asset management
Workfl ow sequence
- Transfer images
It does not really matter which method you use to transfer your images to your computer (card
reader, Image Tank or directly from the camera) so long as it uses a high-speed connection
(USB 2 or Firewire) it is a relatively quick and painless process. The source of the images may
be different but the destination should always be the same - a named folder in the ‘Pictures/My
Pictures’ folder of your computer’s hard drive. It is possible to move the image folder directly from
the ‘source’ to the Pictures folder using no software, but in this ‘auto/I can outsmart you/age’
an application usually opens as soon as new images are detected at the other end of a USB or
Firewire connection. These automated applications should be disabled unless they give you the
option to save the fi les to a named folder in the Pictures folder of the hard drive.
On a Mac iPhoto is programmed to spring into life, but this can be a mixed blessing. iPhoto may
be great for the family snaps (iPhoto 5 and 6 even manage the movie clips you captured on your
digicam) but iPhoto has several drawbacks for professional quality digital asset management.
iPhoto only supports a limited range of RAW fi les and does not embed ‘keywords’ directly into the
fi le. Keywords are used to describe the image content and can be used to fi nd a fi le when the fi le
name has been forgotten - a bit like searching for a web page when you do not know the URL.
This means that if you separate the images from the system the keywords are still with the system
and not with the images. A different computer will be unable to search these fi les for a description
of their content. Due to these limitations it is recommended that you disable iPhoto if you are
using a Mac computer. You can disable iPhoto on a Mac by opening ‘Image Capture’ from the
‘Applications’ folder. In the ‘Preferences’ of Image Capture you can specify ‘No Application’.