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Photo Forum / Film Photography / Darkroom / March 2006

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Software

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Lew - 02 Mar 2006 20:33 GMT
I'm curious to know if list members think that it's desirable to manage
their profession/avocation with software and, if so, what features they
need.
-Lew
rafe b - 02 Mar 2006 20:45 GMT
> I'm curious to know if list members think that it's desirable to manage
> their profession/avocation with software and, if so, what features they
> need.

I try not to let software manage me.  I prefer it the other way around.

rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com
Lew - 02 Mar 2006 22:01 GMT
... so do you use a software package or not?

>> I'm curious to know if list members think that it's desirable to manage
>> their profession/avocation with software and, if so, what features they
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> rafe b
> www.terrapinphoto.com
David Nebenzahl - 02 Mar 2006 22:12 GMT
Lew spake thus:

> ... so do you use a software package or not?
>
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>>
>> I try not to let software manage me.  I prefer it the other way around.

What kind of software are you referring to: accounting software? tax
software? time management? what?

Signature

A: Top posting.
Q: What's the most annoying thing about Usenet?

Lew - 02 Mar 2006 22:15 GMT
I'm curious to know if list members think that it's desirable to manage
their photographic profession/avocation with software and, if so, what
features they need.
-Lew

> Lew spake thus:

> What kind of software are you referring to: accounting software? tax
> software? time management? what?
rafe b - 02 Mar 2006 22:16 GMT
> ... so do you use a software package or not?

Probably not the sort of "packages" you're thinking of.

Ie., there's no single package that deals with all
aspects of my "profession" or any single "avocation."

What sorts of packages did you have in mind?
Can you give examples?

rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com
Lew - 02 Mar 2006 22:50 GMT
   I don't have any package in mind. I can't give any examples because
that's what I'm asking for. If you do use any "package," in any way you care
to construe that term, what is it? Otherwise, what aspects, if any, of your
interest in photography do you manage with your computer and what software
do you use?
-Lew

>> ... so do you use a software package or not?
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> rafe b
> www.terrapinphoto.com
rafe b - 02 Mar 2006 23:21 GMT
> I don't have any package in mind. I can't give any examples because that's
> what I'm asking for. If you do use any "package," in any way you care to
> construe that term, what is it? Otherwise, what aspects, if any, of your
> interest in photography do you manage with your computer and what software
> do you use?

I use various image editors and viewers, RAW conversion
programs, scanner drivers, profile-generation tools, image-
cleaning tools (eg. NeatImage.)  I use FTP to deal with my
website, and all the usual internet clients.  I've thought a bit
about "digital asset management" but am still getting by with
a low-tech approach to all that.

At this point, the I'm sure the natives are wondering what any
of this has to do with darkrooms.

rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com
Lew - 02 Mar 2006 23:31 GMT
I see that you are reluctant to name names, perhaps wisely so. I have many
years of accumulated trips, projects, negatives, positives, prints,
developer time/temp combos, notes about same and storage solutions that I'd
like to relate to each other in an efficient way. It's a case of "analog
asset management" that stems from using a darkroom.
-Lew

> I use various image editors and viewers, RAW conversion
> programs, scanner drivers, profile-generation tools, image-
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> rafe b
> www.terrapinphoto.com
Frank Calidonna - 03 Mar 2006 00:34 GMT
> I see that you are reluctant to name names, perhaps wisely so. I have many
> years of accumulated trips, projects, negatives, positives, prints,
> developer time/temp combos, notes about same and storage solutions that I'd
> like to relate to each other in an efficient way. It's a case of "analog
> asset management" that stems from using a darkroom.
> -Lew
Since you are talking mainly of non digital items I would imagine a good
database, such as Access, would do the job. That is what I am starting
to use to track my negatives, prints, etc. I still use PFS File, but am
slowly adding things to an Access file because it allows me to put an
image in the datbase and PFS does not. If you don't need a relational
database or a picture there are some old programs that really do the job
well.

Of course you have to have a system already in place. Be prepared to do
a LOT of cataloging if you don't have a system already. If you do then
write your own database with a DB program  and be ready to do a lot of
wotk putting it all into your database. It helps to have help in data
entry - a friend, wife, girlfriend, hired temp.

