people are doing that what is the real issue there. I won't post other people's kids though. There is a problem though because the photos are not stored on my Facebook and I don't know how to direct people from my wall to Flickr and my blog. There's got to be a button or something.

I figured that out. I put my photostream on my Profile page. Not perfect, but at least my photos don't have to be in two places for people to see. Now, do I remove my pics from Facebook? Hmmm?

Next step, how to use Flickr with my blogger. Gonna go find out now.

I have been thinking about using Flickr as my online backup. For $25 a year you get unlimited storage. That seems like a really good deal. Now I subscribe to Scrapbook Trends for $9 a month. If I cancel that I will be able to get unlimited Flickr storage and a subscription to Adobe Photoshop Elements Techniques for less money. I think I will do that Monday.

Meanwhile, I took my folders of photos off Picasa. (Since Picasa is a browser application it works directly with the files on the computer. That's why it's very quick. PSE Organizer is a catalog, which is separate from the files, but has its own organizational structure. I have to manipulate my photo files from inside PSE so the organizer will not lose track of them.) I had read that it was very confusing to try to organize your photos using more than one application. I agree with this. I will continue to use Picasa to do quick collages though and to keep track of all my digital supplies and layouts. I will set it to scan those folders. I can also use the face recognition to help me figure who is in my layouts. 

This has definitely helped me think through some things as I try to implement my own Library of Memories workflow. I am posting separately about my workflow now that I have committed to using PSE7 Organizer.

I 

DSC_0052_edited-1.jpg

DSC_0052_edited-1.jpg
Originally uploaded by croppersister

I love this strange photo of Gracie. I had to recomposed and frame it in PSE, then did some magic to enhance the colors and texture using a tutorial I subscribe to in itunes called Alibony Photoshop Elements Tips. Just keep loving this stuff!

Penscrappers June Challenge

I submitted this layout for the Penscrappers.com challenge for June. The theme was to scrap what you love using  a freebie kit by Michelle Coleman called "Wild Hearts." I love Michelle Coleman's work and have quite a few of her kits. I was trying to figure out how to make these photos fit with this kit. Sometimes it's not always obvious. There was some green paper in the kit but the pattern was all wrong. Thankfully there was a grungy yellow cardstock that works perfectly for the background of this layout. I wanted to use a little more color so adding the red reinforced the theme and drew the eye through the layout. I also worked the key-lines in to contain the layout and give it form (see this tutorial at Designer Digitals for more about this.)

I converted one picture of the peony using the Colored Pencil Filter in PSE. I like how the filter caught the water droplet detail. I used the same filter on the background photo before blending it into the background. I am trying to figure out ways to use the multitude of photo effects available in PSE in my scrapbook layouts. It just makes the layout more interesting than using the ordinary photo. I suppose it also depends on the story I am trying to tell and making it all fit. So much more to learn!

The journaling is:

Two, not just one, but two hand-sized blossoms opened to greet the morning sun. “I have a peony bush!” I stared in disbelief. How could I have lived here for seven years and not realized that I have a peony bush right outside my kitchen window? But sure enough, wedged iin between the overpopulated tiger lilies, is this two foot high bush with dark green elliptical-shaped leaves holding up twin fluffy orbs of fragrant white petals. What a gift! Did someone sneak into my yard and plant this little beauty when I wasn’t looking? Did it get mowed down our first summer here and take all this time to grow big enough to blossom? It’s a mystery and I love it! {June, 2010}

Ladeau's Advisory 2009-2010

I made this card to give my students for graduation. I really like how the blending modes hide my so-so extraction of us from the background. I used textures and brushes and text to fill up the space.

Sorry about the blur spots. I don't have permission to post these kids' images so this is how I keep them anonymous. I suppose if you know who they are you could pick them out, but I don't think you could identify them from this.  I don't know if there are any other ways to post layouts of this nature that keep identities private. I guess I have to do a little research on that and find out how other people do it.

Paperclipping Festival June 2010

I just love the things that I learn from Noell over at Paperclipping. Since I've been a member for more than a year and a half now, I have gone from paper scrapping to mostly all digital. (I am not giving up hopes of going back to paper because I LOVE it! Digi is just easier and less messy.) That doesn't mean that the many (almost 150 now) video tutorials members receive are not applicable to me. Good design is just that - good! And it doesn't matter if you're paper, digital, or both. Just tell your story and use good design elements and you will have created something you want to show everyone!

