Monday, April 18, 2011

Proper Etiquette

the Photoshop Etiquette Manifesto for Web Designers

While researching ideas for my project which is still very much in its infancy – I’m thinking beanie babies will be involved in some form of an instillation. I came across a website called http://photoshopetiquette.com/ that advises you on proper Photoshop etiquette, for web designers. It can also apply to illustrator and indesign and is basically just good practice to get into. It goes thru very briefly and tells you the way you should be creating and saving your files, showing you very basically what you should do and what you should not do. Even though I know I should be organized especially when working with clients, I will be the first to say that that I am awful at naming layers and creating groups inside my work and this has caused a number of problems. Not practicing proper Photoshop etiquette can cause major time delays and issues when you have to come back and change something. The site has pointers on everything from internal and external file organization to before and after you export. Yes, it could have more information and give you more details but I thought it was a wonderful start to the way we should be Photoshoping.




16 comments:

  1. Great information for anyone that dismisses the idea of organization. At times I feel I could organize my work in a better fashion. I enjoyed looking at the website and how it looks like you have Photoshop opened.

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  2. Beanie babies?? Tell us more!

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  3. I agree Nina! Beanie babies?! Also, it seems like "naming your layers correctly" is less about etiquette and more helpful habits for success.

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  4. Organization is very important especially if dealing with printers. Having worked in prepress, I can tell you it is frustration without end to have to decipher image names, fonts used and so forth.

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  5. I never really thought about there being Photoshop etiquette, but I guess that makes sense when you think about. I would never understand my files if I didn't keep them labeled, group, linked, etc. My teachers have always been very anal about teaching me how to properly set up my files and to stay organized so I'm glad to know that paid off.

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  6. Brilliant resource! I'm totally bookmarking this and going back to it later.

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  7. oh man beanie babies! Hah I can't wait to see how you incorporate them into your work.

    And I agree, it is a very good habit to get into to label layers etc. appropriately, or at least save everything from one project in the same folder!

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  8. SO important! Like Tony said, when working with printers, it just helps everyone. It helps in the end and you wont be stressed when you are at the end of the project packaging everything.

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  9. This is a great post. After having a couple internships I started making sure I did this. When your in the workplace your project will pass from the design department into the hands of a developer and when you aren't naming your layers or even splitting them up correctly it leads to a delay in getting the project done and also gets the developer really pissed (such a bad experience at my first internship I had...ehhh.) So yes, name your layers and save save save!

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  10. Thanks for posting this! I can always use some Photoshop pointers.

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  11. These are very practical, seeming no-brainers that a lot of us forget to follow. Thanks for the reminders!

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  12. Last year as part of my internship I went through and organized all of the files on the server where I worked. I actually did this on my own (with an OK from my boss) because I was in charge of photography and design and designing with my photography. Therefor, I needed to be able to find what I put onto the server as well as old photos.

    Well, once I was done organizing the photos, the assistant GM (I worked for a baseball team) came and said "How come I can't find anything anymore? It's a mess of folders in there."

    So, I suppose it's all about who you're organizing for. For me, finding photos by date and description of what was happening at the game seemed like a logical organization, but I guess for her it was easier to find "DSCN_00122" after flipping through "game 1" and "best game" folders.

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  13. I love the layout of the website and I can always use more tips on Photoshop! As for layer naming I have always done it because I get myself confused!

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  14. Until recently I was awful at creating and naming layers. It took a huge setback/mistake while working on a project to make me realize how important and efficient it is to be organized while working in these programs.

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  15. Organization is key and at times it is hard to keep track of all the files. Thanks for the source!

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  16. I have the hardest time with file organization. Even simple tasks like naming layers is so tedious, yet something we all need to do.

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