Frank
Lew - 03 Mar 2006 01:03 GMT
Well, I'm wondering if there are any commercial products out there that do
this. You've created the Access/PFS solution yourself.
-Lew

> Since you are talking mainly of non digital items I would imagine a good
> database, such as Access, would do the job. That is what I am starting to
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>
> Frank
Nicholas O. Lindan - 03 Mar 2006 01:46 GMT
software photographer business management

and in 0.30 seconds Google spake thusly:

http://www.hindsightltd.com/

I don't know if this stuff is any good at all.

Practice management software, outside of the dental/medical and legal
fields, is pretty grim.

You may want to expand your search to software for managing a print
shop.

One software package that does everything doesn't exist.  Look for several
packages that you put together to make up a suite.  If you are not into IT
then a simple solution may be:

o Finances - Quick Books/Turbo Tax

o Time management - Palm

o Office - Corel or Microsoft

o Work - PhotoShop

o Data - Whatever database program comes with the office software

A spreadsheet makes a nice start for keeping track of data.  When you figure
out what you want to track then you can move it to a database program.

This selection of software to run a practice is generic - nothing whiz-bang -
reason being it has been shown to work well.

Start by looking at what you keep track of now and limit your software to
managing
just that.  Don't look to the future until the present is well looked after.
The trap is a tendency to automate -everything- and track -everything- and
the job never finishes and the software never works.  Successful programs
throw requirements out the window as they progress, disasters have new
requirements
thrown in continuously.

If you are shooting stock then I am sure there are some good packages for
keeping
track of images.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer:  Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
Peter Chant - 03 Mar 2006 08:26 GMT
>  o Office - Corel or Microsoft

Its worth checking out open office.
Mike King - 03 Mar 2006 14:08 GMT
I use Open Office and love it for correspondence, spreadsheets, etc.  My
wife is back in school and cursed me daily for refusing to buy Microsoft
Office since that was what the school used and what she wanted to use and
needed for MLA stylesheets and whatever, since she had taken courses in
Office and wasn't flexible enough to adapt to Open Office I finally relented
and got her a copy of Word.  Same thing, school uses XP so I have to buy XP,
XP won't run on her perfectly good PIII (that I built) so I have to buy her
a P4 (I hate bloated cow software).

Most of what I really need could be done in DOS using pfs:Write, Multiplan
and pfs:File.  My invoice program is really just a template I designed in
pfs:Write in 1985, I print a copy of each invoice (that's my "backup" for
the computer), manually transfer  totals to a spreadsheet and use Turbo Tax
to do my taxes each year.  Negative file is in another spreadsheet and
that's it.

Signature

darkroommike

>
> >  o Office - Corel or Microsoft
>
> Its worth checking out open office.
Nicholas O. Lindan - 03 Mar 2006 01:56 GMT
> Well, I'm wondering if there are any commercial products out there that do
> [something, so you don't have to mess with db design].

As Frank stated, the issue isn't the database software: it is the data.

If you want to catalog a life-time accumulation of photographs prepare
to hire a clerk-typist to do the data entry.

First, though, write down what it is that you can't do now but that you
would be able to do if all the data was on a computer.  Then estimate how
much time you spend doing these tasks manually.  You may come to the conclusion
that it is just not worth the effort to automate.  If the computer won't
save you time in doing a task then don't let the computer do it -- else you
end up slave to the machine.

Signature

Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer:  Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix  . netcom . com
Fstop timer -  http://www.nolindan.com/da/fstop/index.htm

Lew - 03 Mar 2006 04:11 GMT
Actually, among my other hats, I'm a database application designer and
programmer, so I'm aware of the process and overhead.
Nicholas O. Lindan - 03 Mar 2006 14:45 GMT
> Actually, among my other hats, I'm a database application designer and
> programmer, so I'm aware of the process and overhead.

So _you_ should be telling _us_ how to do it...

