Managing Field Research Photos

One of the most time-consuming tasks in field research is organizing and editing photos to get from the raw set of images into a presentable, consistent format.  This is typically done via a tedious, repetitive process of selecting the desired photo files, cropping down to desired proportion and dimensions, compressing to reduce file size, etc.

Fortunately there are a number of batch image processing programs available for the PC and Mac that can automate these types of processes and do more.  A couple of weeks ago Smashing Magazine ran an article, 15 Useful Batch Image Processors, that covers a range of these tools (many of them free):

"With batch image processing, you can specify a size or file type, and then a script runs to convert the images. You can process hundreds or thousands of images with just a few clicks. And nearly every image processor comes with a unique feature set."

Definitely a useful tool set to look into for those who follow the mantra, work smarter, not harder.