17 October 2009

I currently need to process my files for 3 different uses:

• To sell royalty free on Microstock
• To sell rights managed on Alamy
• For personal use and this blog

The first 2 of these have somewhat different requirements - Alamy images need to be upsized correctly and can't be sharpened (or edited if they're editorial), whereas microstock can't be upsized and needs to be free of any trademarks.

The following is the workflow I use for all my files. Although I have had different approaches in past, I've now adjusted my approach to make sure that I'm treating files the same. My workflow has been made significantly easier by using Isyndica - this allows me to have a second keyword check once the images are online, and to broadcast them to all the microstock sites very quickly and efficiently.

Summary of workflow

Raw Conversion:

1. Save RAW files to Laptop
2. Open directory in Olympus Studio
   • tag all images in Red that I want to process further including all files for alamy, RF and personal use
   • tag images for Panoramas in green
   • Develop red tagged RAW files with: sharpness-2, Noise Reduction off, Color profile: vivid, and Distortion correction applied. Save files to my developed folder as 16-bit Tiff files
   • Develop green tagged files with the same settings as above, except add a step to synchronize the white balance within each set of panorama files, and save as EXIF Tiff instead of 16-bit (this is so that the panorama software can read the data and line up the images better)
   • Delete any obvious rejected files

   Perspective, rotation and Chromatic aberration (CA) correction

3. Open working directory with PTLens - Check sharpness & adjust all images for Chromatic Aberration, perspective and Rotation & click on "apply" which saves a TIFF file

Metadata tagging

4. Open directory in Bridge and add Title, Description, Country and basic Keywords to files

Editing, Levels adjustment & Cloning

5. Open each file separately in Photoshop Elements
   • Check and adjust levels if necessary
   • for Alamy files, upsize image to necessary size:
     • 4:3 image - size should be 5000*3750
     • 3:2 image - size should be 5200*3476
     • 1:1 image - size should be 4200*4200
   • convert to 8 bit (ie. PS Elements doesn't allow many edits to be done on 16bit files)
   • Edit as necessary: eg. clone out trademarks, dust spots or any hot pixels
   • Create duplicate layer to carry out selective noise reduction with Neatimage on sky and areas with little detail
   • Merge layers
   • Save JPEG file at maximum quality as either RF microstock, personal or Alamy in relevant "ready for upload folder
6. Delete 16 bit Tiff files

Uploading & Syndication of files - Microstock

7. Upload microstock images to Isyndica and move to respective uploaded folders
8. Review Keywords and description using Isyndica's web based form
9. Syndicate from Isyndica to all 10 agencies that I use for microstock images and to my Smugmug gallery
10. Finish off files by opening each microstock site and adding categories etc.
11. Adjust metadata on files uploaded to IStock with Deepmeta

Alamy

12. Upload images to Alamy and move file to uploaded folder
13. Edit metadata once image batch has been approved so that image is available online

Backup

14. Backup RAW files to DVD + send away for storage

Detailed Notes:

Sharpening The key to this workflow is that images are sharp in the first place. That means using high quality optics. By not applying Noise reduction images aren't softened before you've even started working on the files either. Not applying digital sharpening means that compression and sharpening artifacts are not introduced into the image. A further benefit is that the images are able to be sharpened as the final stage - on images sold for print through Smugmug this is set at the final stage by the printer.

Noise Reduction I only apply a small amount of Noise reduction by using Neat image on a separate layer that is then blended at about 50% opacity. The layer is only applied to areas tend to show noise - ie. low contrast areas such as skies. The reason for the light approach is that it looks better when viewed on a computer screen at 100% (for the pixel peeping image inspectors) even though in print there would be no noise evident. While I could make everything look silky smooth - I personally don't like a plastic look that this gives, and it risks resulting in "banding" on skies in some printers and screens (particularly those that don't support a sufficient spectrum of blue and need to rely on interpolation).

16 Bit Tiff Files?? Yes these are huge and strip off metadata. The reason I've opted for using this up to the final stages is that I want the maximum latitude to be able to adjust levels on an image in photoshop without introducing artifacts, seeing as I'm not doing it in Olympus Studio because its painfully slow when it comes to doing more than the basic adjustments that I can automate.

File management While many prefer to use an image management system like Lightroom or Aperture, I've found that these are too resource intensive for a portable system. Simply they chew up too much space, and become slow and clunky with a big library of images on a Laptop. The applications I use tend to be fairly lightweight, and can handle pretty big files (ie. 69.8 megabite TIFF files) quickly.

Image editing I tend to limit the image manipulation I do in Photoshop to cloning out trademarks on billboards, noise reduction and adjusting levels. I'm not one to replace skies etc or delve heavily into HDR. Night photos are done by taking images when the ambient light balances with real light - this can create unrealistic looking images, such as through smoothing out water, but the effect is achieved in-camera, not through photoshop or HDR.

Software

The software I use is:

• Olympus Studio 2.0 for raw conversions (AUD$119.95 or AUD$59.95 if upgrading - extortionate considering how clunky it is - google it for your local version)
• PTLens as a Standalone application for removing CA and distortion (US$25 license)
• Photoshop Elements 6.0 - which comes with Bridge (ax.$80-129 depending on where you get it)
• Isyndica (free - $39/mth - I currently use a $9.99 plan)
• Deepmeta (free)
• Hugin  for panorama stitching (Free)
• Smugmug - which hosts the gallery and images on a subdomain of this site and facilitates print purchases ($39.95, $59.95 or $149.95 per year depending on plan - I use the $149/year plan on this site).

Disclosure

I currently participate in a referral program for Isyndica. Subscribing through these links won't cost you any extra to use this service or preclude you from any of their discounts or offers. Nor does it alter the advise I give about using a product. For more details on my thoughts about disclosure see my discosure and advertising page.

Smugmug also has a program offering new subscribers a $5 discount on their first year if you sign up using my (or any of the 1000's of other coupon codes that can be found through Google!) code when you sign up MsL5wMS7s3tmU Using this code would give me a 1 off $10 discount on my next renewal there.