Whole lotta blogging goin' on

Warning: this post contains "recipes" - but not for delicious cakes (these were on display at KaDeWe posh department store) -Two things have made a HUGE difference to how easy it is to post to my blog. This has set me wondering what other time-saving, life-enhancing improvements might be possible....

The first breakthrough was discovering I could add my "gmail3" persona as a joint contributor to the blog, which had been linked to my "gmail1" address. Now I no longer had to sign out of email, sign in to the blog. This removed an important psychological barrier and made it possible to check email while blogging. (Sometimes it takes a long time to get a post ready!)

Then, a chance comment on using "save to web" led to a huge time saving for processing photos. The software with this new(ish) camera downloads the pix at 180dpi and 2500 pixels wide - way too big! It was taking a long sequence of actions to get from that format to the 72dpi version, and yet more clicks to navigate to the file where the processed pix are saved.

"Save to web" changes the size in one click, and then is already at the desired location for saving the file - how good is that!

And I've learned a sequence of keystrokes to apply routinely - first to adjust the colour (shift-control-B), then to apply unsharp mask (control-F is the stroke for "last filter used" so you only have to choose the option once on opening Photoshop, then can use the keystroke), and lastly the tricky combination of alt-control-shift-S to open Save to Web. It now takes just seconds to prepare each picture.

Of course sometimes the photo needs cropping - I do that on first opening it in Photoshop.

Files are saved to a monthly folder and given a short name plus number, so related files get loaded into the same blog post. But even more efficient is to rename them before processing, in the Gallery that the download software opens up.

In a further move to keep my photo files organised, if several "topics" are mixed up in one download, I rename groups of pix, then move them into the relevant folder elsewhere on the system. (Now the trick is to get an easy-to-use arrangement of files.)

Another trick is trying to keep to using just 5 photos per post - because that's the maximum uploadable at one time. Sometimes this can be useful, so that you're concise and keep on topic, but sometimes you do need more. Starting with the ones you want furthest down, then finally uploading the one you want at the top of the post - that will avoid a lot of rearranging.

On the blog, I'm finding that the labels in my list so far are neither detailed enough, nor consistent ... and to think I used to be an indexer, skilled in setting up categories and subcategories, and cross-referencing related terms... Some revision is needed: start with the current stuff, and tackle the old items when you have time, that's the theory.

To get back to the visual interest that is so important on a blog, the photo below is the outcome of a search for "file organisation" - Susan E. Evans is an artist who is "interested in the structure, collection, storage, organization, categorization, processing, retrieval, and cross listing and dissemination of information, images, knowledge and memory".Finally in this rather long post, a little reflection on the purpose of blogging. Some of you kind readers have left comments or sent messages that you're interested in what goes on in my art foundation course, and of course I'm pleased to know this - lately that's rather taken over from the textile element that the blog started out focusing on. I'm still trying to fit in some stitching, and to blog about it, but at the moment the art course is taking not just most of my time but also most of my energy, enthusiasm, and interest. So the blog is becoming an interactive notebook - a place to keep list of new-to-me artists, and links to their sites. Writing the posts is a way to make sure I look them up. (It's also a way to fulfil the record-keeping component of the course.)

"I know what I think when I hear myself talk" - or, see what I write. As long as the joys of research don't spill into the time that should be spent in the writing....