Do you have a lot of time?

So you've decided that there are a bunch of old slides or negatives you want to get scanned and put into some type of an archive system. If that's you then you'll need to decide how much time you really want to invest in the project. The industry standard that has been quoted to me is 15 minutes per image.

Yep, that's four images in an hour,  times eight hours of work,  and you'll have a grand total of 32 images archived for one days worth of work.

Can't be true you say. Think about it.

You need to find the negatives or slides, sort them, put them into a scanner and scan them at a high resolution. Then you'll need to retouch and color correct the image and save it in a format that you've set as your standard. Then you should write some type of a description and add in a few keywords before moving it into your Digital Asset Management System. And just to tidy up you'll need to refile those negatives or slide.

It's a lot of detail work and it takes time.

What's in a Name?

When you decide to archive your digital images you need to decide on how you will name your files and stick with it FOREVER!!!

If you change your naming conventions or don't have a standard good luck finding your images later on. Sure it might work out one or two years later but how about 10 to 15 years out. Just try to find img_6745.jpg in a pile of 20,000 images in twelve folders on two hard drives.

A good system is to use YYYYMMDD_Filename. You can also use MMDDYYY_Filename. It's a good system to use and you can batch rename your raw files or jpegs using a variety of programs.

So, for example, a photo taken on July 2, 2011 would be called 20110702_filename or 07022011_filename.

Whatever you decide, remember you need to stick to that system.

It's DAM not dam!

It's Digital Asset Management or DAM for short. Someone with a sense of humor must have come up with the title. More than likely they worked in a newsroom where the statement "Where's the dam photo"!? has been uttered since the Speed Graphic came into usage. Some do call it Digital Image Management or DIM. I'm not sure that's much better.

It's about being able to manage the images you produce when you are a photographer so why not call it Photo Image Management or PIM for short? Right now I'll go with the common usage for this blog but I'm open to suggestions.

Welcome to the Pixel Archivist

Hello, if you are reading this then you must have some involvement with the management of digital files and the process of archiving them. Given that almost everyone now uses a digital camera it should cover at least 90% of the population. I've been a digital shooter since 1994 when prices were expensive and megapixels were small. I'd like this to be a place for the exchange of ideas on how best to manage digital images and keep them for future generations to enjoy.