When your client base grows, it brings along a lot of responsibility and Photographer expectations that you need to fulfill. Maintaining a healthy workflow is the answer to all your needs if you want to retain your clients for longer.
If we talk about basics, the first thing that creative designers or photo editors start with is image files management skills. Keeping all the images that need to be Photographer edited in one place allows for quick access and faster processing.
A document imaging software converts paper documents to images, indexes them, and stores them in a central repository.
OneDrive backup with Microsoft 365 is a relatively simple and straightforward process that’s done manually.
As a photography professional, you must have a central repository to save all your projects. Begin with creating a unique folder whenever you start a new session. Not only will it help you locate the files easily, but it will also help you with backup.
As you move forward in your profession, the file management needs will change eventually. Although you will find a lot of tips on managing the images for efficiency, the strategy you follow depends on the nature of your job, workload, and other preferences.
The article mentions some of the potential ways that can help you organize thousands of images on your computer effortlessly. Let’s first discuss some safety tips so that you don’t have to deal with the consequences of data loss.
5 Ways to Manage Your Computer
- Save as JPEG
If you shoot in RAW format, that’s for a reason. But you can save your files as JPEG as it allows for easy storage, and sharing becomes easier across devices. More to it, you can easily reduce jpeg file size so that it won’t consume more space on the storage media. In addition, the respective file format is supported universally.
- Back Up Your Data
If you are on Mac, Time Machine is your all-time backup partner. Setting up backups is easy and effortless, and you must do it to avoid adverse outcomes. In case you delete the file unintentionally, you can roll it back and easily restore it when you know that a copy is available.
- Reduce RAM Consumption
The unavailability of RAM will slow down the ongoing processes; therefore, it’s recommended to take note of the running apps. You must be using heavy apps such as Photoshop or Lightroom that need system resources to ensure smooth functioning. Reducing the RAM consumption by quitting unnecessary background apps will help optimize the workflow.
- Optimize Storage Often
Another important thing that you must keep in mind is to keep the processes aligned and running. Keep track of the items you are saving on the computer to ensure that you never run low on storage. As a photographer, you might be saving a lot of image editing apps for which you need space. So take a tour to identify the unnecessary files and delete them.
- Update Operating System
Now that’s something every user needs to do. Installing the operating system and software updates on your computer ensures the smooth and error-free functioning of the device. The security patches come with every update to remove any bugs existing in the previous OS version. So, install these updates without failure when they are available.
3 File Management Tips for Photographers
- Create a Folder Template
A job folder template is a folder that stores empty subfolders that reflect the kind of images they are storing. The process to structure your folders will take some time, but you will master this art soon. After creating a folder, make sure to duplicate it each time you start a new job.
Structure your template in a way that displays potential deliverables and the workflow. The subfolders in the main project folder can be named Downloads, Master Files, Working PSD, Print-Ready, Social Media, and so on.
- Name All Folders Appropriately
When your computer is storing hundreds of folders with tens of subfolders, following consistent naming conventions becomes essential. How you name your folder has a great role to play in boosting productivity. Rename the top level (parent) folder with the job name and name all subfolders based on the nature of the files they are storing.
You may follow the Photographer rule for naming the order folder, but what if there are multiple jobs in a single day. In that case, you can add the venue or client name to the YYMMDD identifier. Alternatively, add unique letters to save each job, such as Photographer, YYMMDD B, and so on.
- Archive Data to Be Efficient
There’s not just one but many reasons for data archiving. If you are new to the term, data archiving is the method to store important data that needs to be retained, although you don’t need to access it frequently. It helps when you need to retain historical data or limit access to previous projects for data safety.
Archiving is different from backups; it adds security to your data, though. Most importantly, it prevents the documents from circulation; hence, limiting the probabilities of data corruption. When archiving data, you can pick to store data offline or online, whatever method suits best your photography tasks and requirements.
