Digital Standards Seminar
CEPIC congress Budapest
SATURDAY 25th MAY 2002

Organised by The Image Network

Speakers :
Jim Pickerell, Stock Connection, USA
David Redfern, Redferns Music Picture Library, UK
Charlotte Lippmann, Picture Research Association, UK
Klaus Plaumann, Picture Press, Germany
Staffan Teste, BLF, Sweden

Chair: Sarah Saunders, Electric Lane for The Image Network

Is there anything we can do to make the production and handling of digital files less of a headache? How can photographers, picture libraries, picture users and print professionals work together to avoid the confusion which is holding up the workflow at present? What are digital standards and can they help? These were the issues facing an international panel at a seminar organised by The Image Network and attended by around 60 delegates at the CEPIC Conference in Budapest in May.

Jim Pickerell, author of Selling Stock On-line and director of Stock Connection in the USA kicked off by informing the audience that there are no standards in the USA, despite being a few years ahead of Europe in the digital imaging business. He pointed out that a large percentage of digital files is delivered on 18MB Photo CD - to very little customer resistance - and said that a file size standard is not considered necessary, though if there was one it might be 40-50 MB. He backed up his statement by a survey done by a group of US agencies. The survey results from the sample indicated that 40% were happy with less than 20 MB files and 70% were happy with 30 MB or less.

There has also been debate in the US about standards for keywording, though Pickerell believes that the tree system of narrowing a search is effective in itself for helping users find their way to a picture.

David Redfern, President of BAPLA and owner of Redferns Music Library, told us a cautionery tale of a scanner, bought by Corbis for £44,000 in 1995, bought by Redferns in 1999 for £9000 and buried without ceremony in 2002 at a recycling plant. The issue of investment is a major one for small and medium libraries - and is estimated at £100,000 for Redferns to date. From a position 3 years ago with not a single scanned image, Redfern now has a searchable web site, 20,00 high res scanned images and all the equipment he needs for now- but the demand, he said is endless, comparing the process with jelly on a plate ' it looks firm, but if you disturb it it's all over the place.' In calling for standards to make life simpler Redfern pleaded for a change in emphasis - ' from what the digital industry thinks we ought to have, to what we actually need. … stabilise standards and make this digital nightmare work and become cost effective.'

Charlotte Lippmann chair of the Picture Research Association, PRA, gave the picture researcher's perspective - a confusing picture as customers themselves often have no idea what they want. Are researchers supposed to become digital experts, she asked? Whose job is it to check digital files for quality, dust and scratches and so on? Should researchers know about colour management? There are too many areas at present where things can go wrong. Picture researchers would welcome guidance on file-size, colour space, captioning, colour management and delivery methods, but Lippmann pointed out that extra digital skills and equipment have to be paid for somehow, and that's not easy on current picture research rates. The main thing is that researchers and users should be well consulted in any discussion of standards.

Klaus Plaumann from Picture Press in Germany gave an example of the situation in Europe - someone asked to send a digital file three times as it was needed for three customers (think about it!). Plaumann thinks it high time the industry found out more about the needs of customers and photographers.

The customers themselves have made progress - Stern and Spiegel have published a booklet 'Digital Photography for Magazines and Newspapers" , written by photo editors and IT experts and backed up by seminars at the publishing houses. The booklet (in German) looks at RGB/CMYK, colour management and IPTC standards and makes clear what magazine editors require from photographers and agencies. Plaumann pointed out that although IPTC is used as a standard, it is still unclear what the fields mean and which ones should be filled in.

He also talked about the problems of keywording - where there are really no standards at all - and mentioned a new form of keyword independent intuitive search in which precise keywording is not so important. ( See www.piaxa.com).

The German picture library association, BVPA, is pressing ahead with work on digital issues and standards - particularly watermarking, colour management and IPTC. The issue of metadata - information attached to a digital file - is clearly going to be of great importance as images circulate around the globe. The BVPA have suggested a number of extra fields to add to the IPTC header - which is mostly useful only for newsphotos at present. They are : Bank account details; copyright owner ID; extra copyright information; second language caption field. As Plaumann said ' No real standards in Germany that everyone can trust yet - but we are working on it.'

Staffan Teste runs the Swedish picture library association, BLF. With a background in print and repro he is only too aware of the problems facing the industry further down the line. Repro departments, he said, are fast disappearing, leaving a gap in the supply chain to print. In this situation colour management becomes more important - and the BLF have introduced a certification process for photographers and libraries which is similar to the newly-launched Pro File scheme in the UK.

The accreditation/certification process ensures that picture suppliers have properly profiled equipment so that their output is accurate and consistent. This means the customer can rely on the profile provided with the digital file and with properly calibrated and profiled equipment can be assured that the output, to print, monitor or web, matches the original colour as closely as possible.

The issue of colour management led to a lively debate . Jim Pickerell reported that in his experience there is no demand for it in the US - the only standards applied are for Adobe RGB files with no sharpening. A delegate from Spain took the view that the only way you can guarantee output colour to print is to provide a Chromalyn proof - which his agency does regularly for big clients. Some people pointed out that the whole colour management exercise is pointless if the clients are working on uncalibrated equipment.

The discussion highlighted the need for a broader understanding of the colour management process so that libraries and photographers can take steps which are practical and economic for their own particular branch of the industry. There are some common standards which can be applied though, and as someone said at another meeting on standards - it's not rocket science. Work will continue on the issue of standards, hopefully in a European context, and there are bound to be some interesting debates along the way.

The Image Network - Sharing Digital Knowledge

UK company Electric Lane and the University of Westminster Business Development Unit are launching The Image Network (TIN) to promote the exchange of knowledge and ideas in the field of digital imaging.

Loosely modelled on the University's thriving network for new media companies (www.nmk.co.uk) the network will be based on an informative web site and will host events, training and knowledge-sharing for people dealing with digital images - including photographers, picture libraries, publishers, ad agencies, designers, pre-press, imaging labs, and anyone using or producing images.

The Image Network is coordinating a standards- setting initiative which will draw together work already done on the subject and find ways to develop and promote standards across the industry.

The TIN web site will launch in the autumn, with a program including both technical and business development issues, particularly those relevant to small businesses.

If you are interested and want to be on the mailing list, or want to contribute to the standards discussion e-mail Sarah Saunders at The Image Network.

sarah.saunders@theimagenetwork.co.uk

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