Storage of Image Assets

Having too many files crowded in one place isn't a very good idea because it can make life harder for you when you need to look for a particular file. The easiest solution to this is to create sub folders to keep the different files in. E.g. Make week 1 folder and add sub folders such as images, written work, etc. This will make it easier because everything is in order with names and dates.

Optimising Images

Version to be professionally printed by printing firm

PhotoShop files are a lot in memory and therefore you won't be able to send by email. You could change the file type for lesser quality and take up less space but if you wanted it to be professionally printed, you'll want the quality to be the best. The best opinion is to burn the file to a DVD or add to a memory stick and send it by post. Make no changes to the PhotoShop file and keep all the information such as layers.

Version required to be uploaded to staff intranet for managers in other continent to see

The Internet can't show PSD files so uploading the files to staff intranet wouldn't work. The best opinion is to save the PSD file as a lossless (PNG) file so you can make it smaller without throwing away the important data. To be viewed on the Internet, the size should be reduced to about 72dpi to make the file size smaller and it will upload a lot faster on the Internet because it would take longer to upload a larger file size.

Version required for main website

If you wanted to show your picture on a website for the public to look at, you wouldn't need a lot of the data (e.g. there wouldn't be much point adding a A2 image to a website because the image would be massive and website images are usually smaller). You can save the image as a lossy file (JPG) because it won't take up much space and you won't need to re size the file back to the original quality because it's for website viewing only. The image will upload faster and will load quicker when people jump on to the web page.

Version required for smart phone version of website

Mobile screens are smaller than PC / laptop screens so the image can be reduced a bit more. Reduce the size of the image and reduce the size of the file by saving it as a lossy file (JPG). The screen is small so the size of the image can be reduced to fit the screen of a mobile phone and reducing the size will also make the file faster to download for mobiles. Change dpi to 60 and reduce the colours to 256 to make the file even smaller.

Scanners

A scanner is a device for computers which can scan objects such as photographs, magazines, paper work and anything that's flat enough to fit underneath the scanner. It will turn the picture into a digital image file on the computer. People may want to do this because they might want a digital copy in case the original copy goes missing and they can just print off the digital version. They also might want to scan because they can edit a photograph or drawing on PhotoShop. Another use for scanners is if you're working for someone who's on holiday on the other side of the world and they might want to see your work, you can scan the work and send a digital copy because it would easier.

All-in-one scanner

All-in-one has scanner, printer, photocopier, fax. You can buy a cheap all-in-one scanner (new) off Amazon UK for about £70 or you can buy a A3 all-in-one scanner which can cost £2500. A lot of cheap scanners are A4 size only which can be a disadvantage if you looking to scan a A3 size poster.

Flatbed scanner

Flatbed scanners aren't all-in-one because they are flat, therefore they can only scan and do nothing else. People might want to buy a flatbed scanner because they don't take up as much space as all-in-one scanners. You can buy a flatbed scanner cheap off Amazon UK (new) for £50.

Drum scanner

Drum scanners are big scanners which can scan multiple pictures in a matter of minutes with really good quality. To buy one it would cost about £10,000.