Workflows
Workflow. This 8 letter word terrifies some and makes others look like rockstars. When it comes to volume school and sports photography one of the biggest hurdles is matching images to data for thousands and managing the mountain of orders that ensue. Wondering what’s the best way for you to get the right data matched to the right image? At H&H we don’t limit you to only one option. There are several good choices. The right one will depend on a few factors. The most important one is what you have in hand before picture day.
But you need more than just knowing what your best option is. You need a reliable checklist that will help you make sure every time you place an order, no detail is missed. One of the services we offer is Order Entry Services (OES). Every fall this team coordinates with studios on entering orders for thousands of schools and leagues with hundreds of thousands of images and data for each person photographed. The secret to our success is checklists. Every order has a set of instructions to make sure no detail is missed. The beauty of partnering with H&H is you have access to the same project management and ordering software as OES. And now you have access to use the same checklists they use. When you’re ready, take the quiz to learn which checklist is best for you.
Need a little more info first? That’s OK. Read below to see the different options available and recommendations when to use each one. Then take the quiz to get your free checklist.
The first thing we need to talk about is data. Can you get it before picture day or not?
If you don’t have data:
There are two useful methods you can use to combine data with images in a project. Both of these methods require that data be collected at photo day. The minimum recommended information to be collected is first name and last name. For students that have a student ID, it is important to collect that as well. Packages (if they are being ordered at this point), teacher / homeroom, grade, team name, etc are also good pieces of information to collect here. Keep a run sheet of subject data collected, in the order photographed (or prepay flyers if you sell that way).
In order to match the collected data to the images, either:
- Import images, then manually input information by typing into the project under each image. (This will be the only way to input subject info if you are using hhsports)
- Create a .csv data file including image name. Match the collected data and the EXACT .jpg filename in Excel. Import this .csv data when creating a project. Upon importing the images, HHSchools will use the image filenames to match the data and images.
If you do have data:
hhschools offers several methods for a streamlined way to match the data you get before picture day to the images you take. All of these methods let you import the student and player data into hhschools when creating the project. Then it will format and generate reports so you can print either camera cards, shoot lists or ID labels—each one with a unique barcode for each person. You can either disregard these barcodes and use the report to match the data to each imported image in our Match Data Wizard. Or you can use these barcodes with a scanner using one of the following methods:
Post-Shoot Scan
Why should I choose a post-shoot scan workflow
This method does not require scanning at picture day. Pick this option if you get data ahead of time, and want to save time on your data entry, but feel like adding scanning to the rest of the picture day chaos is one more thing you’ll mess up. We recommend this option if you have 1-5 schools or leagues and get the data before picture day. Think this is the best option for you?
How post-shoot scan works
Simply pass out the camera cards or labels as each person lines up to be photographed. Then the photographer collects them, and keeps them in the order photographed. Or if you are using a shootlist, record a jpg name or sequence number next to each person you photograph. Once you’re back at the computer after the photoshoot, import the images for each camera into hhschools. Then open the match data screen and use a USB scanner to scan the Subject ID barcode to match that person’s data to each image. You don’t need to buy this scanner from us. There are several models of handheld scanners, which can be purchased online or at your favorite office supply, that will work. If you would like some suggestions, give us a call.