A grouping of short checklists for system maintenance for hardware, software, compute systems, digital cameras, scanners and printers.
The Health of Your Computer System
Keeping your computer system healthy will keep you from getting into trouble while editing your images, and can keep you from losing precious photos. Maintenance of your peripherals (camera, backup system, printer, scanner, etc.) can be just as important to a digital workflow. This short article collects some imperatives for you to follow for your system, camera, scanner and printer. Work maintenance into your agenda to have confidence in the health of your computer system.
Computer Software and Hardware Maintenance
*Maintain a firewall if using an open Internet connection (DSL/Cable/T1). If you don’t, you may experience performance issues as visitors scan your hard drive.*Use virus protection to minimize problems with infected digital files. This is especially important if you trade a lot of files over the internet. Update your virus definitions regularly. Never open files from an outside source if it has not been scanned for viruses. *Schedule maintenance for data backup, disk error scanning (such as defragmenting) using native utilities included with your OS (Disk Doctor on Mac; Check Disk and Defrag). *Check manufacturer websites regularly for software updates, bug fixes, and compatibility notices. *Keep a log of program installations to help locate software conflicts when they occur. When a problem occurs immediately after you install something it should raise suspicions of a conflict. *Don’t jump to conclusions. Note multiple problems in the operation of your system. If you have problems with more than one program or device, there may be a common link to the real cause. *Simplify your system whenever possible by detaching chronically unused peripherals and uninstalling unnecessary software. *Don’t ignore whirring, clicking, clacking and unusual drive performance—something may be about to fail. If something suddenly changes on your system and you have not performed new installations, something is wrong. Either have it checked or check it yourself.
Digital Camera Maintenance
*Choose appropriate settings per manufacturer recommendations, and don’t change settings if you don’t know what they do—unless you are experimenting with and learning new features. Be sure to switch back settings if experimentation leads nowhere or makes things worse.*Learn about special features and settings by reading the manual. This is especially important for resolution and color management issues. *Understand image exposure, depth-of-field and how they relate. *Be sure how to format your digital film/camera storage, and know manufacturer recommendations for removing and inserting memory cards, disks, etc.. *Know how to properly connect a camera to your computer and download images from the camera. *Clean your lenses and possibly your sensor if you have constant trouble with dust and spotting. Sensors can be tricky to clean so it may be a good idea to have a reputable service do the maintenance if you don’t feel qualified. *Use recommended power sources and chargers to avoid equipment damage. *Store your equipment properly when not in use. Store lose equipment securely to avoid damage when packing for a shoot or traveling.
Scanner Maintenance
*Calibrate your scanner per manufacturer suggestions.*Maintain a regimen for cleaning/dusting the scanner and scanned images / film / objects. *Be sure to use proper connections and connection settings. *Consider having important images scanned by scanning services, which may have better equipment and resolution than you may have at home (for example, scan negatives and slides to a multi-resolution Kodak PhotoCD scan [not the JPEG kind] rather than on a home flatbed scanner). *Read about the scanner in the manual, and learn about the scanner software; you may get far more from your scans if you know the capabilities of the equipment and software. *Never use your scanner as a chair or as a shelf to collect tchotchkes.
Printer Maintenance
*Use appropriate inks as suggested by the manufacturer.*Use proper paper for quality prints (don't expect glossy-quality prints from lower grade papers), and always test output when changing paper. *Read maintenance (head alignment) and cleaning suggestions (printer head / jet / nozzle cleaning) in your manual and follow these practices rigorously. *Don’t expect RGB results from a CMYK printer. CMYK is a smaller color space, meaning there are simply fewer colors available. *If you do not use the printer regularly and experience problems with printing, clean/align the heads per manufacturer suggestions, then replace inks if the problem continues. If prints become striped or irregular, and replacing ink, cleaning and other standard maintenance does not fix the problem, repair or repurchase may be necessary.
About Author / Instructor / Photographer, Richard Lynch
 After years of pushing pixels for fun, and with a long history of amateur photography and darkroom experience that stretched back to grade school, Richard Lynch began his professional image editing career as the editor of a photography book publisher in 1991. Starting in the late 90s, he began writing and publishing books on digital image editing with Photoshop. His books teach intermediate and advanced image editing techniques to Photoshop and Photoshop Elements users, also providing custom-made tools for Elements and Photoshop users that simplify difficult image editing processes. Richard has been a columnist for Digital Photography Techniques, and has written for Popular Photography, PCPhoto, Photo Techniques, Advanced Photoshop and many other design and photography magazines. He teaches digital imaging and design at Daemen College in New York. His newest book, The Adobe Photoshop Layers Book, is a great companion to his Leveraging Layers course here on betterphoto.com. Richard's photography tends toward the abstract, often using extreme editing processes and unusual equipment. His Sigma SD14 sports a range of common Sigma EX lenses, but can be fitted with an old bellows, extension tubes and an assortment of vintage M42 lenses from 10mm to 2300mm. See more about Richard's books and tools on his Web site for Photoshop Elements users: http://hiddenelements.com and Photoshop: http://photoshopcs.com. Richard’s four courses on betterphoto.com serve as a series:
- Photoshop 101: A beginner-level introduction to Photoshop.
- Correct and Enhance Your Images: An intermediate-level course dedicated to core imaging correction techniques
- From Monitor to Print: An intermediate-level course for mastering Photoshop / Photoshop Elements color management
- Leveraging Layers: Photoshop's Most Powerful Tool: An advanced-level, specialized focus on using layers
Though it is suggested they be taken as a series, you can start anywhere depending on your level of expertise, or follow it from beginning to end as designed! Contact Richard if you have any questions.Richard has a free Newsletter/Blog to all who are interested in bettering their skills with Photoshop. Listen to Richard talk with Jim Miotke in a two-part interview covering his perspective on image editing: Part 1, Part 2
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