The DAM Book, 2nd Edition

Chapter 7. Ingestion Workflow

In this chapter we will begin the workflow section, detailing how we can put the principles of the preceding chapters into practice. In the first part of the chapter, we’ll look at the best practices of image ingestion—the phase in the image lifecycle when images are downloaded and initially processed. In the second part, we will look at two pieces of software that you can use to automate the process—Lightroom and ImageIngesterPro.

• Image Ingestion: Overview

• Ingestion with Lightroom

• Ingestion with ImageIngesterPro

Image Ingestion: Overview

The ingestion phase in the image lifecycle occurs when you download images and perform some basic processing tasks. In this phase, the vast majority of the work you do to the pictures can be automated. Let’s take a look at the tasks we need to accomplish during the ingestion phase.

1. Download: Move the images from the camera to the computer.

2. Rename: Give the images a unique name, preferably a permanent name.

3. Apply bulk metadata: Tag images with whatever information is common to the whole group.

4. Apply image settings: Tag the images with some rendering instructions as a starting point for the image adjustments.

5. Backup: Make at least one, and preferably two additional copies of the images.

6. Convert to DNG (optional): You can make a DNG in the ingestion process and take advantage of the data validation hash for added security.

7. Send to ...