I was wondering what the different workflows are that people are using for post production. I'm on a (Mac) and shooting with a Canon 20D and am curious as to whether I should use Iview or ACDsee or any other programs. For all of those Pictage users, do you color correct images before uploading, or do you only color correct ect. images clients order from your proof book? Do you use proof books? Ect. Please list all processes of workflow. Thanks so much!

I'm lazy....I have Pictage do my color correcting. At only .20 a file it's a much better use of my time to pay them to do it. Add in the fact that we now have an option of ordering express proofs and this year I'm actually saving money doing it this way (as compared to last year). I also prefer to have everything looking the way it should online and in the image catalogs.

When the start implementing the new service they announced is in the works (where you just send them all the files, they do the initial edit, categorization, color correcting, etc....) I'll probably give that all to them as well!

You see, I did everything completely WRONG when I first started with Pictage. Much to the dismay of my account rep, I insisted on not only color correcting the small amount of digital files I was shooting, but also my FILM files! What a nightmare. I thought I was so smart though! I'd have the film processed and scanned locally and then I'd go through all the files and upload them along with the digital ones. UGH. Once I figured out that the KEY TO PICTAGE IS LETTING THEM HANDLE AS MUCH OF YOUR WORKFLOW AS POSSIBLE everything became so much easier, more productive, and more profitable.

So, my advice as far as workflow is concerned is to hand off as much of it as you can to Pictage!

thank you for that, stacey . . . your reply was incredibly helpful to me as well! i have been a pictage user for one year, and i think i am currently in the same boat you used to be in. i would love to have pictage handle as much of my workflow as possible. i either need to have a long talk with my account rep (i don't even know who he/she is!), or i need to get a new account rep!

::brian

I'm curious are most of you Pictage users on the Pro Plan or the Plus plan? I signed up on the Pro plan because I figured having the account rep would be a good thing and I like the priority service. And right now it's pretty darn cheap so I figure I'll try it for the first few months...

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KEY TO PICTAGE IS LETTING THEM HANDLE AS MUCH OF YOUR WORKFLOW AS POSSIBLE everything became so much easier, more productive, and more profitable.

Stacey has nailed it!

Pictage will soon be offering a service called "studio assistant" which might cost Tim his job - (definitely kidding on that) but this service will not only provide some of the basic file management stuff but they will also separate out your bad shots, and if you shoot like me there's a LOT of them!!! So if you can handle giving up that much control you can truly just shoot and hand over the files!

WOW! The world of Pictage is getting more and more perfect every day!

Thanks for your reply Stacey! I was talking with DJ the other day about how hard it is sometimes to give up control...(it seems especially hard for Brooks students...I think they brain wash us...

But, what I've learned from talking to very successful photographers (Mike Colon, Gary Fong, DJ) is that you have to figure out how you can spend less time working for yor business and more time working on your business. Handing over as much as you can to Pictage will give you the time to build your business instead of be a slave to it!

Makes sense...I think I'm gonna try it!

Thanks for everyone's ideas...

Ciao! MJ

QUOTE (Michael Costa @ Apr 10 2005, 12:54 AM)

I'm on a (Mac) and shooting with a Canon 20D and am curious as to whether I should use Iview or ACDsee or any other programs. For all of those Pictage users, do you color correct images before uploading, or do you only color correct ect. images clients order from your proof book?

Yo!

If you're running a Mac then iView is your best bet for file management.

We do CC all our files before narrowing them down and then we send 800 or so to Pictage for online proofing - we avoid proof books and such unless someone really wants it....and if they do then they're gonna pay for it...I try and convince them to use that money for something else...

Unless you have someone around full time I'd suggest doing as Stacey does and letting Pictage CC all your pics b/c you're right it's definitely not worth your time. You should be focusing on other areas of your business!

Alright, I had better reply to this for the man since I told him I wouldn't answer his question until he posted here on the forum. (DJ, Do I get to keep my job now?)

Our workflow starts with how we shoot. We try to shoot on manual whenever we can so that we end up with batches of photos that were shot in one location that need to have the same edits done to them.

When we get back to the office, all of the files are backed up. Currently we are doing the workflow all on a PC.

We actually run a count of the number of images coming off of each card, and if a card is short for some reason, we note why that happened.

