Data Back-up

Paranoia is a constant problem when it come to my photo archive. Awhile ago I was introduced to a program that would help with keeping my files synced on multiple hard drives. The program Carbon Copy Cloner looked to be just the thing that I needed. Plus it doesn't cost anything. It would just check to see if there were any changes made and then copy them over to the back-up drive. After the first back-up, which could take some time, only modified files would be copied over. This makes for quick back-ups between multiple drives.

The only thing that could have made this program better would be if it was cross platform compatible. Right now Carbon Copy Cloner is only for Macintosh computers. Since I only have PCs, it really didn't do me any good. I have been on the hunt for something that would be similar to it on the PC. Knowing that I need to back-up my files I keep searching for a program that would work. I spent a couple of months looking at back-up programs like Norton Ghost and a few others ,but they never did what I wanted. After almost giving up, I decided to start from ground zero. Unfortunately I was using the wrong terminology. I asked myself just what did the program actually do. Check to see if there were new files and then transfer them to another location. Once I started looking for syncing programs everything started looking up. I found Allway Sync.

It works almost identical to what I was looking for. Plus it too was also free. Now I have my photos on four separate hard drives and peace of mind. There is nothing better.

Capture One 5 Workshop

Since taking the Advanced Digital Workflow Class at Cypress College, I have been introduced to many new and fun programs. One of them being Capture One 4. It is a great raw processing engine for photos and with the pro version shooting tethered to a computer is a breeze. While surfing the net and Calumet’s website, I just happened to notice that they were have workshops on the new Capture One 5 software. The closest one to me is the Calumet Los Angles workshop on Feb. 1, 2010. After seeing the deal that everyone who takes the course gets a free copy of Capture One 5, I was hooked. The normal cost of the program is $129.99. Registration for the workshop is $49.99, so you get the software and two and a half hours of training on the software. If anyone from the Digital Workflow Class is going to be going let me now. Right now Grace and myself have signed up for the Capture One 5 Workshop.

Adobe Lightroom 3 Beta

What is new in Lightroom 3 Beta - Part 2 - Part 3

An instructors of mine told me that he never looked forward to Photoshop upgrades because he had to almost relearn everything. Once he started to use Lightroom all that changed. He actually started looking forward to updates and upgrades. Everything new that was put in to Lightroom just help to improve the program without changing much of the layout and feel of the program. Well, now it the time to start testing out the next version of Lightroom. The Public Beta was just released yesterday, so do not need to have a previous version of Lightroom to try it. All you need to do is go to Adobe Labs to download it. Some of the new features in Lightroom 3 Beta that are listed on the Adobe Labs site are:

• Brand new performance architecture, building for the future of growing image libraries
  
• State-of-the-art noise reduction to help you perfect your high ISO shots
  
• Watermarking tool that helps you customize and protect your images with ease
  
• Portable sharable slideshows with audio—designed to give you more flexibility and impact on how you choose to share your images, you can now save and export your slideshows as videos and include audio
  
• Flexible customizable print package creation so your print package layouts are all your own
  
• Film grain simulation tool for enhancing your images to look as gritty as you want
  
• New import handling designed to make importing streamlined and easy
  
• More flexible online publishing options so you can post your images online to certain online photo sharing sites directly from inside Lightroom 3 beta (may require third-party plug-ins)*

The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) have already released some new videos to help get people up to speed with the new changes to Lightroom 3. The videos are demoed by Scott Kelby and Matt Kloskowski who are great speakers on anything Photoshop and Lightroom related subjects.

If you do decide to use Lightroom 3 Beta it will be valid until April 30, 2010. So it seems like the new version will be out hopefully be fall of next year.