Hi All,
What photo software or online program do you use to organize your photos while on the road? I have Kodak Easy Share and HP Image Gallery and I'm not 100% sold on either one. We are not fulltiming yet, but I'm getting ready for the day and have lots of photos to scan and organize. I'd appreciate feedback on programs that you use and what features you really find handy.
Thanks,
Beth
Tmcblane said
07:01 AM Jan 24, 2007
Hi Beth, I actually don't use anything special for organizing. I let the windows software download any recent pics off the camera and all the one's that I scanned in I just used the software for the printer/scanner. I did create a directory under my pics folder and label if for the year and then put monthy folders under that year so I know when I took the pictures. For all the photos I scanned from past I created folders under "Mypics" breaking them up into catetorys like "Wifes family" "My Family" "the dogs" "vacations" etc. That make them easier to find. I had gotten some software with the camera called "Camedia" but like you am not convinced it is anything great, so I just use whatever windows selects for viewing and also set my desktop to use my pictures for a slideshow screensaver.
Something else important you should do. We got copies of all our medical records and I scanned all of them onto the computer and created folders and sub folders breaking them down into like "My doctor visits" 'Wifes doctor visits' 'bloodwork' 'Er visits' 'cardio records' etc, so they can be easy to find in an emergency. I then make a complete copy of all those records onto a thumb drive or jump drive whatever you want to call it and keep it handy for emergencys. With traveling you never know where you will be so having your records with you can be a life saver in an emergency. It is easy to tuck away in your purse or I actually keep it hanging by the door, although I am going to make an additional copy to keep in the truck. Seperating the folders would make finding the right info much easier for the doctor should he need to access the files. I think ALL fulltimers should do this, especially if you have any ongoing medical issues. I know I have a little ekg thing that could have saved me a couple of thousand dollars in an emergency visit if I would have had the drive with me! But I could not tell the doctor at the urgent care if what he saw was what I already had and was sent to the er room to be safe. Dummy me! Hopefully one day soon a credit card sized storage media will be used and you can transfer the info to that and just keep in your wallet.
null
-- Edited by Tmcblane at 08:04, 2007-01-24
traveljunkie said
08:53 AM Jan 24, 2007
Thanks Tmcblane, I was thinking that I could just organize everything in windows - but thought their may be some great software out there that would do it nicely for you. Thanks for validating that that is what's working for you.
Also, that's great info about the medical records. Didn't think of that. I guess there are a lot of things that could be scanned and stored - financial records, tax returns, etc... Now you've got me thinking! How are you backing up your data? I have an external 350 gig hard drive, but am thinking that for the important stuff I may also do a remote backup to a backup services company as well.
Beth
Tmcblane said
11:44 AM Jan 24, 2007
Beth, I keep a backup on a thumb drive and also occasionally burn info to Cd's. I use to use a zip drive but it was not dependable and after a computer crash I tried to backup from the zip drive and the discs were junk and could not be used for restore. We lost a lot of info. Don't want to do that again.
wmalefyt said
11:46 AM Jan 24, 2007
I use Picasa which is a free download from Google. It works great by finding any photos on your hard drive and organizing them. In addition I use it to download my photos from my digital camera onto my computer. You can also use Picasa to crop and enhance each picture.
I previously used Paint Shop Pro which has more features but not as user friendly as Picasa.
Tom & Paula said
03:11 PM Jan 24, 2007
Hi Beth
I also use windows to download from the camera, name (I use the date as the name of the individual photo), and store in the correct folder. I also use Picaso. With Picaso you can do the photo editing and it doesn't affect the original. If you decide the edited picture is better you can save it the windows folder and erase the original. Tom
Joan On The Road said
11:20 PM Jan 24, 2007
I've used Adobe Photoshop Elements for years and am real happy with the 5.0 upgrade I got for Christmas. It is a great improvement over prior versions. The "organizer" has album and tagging features, slide shows, slide comparisons and other neat features. It has a direct link to the Ceiva website so I can quickly upload photos to my Mom's Ceiva picture frame.
The editing features go from simple to awesome. I still have a lot to learn and need to do my 10 free tutorials on the web. I enjoy "playing" with the pictures and am enjoying the combo of my new camera (Canon Powershot S3) and my new Photoshop.