Next we open up DPP (Digital Photo Professional), Canon's RAW processing program. In this program we correct for white balance and density. If I see a file that is something I know for sure we won't use, I'll delete it, otherwise, I don't really narrow down the images a ton at this point.

Once all of the edits have been done in DPP (can usually figure on getting through about 1,000 images per hour), I export everything as jpg files.

We then open ACDSee and use this file viewing program for editting down the number of images. I am able to view the thumbnails, and also scroll through the images one by one at a larger size. This allows me to see the small details that change from one image to the next (DJ will tell you I burn through a ton of files with the motordrive when shooting) We take most weddings down to between 800 - 1,200 final images. Also, we are able to time sort all of the files in ACDSee so that they all appear in the order that we shot.

Once I have everything editted down and still time sorted, it's a breeze to categorize everything. I just start at the beginning and work through the wedding putting all the files into their corresponding files. I then renumber all of the files from 0001 up to the last file. The folder's are then renamed as we want them to appear on Pictage.

I then go in and grab our favorite images from each folder, make a copy of each, and place those copies into our favorites folder. Photoshop those images with some of our affects, such as the Lomo and Crossprocessing.

Then everything is uploaded to Pictage.

Wow... I didn't realize how much work was going on in all of that. Might have to ask DJ for a phatty raise

dang! That is a lot of stuff! I always wondered what went on in the other room!

You're the man!

How valuable have you found it to categorize or not for Pictage? I decided not to for my first wedding, but if it makes more marketing sense then I'm all for it.

Thanks everyone who has contributed to this post. It has been very informative.

I think workflow is the single most complicated and time-consuming thing. Once we can get it down or hand it over I think we will become much better wedding photographers and business people!

Thanks for the valuable workflow information. In the short time that I’ve joined this forum, I can’t reiterate how much this forum has helped me in shortening the learning curve in becoming more proficient in the various aspects of a photo business.

I just feel bad that currently I don’t have much photo knowledge to offer the group. I guess for now, I am a taker, not a giver. I hope to reverse that trend in the near future.

Thanks all.

Hey Regis...don't feel bad! It's awesome that you can learn in such a short time isn't it? I have learned sooo much since I've join like...two weeks ago! (seems forever ago though). But this forum is sooooo all about spreading the love! This site rocks and we're all here for you and each other!


Just keep on keeping on!

KK

Kurt....

Most of the time I let Pictage do my categorizing as well. I let them put them into their standardized categories so the bulk of it is done. Then I go in and 'tweak' it but adding some additional categories, etc.... Depending on the work load I'm dealing with at the time, I occasionally categorize them myself.

I do believe that the more categories the better. It makes it much easier for the clients to view and it makes it much easier to work with when it comes time for album design, etc.... The more images that you have for an event, the more categories you should have. It helps to keep it all from being too overwhelming.

Back to album design...... (I'd really much rather stay here!)

Stacey

Wow!

I'm overwealmed with the generosity of peoples time. Thank you so much for the great information!

I'm thinking what I'll do is go from my Canon software for initial edit, color and contrast, to iview for editing, catagorizing, and marking favorites, to Pictage.

Though, I'm seriously thinking about letting pictage do all the color correction thanks to your replies and just using the Canon software to convert my raw. Then again why not just shoot high res. jpeg if I'm not taking advantage of the canon software.

You can thank me later for opening a new can of worms.

You guys (this forum) is awesome!

and wow Tim, that is alot of work, but I'm sure dj as paying you great money though.

Michael

QUOTE

and wow Tim, that is alot of work, but I'm sure dj is paying you great money though.

I just keep Tim happy with candy...he makes his millions selling widgets on eBay during class!

Categorizing things ourselves just speeds things up, everything is done when it goes to pictage, so we don't have to be hopping around on the site deciding what should go where. That way the folders on Pictage match the folders on our computer.

Ha... and let me tell you, the candy is some amazing payment, I even swore it off for an entire day because it was sooooo overwhelming.

Ah yes, and ebay... sweet and evil ebay.

I like your workflow, Tim. I started out with the workflow from the Ed Pierce seminar, but I found that there were way too many steps. DPP and iView are what I use at present, and I'm going to try and stick with that and see how efficient it is. I'm not doing enough work to warrant a Pictage account, but I may just bite the bullet to see how well it works for an upcoming wedding.

I'm curious...when you guys say "categories" with respect to Pictage....what does that mean?