Photography Workflow, File Management and Delivery

Lessons in this course

1. 1

   Building a Reliable Capture-to-Delivery Workflow

   Learn the stages of a reliable photography workflow, from import and backup to culling, editing, export, delivery and archiving, and how to build your own.

   6 min
2. 2

   Importing Photographs

   Learn how to import photos safely: card readers, copying instead of moving, renaming and metadata on import, backing up, and when to format the card.

   5 min
3. 3

   Culling and Selecting the Strongest Images

   Learn how to cull photos efficiently: multi-pass selection, flags, stars and color labels, what to keep and reject, and how to use AI culling wisely.

   5 min
4. 4

   Folders, Naming Systems and Metadata

   Learn how to organize photos with a simple folder structure, a consistent file naming system, and EXIF, IPTC and XMP metadata including copyright information.

   6 min
5. 5

   Keywords and Searchable Image Libraries

   Learn how to keyword photos so you can find them in seconds: useful keywords, keyword hierarchies, collections, smart searches and AI tagging.

   5 min
6. 6

   Backup, Redundancy and Data Protection

   Learn how to protect your photos with the 3-2-1 backup rule, why RAID and sync are not backups, how versioned cloud backup helps, and why to test restores.

   5 min
7. 7

   RAW Development Workflow

   Learn a reliable order for developing RAW photos, from profiles and white balance to tone, color, detail and local edits, plus syncing and presets.

   6 min
8. 8

   Non-Destructive Editing Principles

   Learn what non-destructive editing means and how catalogs, sidecars, virtual copies, adjustment layers and masks protect your original photos.

   5 min
9. 9

   Proofing and Client Selections

   Learn how to present proofs so clients can choose photos easily: proofing galleries, watermarks, selection limits, deadlines and retouch requests.

   5 min
10. 10

    Export Settings for Web and Social Media

    Learn the export settings that matter for web and social media: file type, size, quality, color space, sharpening, metadata, watermarks and presets.

    5 min
11. 11

    Export Settings for Print

    Learn how to export photos for printing: file type, pixel dimensions and ppi, cropping to print shape, color space, print sharpening and lab rules.

    5 min
12. 12

    Client Delivery and File Packaging

    Learn how to deliver final photos professionally: online galleries and download links, web and print file sets, clear naming, usage notes and privacy.

    5 min
13. 13

    Archiving and Long-Term Preservation

    Learn how archiving differs from backup, which file formats last, why storage must be migrated, how checksums detect damage, and what to keep long term.

    5 min