What you decide to use is really a function of how much you want/need to do with your pictures and other graphics/images. I used Picasa (free download from google) and it can do a very nice job of organizing. No harm in trying that and it does very basic enhancement and cropping. If you are interested in more than organizing take a serious look at Photoshop Elements 5.0
have fun....Joan
mikeway said
07:11 PM Jan 26, 2007
Let me preface by saying I consider my self semi-pro photo wise and my "workflows" will be considerably different.
I started out with the freebies. I used the GIMP graphic software as well as Corel Draw and Corel Paint. No longer.
My camera and probably yours comes with photo download software, for example Canon Camera Window. This software will dump your pictures anywhere. The are equivalent Nikon, Pentax??, Olympic and other manufacturers software. Canon also provides semi pro software called DPP (Digital Photo Pro). I find Canon's software great for batch processing. For a long while I used the Canon software and Photoshop Elements to raw process and fine tune the pictures.
I had a lot of pictures on my computer. I have backed them up on a semi regular basis to a external hard drive. As my files grew in size, I would typically burn 1 memory card onto CD, I use 512mb cards because they match CD size. I use CD's because too many pics at once are hard to sort and reflect on. I am now moving some groups of photos off to DVD. The 4gb+ storage helps.
I am glad I had the photos backed-up because my laptop was stolen. I lost no images from that because of the backups. I did find that I lost some shots because the CDs had failed, they are not fool proof.
I do use a MAC. I used a PC for 20 years. That is a benefit because Apple's latest photo software, Aperture, is great. I use Aperture like I used to use film darkroom tools. I often move some shots out to Photoshop CS2 for final processing. PS does somethings that Aperture can't do. I now find that Aperture and Photoshop communicate well and I use Aperture to move the photos out to smugmug where I keep the best shots, hoping some one might actually buy one, haha.
I have just down loaded Picassa Web tools for the Google/Picassa free gallery space for try out.
The MAC comes with iPhoto, a nice organizer and minimal editor too. My wife uses that exclusively.
Warning: I was a semipro portrait and wedding photographer and had a complete dark room for years. I also taught photography at the local junior college and worked the art show circuit. My taste and work flow may be more intense than you wish.
Feel free to question me via email. Your mileage will vary.
Mike
traveljunkie said
12:37 PM Jan 28, 2007
Lot's of great information. I've downloaded Picasa from Google to give it a try. I am far from a professional or semi-pro so I don't know how much photo manipulation I'll be doing - but I enjoy taking pictures and with more time once we get on the road I may actually futz with the pictures. Joan - I'm going to take a look at the Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0, it sounds like it may be good for someone that may want to start doing some editing.
Mike - wow, your photo's on smugmug are beautiful. I've been a PC user for many years as well, but have heard great things about MACs. Did you find it was difficult to change?
Beth
SoCalToolGuy said
01:31 PM Jan 28, 2007
Boy, what great info. You all seem to have answered a lot of the questions that I have. Thanks for all the input.
Mike, I checked out your galleries and your work is fantastic. It must have taken you years to develope the knowledge and abilities that you have. Keep up the great work. I even bookmarked your gallery to view from time to time. Hope to see more. Thanks.
Ray Scrafield
mikeway said
08:51 PM Jan 29, 2007
Swapping to the Mac was not difficult. My biggest hassle was finding replacements for some very specialized programming software. Not issues most would have.
Hi Beth, I actually don't use anything special for organizing. I let the windows software download any recent pics off the camera and all the one's that I scanned in I just used the software for the printer/scanner. I did create a directory under my pics folder and label if for the year and then put monthy folders under that year so I know when I took the pictures. For all the photos I scanned from past I created folders under "Mypics" breaking them up into catetorys like "Wifes family" "My Family" "the dogs" "vacations" etc. That make them easier to find. I had gotten some software with the camera called "Camedia" but like you am not convinced it is anything great, so I just use whatever windows selects for viewing and also set my desktop to use my pictures for a slideshow screensaver.