This layout is going to have to go down as one of my all-time favorites. (Another all-time favorite is here on my blog.) I used things I have been learning from Susan Tuttle's book Digital Expressions and the foundational understandings of good design I have learned from Noell. The concept I wanted to practice in this layout was leading the eye (Episode 19 Leading the Eye and Episode 22 More Ways to Lead the Eye). In the tutorial Noell talks about strategies used to help the reader move through the layout in the way that you intended. Some of the techniques that I used here are directly from this tutorial. First of all I created a focal point photo that is bigger than the rest of my photos and prominently located on the left side, where the reader will begin looking at the page. The next place I hope the reader goes is to the title, emphasized with the same brown as the mat on the focal point photo and the large blended background photo also creates a natural resting place for the eye. The oversized brown stamped letter "E" that begins the journaling completes the visual triangle (Episode 1 Visual Triangles) and the brown corner brush and painted heart element invite the reader into the story.

Here's the text: Emerging from the woodsy path onto the back part of Lake Runnemede, we were greeted with the sight of the lily pad covered inlet. We began to walk around the lake with your classmates looking for frogs and turtles but you kept your eyes on those flowers. Each time we came along one close to the shore you would remark how you wanted one. I told you that it was hard to pick the lilies because they have long stems that go deep to the bottom of the lake. When you saw that your classmates had pulled a few from the water's edge, you sighed wistfully, "I wish I had one of those flowers."


Now up in the field and heading to the other side of the lake, the lilies were no longer accessible. I thought you had given it up. You were content to get your pants as glistening wet as possible by walking through the tall grasses along the path. The water seeped through the cracked soles of your sneakers soaking your socks, but you didn't complain. The warm air kept you from getting chilled.  


We stopped and played at the gazebo with your classmates for a few minutes before venturing onward. The grassy path snakes around the edge of the lake. In some places the brush was cleared for closer viewing of the water or for anglers to cast a line. We came upon your friend Maddy and her dad. Maddy was admiring her beautiful white lily flower. "Oh I wish I had one of those! I want a flower," you told her not really expecting that it was possible. Maddy's dad heard you, and, as luck would have it, at that particular spot along the path, we could see the lilies perched upon their pads in wondrous glory. Thanks to knee-high boots, Mr. Henig cautiously stepped into the shallow water to pluck a small white lily from its throne. "Thank you," you said with awe and glee.  


The rest of the walk around the lake was effortless. You held your flower to your nose, consuming its awesome scent. "It smells like licorice," you observed and offered it to my face. "You're right. It smells exactly like anise," I told you. You used it for a microphone and sang your lungs out! You talked to it. You told it your wishes and dreams. All the way home, almost two hours later, including the bus ride back to school, sitting with Colin, and going to the restroom -  where you put it in the sink - you kept it safe and intact. We put the flower in a water-filled tin by the kitchen sink where it burst in sweet fullness all evening. By morning it had closed but the memory of your lily flower lingers like its licorice perfume. (Windsor, Vermont, June 10, 2010)

As the reader finishes the text, the series of four action shots serves as the great parting shots to complete the story. I am wondering if I need something at the end of them to serve as a period of sorts. Any thoughts?

There are a few more design principles at play here that help structure the layout. I like to be able to print my layouts on my 8 1/2 by 11 inch printer so I used a 17 by 11 inch background for the base of the layout. I knew that my story was going to require a lot of space on this layout and I didn't want to feel cheated in writing all the details. I chose to use two-thirds of the layout for the journaling and the last third for the shot of my daughter and her friend holding their lilies. The rule of thirds is carefully explained in Episode 40 Designing with Lines.  Although I am a little worried that the text might be hard to read because it goes right through the page split, scrapbook pages in an album lay flat and I don't think it will be that much of an issue. As it is I spent more than two hours making that journaling fit in the space I allotted. I made sure the text butted up against that dividing line and carefully sized the series pics to follow the same line as well.  I am very pleased with the results. I hope you like it.


If you read other posts on my blog you will see that I've been learning some digital collage techniques from Susan Tuttle. She does excellent work and her book is jam-packed with easy to understand and follow tutorials. The background blending is all a result of what I've learned from her as well as the word play around the title with the subtle text accents. I just love that stuff.

Credits: Laurie Ann, Music Note Paper, "Play it Again Sam," for ScrapArtist.com; Eclectic Designs by Gabi, Pink, Brown, Cream Cardstock, "Simple Basics," for ScrapArtist.com; Painted Heart Embellishment, Anna Aspnes, "ArtPlay Pallette 10 Things 2 Heart Collection," www.designerdigitals.com