Signature

Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer:  Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix  . netcom . com
Fstop timer -  http://www.nolindan.com/da/fstop/index.htm

Lew - 03 Mar 2006 16:39 GMT
   Well, I'm not asking _how_ to do it, rather what people find useful to
do and how compelling a case they make for doing it. If there were any
existing programs that assisted with darkroom work my guess is that members
of this list would be using them and have strong opinions about which ones
were best along with which features worked well for them & which didn't. Of
course I think about writing my own software, but I won't if a strong
product is already out there.
   Here's my list of stuff so far:

1. Shooting:
   date/time
   location
   film type
   ie
   subjects
   notes

2. Processing:
   cross reference #1
   process date
   developer
   time/temp
   notes

3. Proofing
   cross ref #1 (will infer #2)
   proof date
   frame selection
   notes

4. Printing
   Cross ref all of the above plus frame id
   print date
   Paper & grade
   Developer
   Title
   Notes

The most problamatic so far is #4. How to keep the computer dark and
chemical free in the darkroom. Entering notes for individual prints after a
session for 20 - 40 prints has got to be an enormous pia.

>> Actually, among my other hats, I'm a database application designer and
>> programmer, so I'm aware of the process and overhead.
>
> So _you_ should be telling _us_ how to do it...
rafe b - 03 Mar 2006 16:57 GMT
> The most problamatic so far is #4. How to keep the computer dark and
> chemical free in the darkroom. Entering notes for individual prints after
> a session for 20 - 40 prints has got to be an enormous pia.

Why not forget about a keyboard (in the darkroom)
and just enter recorded audio.  You could transcribe
that later.

rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com
Nicholas O. Lindan - 03 Mar 2006 19:18 GMT
"Lew" <lew@speakeasy.net> wrote

> Well, I'm not asking _how_ to do it, rather what

Dawn breaks...

>     Here's my list [of image related stuff to
>     keep track of in the computer] so far:
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>     film type
>     ie

i.e. what?

>     subjects
>     notes

I would index by roll:  Film type and development only
exist once for the whole roll.  The roll points to a
series of entries for frames by subject and the subject
is itself a key to a subject database.  

I would guess normally only two or three frames per roll would
have detailed data.  Some would have "ditto" : most of mine in my paper
notebook are:

  ""   + 1/2

So I would make that sort of thing easy.

If you are a zoney there should be a way of attaching a
zone system worksheet to an exposure.  Again a sparse tree.

I imagine this would all be logged with a Palm or a Pocket-PC,
or would a notebook PC be available at the shoot?

For the non database [db] folks that means there is only one copy
of the word 'dog' in the data base and all pictures
of a dog have a pointer to this one copy.  This
gets around problems of some labeled Dog, some dog
some Dogg: the computer can have trouble picking up all
the misspellings and variations in nomenclature and realizing
they are all the same thing.  It is like having categories
for saving mail or keeping track of favorite sites: the
name of the 'box' is the subject index - all websites
with lamp jokes would go under jokes/lamp.  With a database
it is possible to have the same data organized in different
ways: all pictures taken of dogs, all pictures of anything
taken in March 1984, all pictures taken with Tri-X.

One can spend forever on database

> 2. Processing:
>     cross reference #1
>     process date
>     developer
>     time/temp
>     notes

Processing data would be part of roll data: indexes to
chemicals with space for notes on variations - 1:1, stand, ....

> 3. Proofing
>     cross ref #1 (will infer #2)
>     proof date
>     frame selection
>     notes

Again this is part of roll data.  It is 1:1 correspondence
with rolls.

> 4. Printing
>     Cross ref all of the above plus frame id
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>     Title
>     Notes

Roll/subject/frame

Again a sparse tree, 1:1 correspondence to exposure so it
should be part of the exposure data.

I would start by looking at what you track now with paper and
put that, and only that, on the computer.  That way you quickly
get a working kernel that you add to when you see additional
needs and you know when the design is done.

> The most problematic so far is #4. How to keep the computer dark and
> chemical free in the darkroom.

Rubylith over the screen.  Set the color scheme to all red, easy
if you run under DOS with DOS apps.

