Workflow Part 4: Exporting Files

Hey Everyone! Sorry for the delay for part 4. It has been a crazy few weeks for me. Anywhoo….. let’s get back to it. Today we will be talking about metadata and exporting files for your clients and exporting files for your blog or other social media sites. Today’s example will feature photos from a recent model shoot I did. It was fun. A big shout out to my friend Sarah Patch for the sweet make up job.

Metadata

For some reading this blog, metadata is nothing new. For others, the sound of that word makes you scratch your head. That’s okay. For a long time I didn’t really think too much about metadata. To be honest, I didn’t really know what it was or understand its value and importance. So… “what is metadata?” you ask? well here’s a very basic definition, if you will, on metadata.

Metadata: code written into a digital photo file that can identify who took the picture, what camera was used, what settings were used (exposure, shutter speed, white balance, etc.), copyright information(very important), and even GPS coordinates (fancy).

Types of Metadata: There are a few different types of metadata. Each one is governed by the organizations that develop them. Here are a few:

• IPTC – International Press Telecommunications Council
• XMP – Extensible Metadata Platform (an Adobe standard)
• EXIF – Exchangeable image file format, Maintained by CIPA (Camera & Imaging Products Association) and published by JEITA (Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association)

Before we export files out to be used, we want to make sure that we have some basic bits of information in the metadata for our photos. Both Aperture 3 and Lightroom 3 offer ways to view and edit your metadata. I would recommend looking into your owner’s guide and explore the different ways each program allows you to set and manage your metadata. For the sake of keeping it simple, here is a basic way of doing this.

Aperture 3 (Left) Lightroom 3 (Right)

In Aperture 3, you will find the metadata info when the inspector is on and displaying the metadata tab. In Lightroom 3, the metadata can be found along the right hand side. Both allow you to see and modify metadata such as the date it was shot, keywords to help tag and organize your photos, copyright info, etc. You can also see data that will tell you what some of your settings were set to, in camera, when you shot the image; even what camera you used.

Aperture 3 (left) Lightroom (right)

Whatever data you add to your files will be embedded into the file from that point forward. My recommendation would be to add basic info that includes a copyright year and your name. As a side note, I would still explore registering your work with the copyright office if you really want to protect what you shoot. We won’t cover that in this post. Just know that modifying the metadata is a good start.

Exporting Files

So… you’ve imported your images, you’ve organized your files, edited them, applied metadata…. now what? Well, let’s talk a little bit about exporting the images for your clients and for the web. Both Aperture and Lightroom allow you to easily export your images with preset sizes, color profiles and resolution. To begin this process, look for the export buttons in either program.

Aperture 3 (right) Lightroom 3 (left)

Once you begin the export process, both programs will have a menu of options that come up that allow you to select what kind of file you want to export your file as.

There are a couple of different ways I choose to give images to my clients. In this post we are going to talk about high rez .JPEG files. “Why do you use .JPEGs? Aren’t those low quality? Why Not .TIFF files?” Let me put your fears at rest my friends. There is nothing wrong with .JPEG files. Yes .TIFFs are higher in the “totem pole” of picture files but unless you plan on burning a bunch of DVDs for a few hours or a hard drive large enough to hold all of those pictures (specifically talking to you wedding photos out there), exporting your files as a .JPEG with specific settings in mind will be an excellent quality to send out to people. I’ve printed large posters from .JPEG files and .TIFF files and not until you get to a size larger than 65″ will you really begin to notice a significant difference. Let’s look at the settings for a high rez .JPEG file….

In Aperture 3 (left) I have presets for a lot of different ways to deliver photos. You can do the same in Lightroom 3 (right). LR allows you to do the same thing. I don't have any set up since Aperture is my main app to edit in. Just know that LR allows for presets as well.

To keep things simple, here is a basic set up for exporting high rez .JPEGs.

1. Keep the size of the image the same as the original. In Aperture set image size to original size. In Lightroom, under image sizing, the only thing you have to do is not check the resize to box.
2. make sure your image quality is set to the the highest setting. Aperture it’s level 12… in LR it’s 100%
3. For your color profile, set it to ProPhoto RGB. Why? Adobe’s sRGB is a great color profile to work in but in researching and reading up on the differences, it has been found that ProPhoto RGB preserves the largest amount of color. Play with it and see what you like. It’s currently the the color space I’m working with but who knows, that could change.
4. Lastly, DPI. For the high rez .JPEGs I export, I set my DPI to 300.
5. Export

Blogging & Social Media Sites

Many of us have blogs (you’re reading mine right now… hopefully). Many of us also like to post our images to sites like Facebook and Twitter. Some of those sites have size restrictions for uploading pictures. The challenge we face is this: How do we post images to these sights in a “lower size” without sacrificing the quality of the image, ALL while protecting our work from people wanting to copy and paste them for themselves?

The solution is this: experiment with various images sizes, DPI settings, etc. That’s assuming you have time and patience to experiment. If you don’t… pull together $50 and get yourself BlogStomp. BlogStomp is a set of actions that are used in Photoshop to quickly re-size, sharpen, AND watermark your photos. Once you’ve purchased and installed it, the steps are pretty easy. Check it out…

Step 1 - Send your file to Photoshop (we covered external editors in Part 2)

Step 2 - When you're in Photoshop, go to Window and pull up your Actions

Step 3 - Because this shot is a horizontal shot, I select the preset called "Solo H" and the action auto resizes my image, sharpens it to ensure that it still looks good, and automatically adds my watermark logo.

Step 4 - Press the "Solo H" button again and then go to the "STOMPED!" folder on your desktop (the set up for BlogStomp will have you place the folder there)

Step 5 - Find your image and upload it to your blog, Facebook, or Twitter.

And there you have it… Hopefully this was helpful for everyone!