Checking my workflow and solving an issue

Mell

Newbie Joined: Dec 31, 2013 19:25 Messages: 3 Offline

Solved by

Dec 31, 2013 19:38

v 3.0.2.4128 deluxe_oem

Hi,

I'm new to Photodirector and this thread is to check I've got my Mum using PhD correctly on her new laptop and to try and solve an issue we are experiencing.

Here's my Mum's (very simple) work flow; She imports a number of photos from an SD card in to a folder on the laptops hard drive. She opens PhotDirector and imports that folder in to the project. She edits and saves each photo (not necessary to save as). When they are all done (typically about ten photos) she closes PhotoDirector and uploads her photos to Ebay. Once she's finished with Ebay she deletes the photos from the folder.

On the next occasion she imports more photos from an SD card to the same folder and when in PhotoDirector she just Synchronises that folder to update it and goes through the edit and save process.

As far as I can tell this is the best and simplest way for her to work, and it seems to work well. Please tell me if I got this wrong.

Now for the issue we have experienced. After editing any amount of photos in a folder if I close the software and reopen it, edited photos in that folder now will not show in the viewer. Sometimes they won't even show in the browser, just a grey space where they should be. Photo's in the folder that have not been edited/adjusted act fine. I have checked to make sure no filters are turned on, as far as I can tell. The only way to rectify the problem is to remove the folder from the library and re-import it. At this point everything is good again.

I understand there are no updates for our version. Would you recommend buying the full version?

Any help very much appreciated! Happy New Year!

PIX

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 21, 2011 00:02 Messages: 2910 Offline

Dec 31, 2013 20:58

Hello Mell & Mell's Mum!

Welcome to the PhD forum

I should explain that I am unfamiliar with the OEM limitations and I've not touched PhD3 for a good while!

I suspect your display issue might have something to do with "Once she's finished with Ebay she deletes the photos from the folder"
- my advice would be NOT to delete the original photos from the folder.

The only time you're likely to encounter issues like that is when you move or delete photos from their original location.

Personally, I never use "Save" - that alters the original photo. I always use Export, which sends to copy of the newly adjusted photo to a folder of my choice (usually the same folder as the originals). "Save As" does the same thing, but doesn't retain the total quality/properties.

Mell (& Mum) - it's early in the new year & maybe a good time to change a couple of little things about your workflow. With those little tweaks, you'll be likely to avoid problems.

PIX PIX YouTube channel

Mell

Newbie Joined: Dec 31, 2013 19:25 Messages: 3 Offline

Dec 31, 2013 21:07

Hello Pix, and thanks for the quick reply. I should have explained a little better. The problem we are experiencing happens before any photos have been deleted. For the benefit of this explanation we should forget I mentioned deleting anything.

Lets say I have imported a folder containing ten photos. If I edit five of them and then close PhD, when I re-open it those five photos show in the browser but not in the viewer, and sometimes not in the browser either, just grey spaces. If I remove the folder from the project and then re-import it the problem is solved. This is happening without deleting anything. I understand what you are saying about 'saving as' or 'exporting'. Do you not think we should be able to just 'save' without these issues…?

Thanks again!

PIX

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 21, 2011 00:02 Messages: 2910 Offline

Jan 01, 2014 11:47

Hello again Mell,

After quite a few attempts with different projects, I've partly replicated your issue. After using the "Save" command, rather than Export or Save As, I found my photo folder sometimes displayed in Windows like this:

At all times, the photos displayed properly (here) in PhotoDirector & I didn't need to re-import. It does indicate that there's something unexpected going on.

You can choose whatever workflow suits you and your Mum (of course), but I would never advise users to overwrite the original files in that way. Moreover, I'm reasonably certain the "blanks" issue would not occur using the Export or Save As options (both of which create a new file).

PIX


Filename	Blanks.png	Download
Description
Filesize	52 Kbytes
Downloaded:	304 time(s)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jan 01. 2014 11:49

PIX YouTube channel

Mell

Newbie Joined: Dec 31, 2013 19:25 Messages: 3 Offline

Jan 03, 2014 11:44

Hi Pix,

I was going to upload a screen shot but I don't have an online photo thing to use yet….like photobucket or whatever.

Thanks for all the help. I can't really stress how simple the process needs to be for my mum so I think as it stands the best thing for her to do is just remove the folder from the project and re-import it for her next job lot. 'Saving as' will create more folders than she needs to see. Even trying to explain that the files are stored on the hard drive is almost impossible….. : )

All the best,

Mellfee

PIX

Senior Contributor Joined: Sep 21, 2011 00:02 Messages: 2910 Offline

Jan 03, 2014 17:37

Hello again Mell,

I understand the need to keep the process clear & simple. I can tell you there's no way I'd be able to get my Mum doing that!

Using Save As or Export options doesn't create extra folders, unless that's what you choose. Depending on your export selections, it can create an edited version of the original photo in the same folder (renamed)...

You don't need PhotoBucket or any external host to post images. Here are some instructions on how to embed your attached image in the forum (how I put that screenshot there) - https://forum.cyberlink.com/forum/posts/list/24696.page#146280

PIX


Filename	Export_Rename.jpg	Download
Description
Filesize	154 Kbytes
Downloaded:	292 time(s)

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Jan 03. 2014 17:38

PIX YouTube channel

Aus_Sean

Newbie Location: Australia Joined: Nov 27, 2013 19:55 Messages: 25 Offline

Jan 06, 2014 22:22

Does the grey space have anything to do with being a duplicate? There is a tick box on the left LHS when you open a project, duplicates are greyed out by default if I recall correctly, so you just untick that box.