Keyboards are cheap.  Just keep a spare one or two on hand.
Most are pretty spill proof and can be rinsed under the tap.

Computer?  I'd use an old high-quality DOS machine,
something you would get for free.  Compaqs or H/P Vectras with
286's are rugged.  They are far more reliable
[with modern disks] than any Wintel/Mac box.  And if it
gets chems in it, pull the disks, put the machine out by the
curb, and grab a spare DOS box from the basement.

> Entering notes for individual prints after a
> session for 20 - 40 prints has got to be an enormous pia.

I only do 1 or 2 prints [each may have clone copies] per session.

If I am cranking out production with a negatrans and six uncut
rolls then there are no contact sheets.  I read the negatives projected
on the easel to pick ones to print & I don't know that I would
keep data.  I only do production in special situations; if it is
regular production I have a lab do it - they have the equipment
for that sort of work and I don't.

Signature

Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer:  Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix  . netcom . com
Fstop timer -  http://www.nolindan.com/da/fstop/index.htm

Lew - 03 Mar 2006 19:54 GMT
We're on the same page now. I'd handle things under the hood somewhat
differently though.
-Lew
Peter - 04 Mar 2006 09:57 GMT
"The most problamatic so far is #4. How to keep the computer dark and
chemical free in the darkroom."

I'm not entirely sure this is required, I see that it might be
attractive.  Note that the the military has made remote
keyboards that have a degree of protection against
contamination.  It is possible that some might appear
in surplus markets.  Putting the rest of the computer
in a box will help avoid any spills falling on the computer.
Still, there can be mild corrosives in a darkroom
atmosphere so this doesn't completely address contamination.

Avoiding light in the darkroom might be pretty hard,
depending on the material in use.  If you are only printing
with Azo, a red filter should be enough.  If you are
developing sheets of fast panchromatic film in a tray
there really isn't a practical solution.

But then is it really required to work with the computer
within the wet area of a darkroom?
Nicholas O. Lindan - 04 Mar 2006 13:02 GMT
"Peter" <p2macgahan@compuserve.com> wrote in message

> But then is it really required to work with the computer
> within the wet area of a darkroom?

Bingo: I think Peter has the answer in a nutshell.

I have not heard of concerns about spilling chemicals
all over the enlarger or paper cutter or noxious
fumes etching away the timer electronics.

The concern is in putting a computer somewhere where it
hasn't been and the aura that a computer is something
special and delicate.  A computer is in the same delicacy
category as a table radio.  Same function, too: AC power
and ether go in, babble comes out.

Signature

Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer:  Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
To reply, remove spaces: n o lindan at ix  . netcom . com
Fstop timer -  http://www.nolindan.com/da/fstop/index.htm

Lloyd Erlick - 04 Mar 2006 15:48 GMT
>noxious
>fumes etching away the timer electronics.

... this explains everything ...
--le
Lew - 04 Mar 2006 14:39 GMT
My main in the dark requirement would be to keep notes about how I'm
printing certain negatives.

> But then is it really required to work with the computer
> within the wet area of a darkroom?
rafe b - 04 Mar 2006 18:13 GMT
>My main in the dark requirement would be to keep notes about how I'm
>printing certain negatives.

Like I say... a tiny handheld voice recorder.
You can get them at Staples for $30-$50.
Hands-free.  Won't fog your prints or use
up precious counter space.

Why do folks consistently overlook the
simple, cheap, and obvious solutions?

rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com
Lew - 04 Mar 2006 20:02 GMT
I thought you were kidding when you made your original suggestion. I'm not
ignoring it; I just don't want to create another chore, ie transcription.

>>My main in the dark requirement would be to keep notes about how I'm
>>printing certain negatives.
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> rafe b
> www.terrapinphoto.com 
rafe b - 04 Mar 2006 20:24 GMT
>I thought you were kidding when you made your original suggestion. I'm not
>ignoring it; I just don't want to create another chore, ie transcription.

Sooner or later there will be some keyboarding.
Talking into a mic as you work takes zero effort.
So there's no "extra chore," unless talking into
a mic is a chore.  And it solves most of those
other gnarly problems folks have been talking
about.

