Here is how I work in Photo Mechanic and why I prefer it for placing keywords, captions and renaming of the files.
The advantage for me is the file info is embedded and if the file is moved or additional versions are made of it, it does not require a sidebar file to stay current.
In Photo Mechanic you can open up a folder of images. I usually edit by color/rating with number 1 being a pink of sorts.
I make my selects with the 1 key and then after I am finished with that process, I choose my selects by color. I highlight those images and rename them with the rename command. Usually, it is something like this: cd_101208_client_number. Initials_Date_client_image number. After I have renamed the images, I pull down the ITPC page. I then write my captions, keywords, locations, any data that I want in the ITPC fields. You click on a check box to include or not include the information. After I have written everything I need for the image, I apply the ITPC info to the images.
How this is different than other methods, is the data is written directly to the RAW file. It has always (for me) stayed within the file and never been stripped except once by a client using an ancient version of Photoshop years ago.
When I export a web gallery from PM, the data stays with the images and can be included as a caption for that image and also included as an overwrite on the image like a watermark.
I usually include the file number as a watermark in case the client decides to rename the file. (I’ve mentioned that method before)
Here is how I work in Photo Mechanic and why I prefer it for placing keywords, captions and renaming of the files.
The advantage for me is the file info is embedded and if the file is moved or additional versions are made of it, it does not require a sidebar file to stay current.
In Photo Mechanic you can open up a folder of images. I make my selects with the number key and then after I am finished with that process, I choose my selects by color. I highlight these images and rename them with the rename command. Usually, it is something like this: cd_122309_client_number.
Initials_Date_Client_image number. After I have renamed the images, I pull down the ITPC page. I then write my captions, keywords, locations, any data that I want in the ITPC fields. You click on a check box to include or not include the information. After I have written everything I need for the image, I apply the ITPC info to the images.
How is this different than other methods of writing captions and ITPC data? In PM s the data is written directly to the RAW file. Most other programs (Aperture, Capture One, Lightroom, Adobe Bridge) write to a side-car file that is used for the final export of the jpeg, tiff or DNG. The data I embed has always stayed within the file and never been stripped except once by a client using an ancient version of Photoshop who used Save-for-web on my web gallery files and renamed them in the process.
When I export a web gallery from PM, the data stays with the images and can be included as a caption for that image and also included as an overwrite on the image like a watermark.
I usually include the file number as a watermark in case the client decides to rename the file. I often embed the file name into a variable field incase the client crops the watermark and renames the file. I can then open the file in PM or Photoshop and look up the original file name.
