Luc Latulippe

For me labeling files has always been a nightmare and no matter what system I invent and how relevant it seems, it always proves ineffective in the long run. So I gave it up completely and today I rely only on metadata. The first step is to add the tags. I use one or max. of two words bundled together.

I found that tags consisting of three or more words don’t work for me, so I add this information in the description. This is the place where I put the publishing info as well - usually in the beginning of the description.

I also add the exact date of creation which I find quite important. And if there’s a collection which has a common theme or was done for a particular purpose, I also use the old folder system. I recently discovered there’s a “Category” section in the new XMP metadata panel that comes with Adobe CS3, and I think it would help me to get rid of the folders completely.

I try to add the metadata as soon as possible, sometimes even as I am working on the file and I usually do it in the corresponding program - in my case it’s mostly Photoshop or Illustrator. I also use Bridge if I have to correct something later. Lightroom offers the same functionality but what I don’t like in both of them is the flexibility of the search - it’s not integrated very well in the interface.
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After long and painful experience, I keep the technology as relatively lo-tech as possible backed up with hard copies.

The trouble with tying yourself to a particular software is that they all come and go and even versions have trouble staying usable over time.

So what I do is reduce everything to combinations of simple text notes & or lists with catalogs made up in whatever convenient software but saved as pdfs using my own horizontal (because screens are horizontal) layout. I do use software to catalog the backup CDs (which are nowDVDs) but make sure there is also a printed version in a file.

When I finish a job I take a screen snap of the cover or distinguishing identifier and add it to a rtfd file with important notes as to client contact, printer, sources used etc. This is saved along with a pdf version in the job archive so they all go together.

The important thing is that there is a file that sticks with a completed archive on the computer archive and ALSO that there is a hard printed copy that goes with the paperwork. You need both to back each other up when things go pear shaped.

Hey Luc, does the Amazon thing work for your actual illustration archives, or is this for the JPG website quality stuff? I suppose your EPS/vector files are a lot smaller than my 25-layer PSD files, but when one of my job folders is 125mb, and complete books are in the 5-6gb range, is Amazon’s thing viable?
I have a 500gb drive here at the house, and another that mirrors it at the studio. I back up finished jobs to these drives in year folders, and it’s these drives that I plan to open up and start tagging in Bridge/Lightroom. I originally planned to caeorize sketches and picture reference and everything, but then I realized that was insane. So what I’ll do is have a cheap former-student take all the final TIF files and label them with star ratings or color or whatever. Then he/she will tag these with keywords, client name, dates, etc. Naming systems, don’t know yet. Likely something like you suggest, but with date in there as well. Once this is done it will allow me to export JPG files for whatever purposes I need, and they’ll already have the keywords and metadata attached.
I’ve not started using ZenPhoto on my site yet, but it does pick up metadata and allows keyword-based searches. These search-results can then be saved as a dynamic ‘gallery’ which opens up all kinds of possibilities. So I might have a link to all my robot illustrations on my illustration page, and when I add a new robot illustration, that robot gallery automatically includes it. My life will be complete.

Oh hey me again, just commenting on something “rubaiyat” writes. You’re right that software comes and goes, but the EXIF and more importantly the IPTC metadata is standard across all of them. IPTC is what photo-journalists use to tag their shots in the field and gives fields for descriptions, title, caption, copyright, tags, categories, all kinds of stuff. So all the tagging I did with iView two years ago is still valid with Lightroom now.

I’d also recommend to everyone “The DAM Book” and website http://www.thedambook.com/

Mostly for photogs, but very useful for anyone trying to back up and organize digital files.

Thanks Brian! Re: Amazon S3, yes you can upload anything, not just JPGs. I’ll have to check what the upload-limit-per-file is (or whether or not there even is one), but I’ve had no problems so far. An illustrator friend signed up for it and spent a couple of days FTP’ing several hundred illustration files to his account.

I purchased my external drive almost four years ago, but it’s only 150GB. Having something bigger would be good. I’m hearing good things about www.drobo.com and may turn to that as an answer.

Thanks !

Thanks Brian, must confess I never got into the EXIF data thing. Seemed to me a lot of work but I might try it again after reading your link.

Just me being me, but I am not keen on things that aren’t immediately apparent. The EXIF is something you have to look for and if it is not there you don’t even know to *not* look for it.

Too much data is like Russian dolls hidden within each other. Gordon Ramsay tells of his apprenticeship when he had his head ripped off by the chef because of a duck, in a pastry topped dish, that wasn’t there when the oven was opened 1.5hrs later.

It never was there to start with, the cook hadn’t looked in his haste when putting it in the oven. There was nothing to tell it wasn’t there and it turned into a useless dish when it came to serve it.

File formats are often like that.

I was searching for the same solution about How do you organize your illustrations and finally i found you through Google search :) mind blowing!.

Now I use A3 almost exclusively. I back up to it every week or two. It’s incredibly cheap, and extremely dependable. It’s perfect for my needs.

I also have a secondary hard-drive in my office which performs automatic backups twice a week.

My filing system remains essentially the same. After giving it a second look, I realized my current naming system isn’t so bad really. I’ve also started adding the date at the end of it. So, an illustration about cell phones for the Wall Street Journal, completed during March of 2009, would look like this: “WSJ_cellphones_mar2009.eps”

I haven’t bothered with any meta-tagging yet, although I have used the “Spotlight Comment” header (in the Finder, on the Mac) to add keywords. It would at least be more searchable than it is now.

I think backup storage is best in this case on 1 pc and a portable external HD.