But hey, it's only an idea and you can do with
it as you wish.

If I had a wet darkroom, I'm not sure I'd want
a computer in it <grin.>

rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com
Lew - 04 Mar 2006 14:40 GMT
ie right next to the enlarger
Peter Chant - 04 Mar 2006 14:34 GMT
Well, the bit I snipped looked idealy suited to being stored in a database.

> The most problamatic so far is #4. How to keep the computer dark and
> chemical free in the darkroom. Entering notes for individual prints after
> a session for 20 - 40 prints has got to be an enormous pia.

I've got a roll up rubber keyboard, intended for laptops.  I bought it as a
gimmick.  According to the instructions you can use it underwater.  That
might be an option, else one of those keyboard protectors you sometimes see
on shop tills.  I am sure you can get them for computer keyboards.

Can't really help for the monitor.  Red filter over the screen?

Signature

http://www.petezilla.co.uk

dan.c.quinn@att.net - 03 Mar 2006 23:42 GMT
> Actually, among my other hats, I'm a database
> application designer and  programmer, so I'm aware
> of the process and overhead.

  I've worn that hat working in Cobal, C, Basic, and
Assembly. That was quite a few years ago but think
I could wade quickly back in.
  I'll likely buy an Apple system within the next few months.
What is your opinion of Mac's included programing facilities?
Specificaly AppleScript and X Code. I understand that X Code
is an Apple OS X included compiler. Java as well as other
languages are available. Dan
Lew - 04 Mar 2006 00:11 GMT
Hey Dan:
   I'm strictly a DOS/Windows kind of guy. I've worked in this industry for
quite a while and I've *never* seen or heard about an Apple OS based
enterprise. I have seen banks of Apples in small shops and graphics
departments, however. End users who need the graphics stuff love them, but
I've never met a happy Apple OS programmer. Of course, maybe things are
better now.
-Lew
David Nebenzahl - 04 Mar 2006 00:24 GMT
Lew spake thus:

> I'm strictly a DOS/Windows kind of guy. I've worked in this industry for
> quite a while and I've *never* seen or heard about an Apple OS based
> enterprise. I have seen banks of Apples in small shops and graphics
> departments, however. End users who need the graphics stuff love them, but
> I've never met a happy Apple OS programmer. Of course, maybe things are
> better now.

Well, since OS/X is Unix (sorta), there will probably be a good number
of the Linux crowd writing stuff for the Mac.

You're right, though; statistically speaking, *nobody* uses Macs to run
their business.

Signature

To the arrogant putzes at NBC:

Do we call the country Italia? Is its capital Roma?
Were previous Olympics held in Moskva, Muenchen or Athine?
Do we call it the "Shroud of Torino"?

No!

So learn to speak English already and call it Turin.

- from someone's blog

dan.c.quinn@att.net - 04 Mar 2006 23:26 GMT
> Well, since OS/X is Unix (sorta), there will probably be a
> good number of the Linux crowd writing stuff for the Mac.

 There are a few Linux distributions which can be installed
on Apple computers. Dual booting is possible.
 Java 2 Standard Edition, J2SE, is included with any Mac.
That and the included X Code IDE can make a programmer
of any one at no additional cost. Gota know JAVA though.
 AppleScripts is a macro facility; a feature of OS-X. It
makes possible automated computer function. Very
helpfull with reduntant operations.
 AppleWorks is off the shelf word processing, spread
sheet, data base, etc, software. Costs extra. Dan
dan.c.quinn@att.net - 04 Mar 2006 00:28 GMT
> Hey Dan:
>    I'm strictly a DOS/Windows kind of guy. I've worked in
> this industry for quite a while and I've *never* seen or heard
> about an Apple OS based enterprise. Lew

  X Code is Apple's IDE. It comes in the box. Compile, Undo,
etc, etc. Like I said, it's been a while. Looks like a real winner
for anyone who would like to wade right in. Dan
David Nebenzahl - 04 Mar 2006 00:46 GMT
dan.c.quinn@att.net spake thus:

>> I'm strictly a DOS/Windows kind of guy. I've worked in this
>> industry for quite a while and I've *never* seen or heard about an
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> etc, etc. Like I said, it's been a while. Looks like a real winner
> for anyone who would like to wade right in. Dan

Right, Dan.

