A couple other good books;
Adobe PhotoshopCS for Photographers - Martin Evening - Focal Press
The PhotoshopCD book for Digital Photographers - Kelby - New Riders
Both of these books walk you through scenarios which are common to Photographers. Easy to follow, and you can learn quickly. The "Classroom in a book" series that Solares mentioned is also excellent. Any one of these books should give you the basics, then the rest will be up to you.
Honu,
As previous replies mentioned, you should get fairly dust free scans. But, like any darkroom, you should expect to be required to spot a couple areas.
Ok, long winded here.... proceed at your own risk!! However, its hard to answer your question without being somewhat verbose. Here goes.....
For archiving and storage, that could take a book by itself. Here is the basics of what I do, but keep in mind that I do this professionally with stills, video, and audio, and I'm responsible for the content to my clients. If I loose a days worth of work, it could cost me from a few hundred to a couple thousand dollars to re shoot it.
Once I acquire the footage or stills, the first thing I do is archive them to CD or DVD (for images) before I do anything else. I copy them to a working direction on my hard disk. I leave them on the original media for the time being. Then I make two CD's, one labeled 'Archive Master, and the other labeled 'Archive Backup'. Each CD gets a unique ID, being the date, category (Personal, Business, Data, etc), and a disk number for multiple disks written that day. Ie,;
The ID - 041014PA would mean the following;
04=2004
10=Oct
14=14th
P=Personal. B=Business, D=Data, etc
A=first disk written on this day, B=2nd, C=3rd, etc.
This code is also used in the image filename, so that there is always a reference to actual disk where the image is located. I use the batch file renaming utility in ACDSEE. The filename would look something like this;
041014PA-OldOrchardBeach-DSC02234.RAF (.JPG, etc)
The DSC02234 is the filename assigned in camera,and serves to keep a unique numbering scheme. I only really add the CD id, and something to serve as a comment for the days shooting.
Once I have the CD written, I read it with my digital image database (IMatch). This allows me to keep low res images on disk for quick reference, assign keywords for searching, job nbrs, client id, content, etc. The filename now also serves as a secondary way to located the original CD outside of the database, as well as a searchable keyword.
So now I have 2 CDs that are verified good, a copy of the images on my hard disk with a reference to the CD, and all the images are cataloged into a database for searching, etc. I can now format or delete the images from the original compact flash, memory stick, or??, and file the CDs. The original CD gets stored in a binder, and the backup CD gets stored in a separate binder. I typically store the second binder off site.
The originals are now safe for 10 years or so, at which time I will move them to whatever is replacing the current technology. The very early images were on floppies and zip disks, and now reside on 1yr old CDs and DVDs. You will need to migrate the images to new media every 10years or so to keep them current and safe, and the originals on the old media will serve as yet another backup for as long as the media holds out.
Ok, now all I have to deal with is the working image files. I have some software (SecondCopy) and an external hard drive that automatically backups all files on my hard disk to the external disk automatically. This happens daily for the hard disk, and a couple times a day for the working directory. I have immediate access to the external hard drive, and if need be (fire, terrorist, mad housewife), I can grab the disk and run knowing all my data, images, etc, are safe.
Once I finish manipulating the images I desire (I just delete any unmanipulated images since I have the identical version safe on multiple CD's), I put it in a temporary directory which is a waiting ground to be burned to CD just as the originals were. When I get enough to fill a CD or DVD, I give it an ID the same way (with a code W=working images), tag the ID to the filename, add it to my database.
The best part is that even though most everything is stored on CD's, I have complete access to all my images via the thumbnails, full screen previews, and they are all fully searchable and can be called up and displayed in mere seconds. If I need anything over 640x480 res, I just pull the original CD from the files and copy it to my working directory.
I think one of the keys is to have the CDs created with an ID number, and include the ID number as part of the filename. Then use a catalog program to catalog all the images for easy reference. Everything at your finger tips, and the originals safely tucked away until needed.
The other key for longevity is to have multiple copies of your images on media, and migrate the images from the media before it ages, or when new technologies becomes the new standard. Basically, find out what the stock image houses, National Geographic, newspapers, etc, are doing for archiving all their images. Try to use the same base technologies since. This will pretty much guarantee that you will have a viable migration path for your images in the future. Currently, CD's, DVDs', and hard disks are very safe until new technologies come along. CD's should safely give you 15 years, and by them, either move them to new CD's, or migrate to whatever new technology is being used.
Thats my process. It probably wouldn't be so complicated if I was only shooting for myself. But since I'm doing it for work, its easy to just add my stuff to the workflow and go with the program.
Hope it helps....
No, I didn't speel check or proffred for gramer. And I ain't gonna either!! Way to long to do that!
