Re: How do you work on a graphic

Now, here's a result of the thread I'm sure there will be very little
complaint over, but will generate a lot of points of view.  Since my
original "art forms" were network designs, I developed a habit of creating
folders for each project - then sequentially numbering the progress of each
file.  Each time I altered an image, I reserved a copy of the previous image
as a backup and had it in the sequential path so I would be able to follow
the path if necessary in order to recreate an earlier version.  I would also
open Notepad and make a few short notes relating to the saved image - after
a dozen changes remembering what I did on image2 was next to impossible -
and I would save it in the same directory.  Updating to today's tools, I do
pretty much the same thing, but I make use of the layering techniques in
Photoshop to develop images more fully.  I save my images in PSD format and
make the same notes relating to the archived images.  Once the work is done,
I go back and review some of the earlier archives to see if there's anything
there I might have use for on future projects.  Sometimes ideas develop
which have no use in one project, but may be very useful for another - Those
archives I want to save, I move to another directory for future reference
and clean up the primary working directory, getting rid of all unwanted
images.  Then I back up the directory onto diskette, put it in my one
diskette storage box for archives, and delete the directory from my hd (even
though I do have a tape backup, it's more of a habit for me to save the
archives on diskette and labeled by project - easier to grab if I need it).
It's a matter of housekeeping, but can be done pretty quickly if you just
set aside the time to do it.

This system is by no means perfect.  About every other month I find that I
still have to use the image browser in PSP to review directories that I've
lost track of.  But, what the hell, my desk is disorganized, too, and I'm
still trying to find that book on my Epson color printer!!

Disclaimer:  Any complaints about this response getting posted on the list,
in addition to being posted to the originator, should quickly use his Delete
key or filtering tools to avoid any undue clutter in his brain.

Shay

=====================================
Bare Tranquility Web Design
http://www.wcnet.net/shay/index.html
shay(at)wcnet.net  /  shay(at)Bayou.uh.edu
Member of the HTML Writer's Guild
http://www.hwg.org/
=====================================


>Hi,
>
>35 year old motion picture assistant director looking for a new career.  I
>have only made one image that I am proud of.
>
>Enough of that...
>
>As I read that "Who are you folks" thread I became fascinated at the many
>different types of people on the list.  Thus I would be interested in how
>people work through a small problem I constantly find my self in.
>
>The question is, How do you guys organize yourselves, with respect to your
>files, or versions, or drafts, you go through to complete an image?
>
>I often find myself trying to arrive at a base image so I can move on to
the
>next set of changes I want to make.  Maybe I will start off with some
vector
>clipart, color it with something and export it to a bitmap.  A few hours
>later I might decide that those colors stink, so back to the drawing board.
>As I make changes, sometimes moving forward and sometimes moving back, I
>look at my hard drive and find a million files.  Heaven forbid I was pulled
>away from the effort for a day or so, when I return I have trouble making
>sense of the path I was taking with the image.
>
>So my question is directed at finding out how others save, and where they
>save and what scheme people use throughout their development process.
>
>Right now I tend to make folders that loosely equate to the "generation" of
>an image.
>
>What do you guys do?
>
>Brian Boyd
>kyron(at)zonesys.com
>
>

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