Something else important you should do. We got copies of all our medical records and I scanned all of them onto the computer and created folders and sub folders breaking them down into like "My doctor visits" 'Wifes doctor visits' 'bloodwork' 'Er visits' 'cardio records' etc, so they can be easy to find in an emergency. I then make a complete copy of all those records onto a thumb drive or jump drive whatever you want to call it and keep it handy for emergencys. With traveling you never know where you will be so having your records with you can be a life saver in an emergency. It is easy to tuck away in your purse or I actually keep it hanging by the door, although I am going to make an additional copy to keep in the truck. Seperating the folders would make finding the right info much easier for the doctor should he need to access the files. I think ALL fulltimers should do this, especially if you have any ongoing medical issues. I know I have a little ekg thing that could have saved me a couple of thousand dollars in an emergency visit if I would have had the drive with me! But I could not tell the doctor at the urgent care if what he saw was what I already had and was sent to the er room to be safe. Dummy me! Hopefully one day soon a credit card sized storage media will be used and you can transfer the info to that and just keep in your wallet.
-- Edited by Tmcblane at 08:04, 2007-01-24
I also use windows to download from the camera, name (I use the date as the name of the individual photo), and store in the correct folder.
I also use Picaso. With Picaso you can do the photo editing and it doesn't affect the original. If you decide the edited picture is better you can save it the windows folder and erase the original.
Tom
I've used Adobe Photoshop Elements for years and am real happy with the 5.0 upgrade I got for Christmas. It is a great improvement over prior versions. The "organizer" has album and tagging features, slide shows, slide comparisons and other neat features. It has a direct link to the Ceiva website so I can quickly upload photos to my Mom's Ceiva picture frame.
The editing features go from simple to awesome. I still have a lot to learn and need to do my 10 free tutorials on the web. I enjoy "playing" with the pictures and am enjoying the combo of my new camera (Canon Powershot S3) and my new Photoshop.
What you decide to use is really a function of how much you want/need to do with your pictures and other graphics/images. I used Picasa (free download from google) and it can do a very nice job of organizing. No harm in trying that and it does very basic enhancement and cropping. If you are interested in more than organizing take a serious look at Photoshop Elements 5.0
have fun....Joan
I started out with the freebies. I used the GIMP graphic software as well as Corel Draw and Corel Paint. No longer.
My camera and probably yours comes with photo download software, for example Canon Camera Window. This software will dump your pictures anywhere. The are equivalent Nikon, Pentax??, Olympic and other manufacturers software. Canon also provides semi pro software called DPP (Digital Photo Pro). I find Canon's software great for batch processing. For a long while I used the Canon software and Photoshop Elements to raw process and fine tune the pictures.
I had a lot of pictures on my computer. I have backed them up on a semi regular basis to a external hard drive. As my files grew in size, I would typically burn 1 memory card onto CD, I use 512mb cards because they match CD size. I use CD's because too many pics at once are hard to sort and reflect on. I am now moving some groups of photos off to DVD. The 4gb+ storage helps.
I am glad I had the photos backed-up because my laptop was stolen. I lost no images from that because of the backups. I did find that I lost some shots because the CDs had failed, they are not fool proof.
I do use a MAC. I used a PC for 20 years. That is a benefit because Apple's latest photo software, Aperture, is great. I use Aperture like I used to use film darkroom tools. I often move some shots out to Photoshop CS2 for final processing. PS does somethings that Aperture can't do. I now find that Aperture and Photoshop communicate well and I use Aperture to move the photos out to smugmug where I keep the best shots, hoping some one might actually buy one, haha.
My gallery
I have just down loaded Picassa Web tools for the Google/Picassa free gallery space for try out.
The MAC comes with iPhoto, a nice organizer and minimal editor too. My wife uses that exclusively.
Warning: I was a semipro portrait and wedding photographer and had a complete dark room for years. I also taught photography at the local junior college and worked the art show circuit. My taste and work flow may be more intense than you wish.
Feel free to question me via email. Your mileage will vary.
Mike
Mike - wow, your photo's on smugmug are beautiful. I've been a PC user for many years as well, but have heard great things about MACs. Did you find it was difficult to change?
Beth
Boy, what great info. You all seem to have answered a lot of the questions that I have. Thanks for all the input.
Mike, I checked out your galleries and your work is fantastic. It must have taken you years to develope the knowledge and abilities that you have. Keep up the great work. I even bookmarked your gallery to view from time to time. Hope to see more. Thanks.
Ray Scrafield
Thanks for the kinds words about my photographs.
Mike