Digital Prints

112
Mastering Digital Printing
If you’re physically sending or taking your files, CD-Rs (700 MB), CD-RWs (650 MB),
and DVDs (4.7 to 9.4 GB) are commonly used to move files around. However, if you’re
sending your files out to a print service provider, make sure you talk to them first about
acceptable file and transport formats (as well as resolution, color management profiles, etc.)
Storing
All the above methods will also work for storing your in-progress as well as finished image
files. You can either save files onto transportable media and store them somewhere safe (in
a separate location, if you’re a stickler for security), or you can buy auxiliary hard drives
and/or tape backup systems to do the same thing. Many digital imagemakers do both:
using external hard drives with capacties of up to 1 terabyte for primary storage and removable
disks like CDs or DVDs as extra backups. With data storage space becoming less
costly all the time, many power users are now even moving to multiple hard drives in a
RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks) configuration to store their huge files.
Archiving: Managing Your Images
Sometimes, the biggest problem with archiving is not the storage space, but knowing where
everything is. This is called “digital asset management” or “image management,” and there
are lots of software products available to help you keep things straight.
A couple of built-in image managers include Photoshop CS’s enhanced File Browser and
Apple’s iPhoto for Macintosh (only). Photoshop’s File Browser may not be as powerful as
a third-party asset-management software, but it’s sometimes easier to work with files
directly in the program where you’re likely to be using them. File Browser lets you view,
sort, and process image files, and you can use it to rename, move, and rotate images. It
uses flags, key words, and editable metadata to quickly organize and locate “image assets.”
iPhoto is part of the Max OS X operating system, and it’s a combination image-importer,
browser, and organizer that, besides letting you retouch and crop images, helps you collect
and store them into albums.
And speaking of albums, Adobe Photoshop Album is a separate (and inexpensive) software
package that’s designed to integrate with Photoshop Elements. It organizes and finds
images by date or keyword tags, and it also does basic image editing like cropping, adjusting
brightness, and removing red eye. PC only.
Other lower-priced options for image management are these “picture viewers” or image
browsers: ACDSee (ACD Systems), ThumbsPlus (Cerious Software), and IrfanView
(shareware). All these are also PC-only.
Serious digital asset managers also use more sophisticated third-party programs like Extensis
Portfolio, Canto Cumulus, and iView MediaPro. For example, Portfolio creates a database
of assets on your hard drive and helps you catalog and retrieve digital files including images,
clip art, movies, audio, and more. You can create previews, digital watermarking, and customizable
thumbnails and slide shows. Portfolio can track any image coming into the computer
via several types of searching, and you can also access an image catalog from any
application with only one keystroke. Portfolio’s latest versions include NetPublish, an addon
module that automates the process of dynamically distributing Portfolio catalog contents
through the Internet. Full-featured websites can be created in seconds. PC and Mac.