"Hey, I think I'll sit down tonight and write my database application
using X-Code. Let's see, I've got a pound of coffee, a bag of bagels,
another bag of doughnuts; that oughta do it."

People *buy* that kind of software. They don't sit in their basement
cranking out code.

Signature

To the arrogant putzes at NBC:

Do we call the country Italia? Is its capital Roma?
Were previous Olympics held in Moskva, Muenchen or Athine?
Do we call it the "Shroud of Torino"?

No!

So learn to speak English already and call it Turin.

- from someone's blog

Lloyd Erlick - 03 Mar 2006 13:43 GMT
>else you
>end up slave to the machine.

March 3, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick,

For years I kept notes next to my enlarger
and then put them in a three-ring binder. All
serialized according to roll- and
frame-number. Very convenient.

Then I started cataloging my pictures by
computer. Suddenly I was going to the
darkroom knowing in advance which frame I was
going to work on.

Then I started printing a thumbnail of the
prospective image on a darkroom log form I
'designed'. It's top right on the page, just
below the serial number. It turned out to be
a major convenience to me! Think of it, a
photographer whose memory is attuned to
pictures. Makes hunting through my file much
easier. Too bad only recent pages have
thumbnails ...

Now the computer shakes me out of bed in the
morning and makes me set out chemistry, put a
negative in the enlarger, do all the
scrubbing and schlepping while it churns out
pretty prints. What's really troubling is
it's signing its own name on them ...

regards,
--le
Signature

________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
voice: 416-686-0326
email: portrait@heylloyd.com
net: www.heylloyd.com
________________________________

Lloyd Erlick - 03 Mar 2006 13:13 GMT
>> I see that you are reluctant to name names, perhaps wisely so. I have many
>> years of accumulated trips, projects, negatives, positives, prints,
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
>Frank

March 3, 2006, from Lloyd Erlick,

Frank is describing the method that more or
less worked for me. In the early nineties I
was using a Mac computer, and my database
program was FileMaker. I bought the PC
version when I switched, and it imported
everything conveniently.

But the real work, as Frank pointed out, was
the organizing of all the material that then
had to be keyboarded. I worked out a
numbering system for all my negatives and
prints.

I've never computerized my darkroom print
log. Recently I've begun to scan the pages
containing my handwritten notes for each
print I make. In the computer file containing
the images of these pages, I include an image
file on which I have drawn my cropping lines
and scribbled notes to myself. I don't think
I will turn these into a database. I just
store them filed according to their
respective serial numbers, so everything
alphabetizes nicely.

Frankly, one of my most useful "innovations"
for myself is my file of pictures I plan to
print. I call it 'Print These'. It is nothing
more than a directory in which I copy any
frame I find interesting. There are programs
that conveniently play the contents as a
slide show. I leave the slide show running
frequently and can examine my work quite a
lot while doing other stuff in the room.

I have found the computer extremely useful in
helping me 'live' with my pictures. This is a
very important part of the editing process,
and it was missing for me prior to the
computer.

For me, far more important than any software,
is the ability to have my work on view where
I can absorb it.

regards,
--le
Signature

________________________________
Lloyd Erlick Portraits, Toronto.
voice: 416-686-0326
email: portrait@heylloyd.com
net: www.heylloyd.com
________________________________

rafe b - 03 Mar 2006 14:29 GMT
>For me, far more important than any software,
>is the ability to have my work on view where
>I can absorb it.

Always enjoy your screeds, Lloyd.  
You should write a book.

Anyway, on the general subject...

One of the major side benefits of having a
own photo website is just as a simple online
catalog of my best or favorite images.

This also forces me to come up with a name/title
for each image, which can be surprisingly
difficult, but exceedingly useful.

There are tons of inexpensive or free
programs these days that will make contact
sheets from your directories or arbitrary
collections of image files.

For each CD or DVD I burn, I make as
many contact sheets as are needed.  

