Managing Your Image Library
As we design more and more slide decks, we inevitably create or consume an ever greater number of images, whether they're photographs, icons, or whatever. The problem is, however, it becomes a problem keeping track of them all on your hard drive. Whether you're using Windows or the Mac, this is where you see how the modern file systems are failing us. To make it easy to find these files for later use, you need more than just the file names. There's a lot more information (metadata) that's needed.
If you have an image management application such as Lightroom, Aperture, or iPhoto, you could use it. They have decent metadata support, but you'd be mixing all of these random images with your own library.
Since I already have a license for Bento, I thought I'd give that a try. For those who don't know what Bento is, it's the smaller, lighter, and easier to use sibling of FileMaker, a powerful and cross-platform desktop and server-based database. Though FileMaker is cross-platform, Bento is Mac only. Bento lets you create new databases, called libraries, easily and with a completely visual interface. No programming or understanding of databases or how they work is needed.
Now, even if I didn't have to worry about mixing my personal photography with these images I use for my slides, I wouldn't use iPhoto or the like because of the information I want to track with the images. I want to be able to track and search by the image type and/or keywords and I want to be able to track the licensing information so I know what I can and can't do legally with the images.
The template that I created (the download link at the end of this post) includes the following fields:
- Source
- Background (color)
- Type
- Keywords
- License
- Credit (person or site)
- Source URL
- Attribution
That last field is a calculated field, meaning it takes the license, credit, and URL fields and creates a string of text for attribution that you can use in your slides when attribution is required.
Image Assets Betno Template (download) by Mike Pulsifer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.
DIY Stock Photography
Have you run into a situation where you need a photo for a slide and you either can't find one that works and looks just right on services such as iStockPhoto or for a shot like this, you can't justify paying for a photo of some Sharpies? You can try the Creative Commons route at flickr, but even then it's a crap-shoot whether you'll find something worthy of being included among your slides.
Well, a lot of us presenting slide design bloggers have suggested using your own photos in place of stock photos when you can. Not only can it be cheaper, but you're guaranteed to be the first to use that particular photo.
I faced this particular issue recently when working on a personal project of mine. I needed two different photos: 1) Sharpies and 2) Tools that can support the message "layout." Nothing good was coming up on iStockPhoto and frankly, for at least the photo of Sharpies, I just couldn't bring myself to spend the $3 for it. Nothing of use was coming up on my http://www.behold.cc search either. So, what could I do? Well, there are a couple do it yourself options.
DIY Studio Lighting
In the ShutterTalk article, "Putting Together a Budget DIY Lighting System," they show you how for about $75, you can assemble a decent on-the-cheap lighting system to help you photograph items indoors. It's something I definitely intend to assemble at some point, especially when I don't have reliable weather to make use of the cheapest lighting around: the sun.
A Solution For the Really Cheap
Sharpies
However, on this occasion, I didn't have the time or the $75 (I really need to replace my 5-year old computer). What I did have was a $15 white board that I use for my brainstorming and slide design work. A white sheet would have been better, but I'm working with what I've got.
I also had a clear day with plenty of sun. It was 10 AM, so the lighting was awfully harsh and taking the shot within two hours of sunrise or sunset would have been better, but with the winter sun as low as it is this time of the year, I thought I could get away with it.
Tools
I set up my white board on my driveway and arranged my subjects on the white board with the composition I was looking for and with the sun to my side. For those who may not know, I chose to have the sun at my side so I can get the shadows I need to give my photos a feel of some depth and not something that feels flat.
I took my shots, cleaned them up a bit in Photoshop and got myself the slide images I was looking for for a grand total of $0. If you don't count the fact that I already owned the white board, then the cost for this set up was $15 for the white board or $19 for some white sheets at Walmart.
If you use your own photography, then you can avoid appearing unoriginal. For as little as $15 or $75, you can give yourself the tools you need to help you get the shot you've been looking for.
