Workflow is the technical route followed from a picture concept through to a final image. In most cases this can be divided into a series of five steps. These are:

●   image capture;

●   download;

●   post-capture handling;

●   output; and

●   cataloguing and archiving.

Image capture involves translating an idea into a latent image. One of the biggest technical decisions is whether to set a digital camera to RAW or JPEG capture mode. RAW provides the ultimate in quality and flexibility, but generates large files and implies a lot of work at later stages. A RAW file may be likened to an unprocessed film whose characteristics have yet to be fully defined. The JPEG option compresses image data to a fraction of its original size but, if the highest-quality option is selected, may be considered virtually lossless. The savings in terms of memory-card usage are consequently substantial. However, JPEG files cannot be manipulated and repeatedly stored without significant loss of quality. The JPEG option may therefore be likened to a processed film bearing images whose characteristics are fully defined.

Once shooting has finished, or the memory card is full, images must be transferred, or downloaded, to another storage device. This might be a desk-top or portable computer, or a portable hard drive equipped with its own miniature display screen. The memory card can be connected directly to a computer using a USB or Firewire cable, placed in a hardware card reader or PCMCIA adapter connected to a computer, or connected directly to a portable mass storage device. The memory card can then be cleared and reused.

Post-capture handling begins once images have been transferred to a workstation. Selection, deletion, sizing, cropping, colour correction and other manipulation can be done in countless different ways, but it is always important to retain a copy of the original image. It is all too easy to destroy original work by mistaken manipulation. A good filing system and file-naming convention helps to keep original and manipulated images well apart. Selection must be undertaken as objectively as possible. Digital capture encourages profligacy so examine images carefully and then use the delete button where necessary.

When everything possible has been done to improve or optimise an image, it should be safely stored under its proper name in its logical position in a filing system. It can then be printed or written to a CD or DVD for use elsewhere. Prints and CDs should be labelled with the appropriate filename, and dated and copyright marked where necessary. It should then be relatively easy to return to the final file at a later date to generate further copies.

Final cataloguing and archiving is extremely important but often neglected. It is addressed elsewhere on this website and so need not be repeated in detail here. Suffice it to say that computers and hard disks will eventually fail, so a regular properly-organised back-up and archiving regime will one day be worth its weight in gold!