If they're snapshots, I might put 25
or 30 on a page.  If they're images
I care about, 12 is a good number.

The contact sheets themselves are
saved in a specific folder, and
the printed contact sheets are
saved in a 3-ring binder.  So I
can peruse them either on-line or
off-line.

Still and all... as the years wear
by, I find myself spending altogether
too much time organizing/cataloging,
and less time actually taking new
photos.  That's sad.

rafe b
www.terrapinphoto.com
G- Blank - 02 Mar 2006 23:55 GMT
> At this point, the I'm sure the natives are wondering what any
> of this has to do with darkrooms.
>
> rafe b
> www.terrapinphoto.com 

Common knowledge.

Searching for a Clue one might be had amoungst
a whole herd of Clues.

Signature

"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President,
or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong,
is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable
to the American public."--Theodore Roosevelt, May 7, 1918

greg_____photo(dot)com

Tom Phillips - 03 Mar 2006 08:29 GMT
> > I'm curious to know if list members think that it's desirable to manage
> > their profession/avocation with software and, if so, what features they
> > need.
>
> I try not to let software manage me.  I prefer it the other way around.

And this has what to do with darkroom?
Mike King - 03 Mar 2006 14:10 GMT
It's all about finding stuff in the dark.

Signature

darkroommike

>
> > > I'm curious to know if list members think that it's desirable to manage
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> And this has what to do with darkroom?
Greg - 03 Mar 2006 14:30 GMT
> It's all about finding stuff in the dark.

The dull rumble you hear is the approach of a herd of
clues. Or maybe just the darkroom fan.
Signature

The things we hate most in life often turn out to be a mirror image
of ourselves. Better not to hate.

Findmedirectly - "infoatgregblankphoto.com"

Claudio Bonavolta - 04 Mar 2006 23:44 GMT
Lew a écrit :
> I'm curious to know if list members think that it's desirable to manage
> their profession/avocation with software and, if so, what features they
> need.
> -Lew

Well, I don't know if it is desirable or not but I use a computer (well,
in fact two) for my darkroom work for several years now.
My office is in my darkroom so my main computer is close to the enlargers.
When printing B/W, I use a red filter (RubyLith film) on the screen.
I have a second PC on the wet side with a flat LCD panel (and the same
Rubylith film on) right over the sink.

Their functions ?
I developed a pair of applications to manage the dry and wet sides.
So they are directly related to the darkroom work and help me work
faster and better.

The wet side is mainly a process timer with various extras:
- films/papers process monitoring. Monitoring includes voice countdowns.
- dilutions calculations
- units conversion
- time versus temperature conversion
- chemical formulas maintenance

The dry side is somewhat more sophisticated as it includes an electronic
hardware driving the enlargers and a RGBW probe measuring the light:
- stop timer for up to 4 enlargers (and/or respective fans). Voice
countdown included.
- metronome. Voice countdown included.
- stop test strips. Voice countdown included.
- exposure calculation when parameters vary (enlargment ratio, filters
factor, diaphragm, ...)
- multigrade filter exposure factors (mostly useful with a color head
and single filtering)
- color filters exposure factors calculation
- contrast evaluation
- exposure meter using various reference points related to reference
prints. These reference points are stored in files so you can have as
many as you want.
- (soon) color analyzer
- basic transmission densitometer using the enlarger as light source.
More sophisticated transmission and reflection densitometers planned.
- prints databank with their exposure parameters including a visual
(print scan) dodging/burning map driving directly the timer.

The project is here:
http://www.bonavolta.ch/hobby/en/photo/fotolab.htm
It's been a long time I haven't updated this page so, if it does
interest you, please wait a month or so as I have an upgrade to publish.
But, as days are limited to a mere 24 hours and projects are so
numerous, I need some time to finalize it ...

I'm sure that many will find this completely overkill (please, no flames
on this), but, in my case, my efficiency has increased a lot.
Anyway, it's not the method or tools you use that counts, it's the way
you understand and master them that is important.

Best regards,
Claudio Bonavolta
http://www.bonavolta.ch
 
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