Depending on the project, there are many different ways to handle the workflow in Photoshop. Despite the varied uses and practices in Photoshop, the overall idea of an efficient and productive workflow remains the same. Ideally, when doing Photoshop work, you want labor and time as minimized as possible, and changes or edits should be repeatable, predictable, and revisable. Make sure you use a consistent naming or identification system for directories, files, and layers, so if you need to go back, you can easily find what you are looking for. Additionally, group related items together to make sure they're easily found. Tedious yet vital steps that are not likely to need revising should be done first, and be sure to do any edits sequentially. After each step, check the histogram to see if there has been any detail loss in highlights (right) or shadows (left).

Labor and time can be saved by making the most efficient use of the editing process. When you plan ahead the sequence of the edits, coupled with an informative naming system, you are able to find exactly what needs to be edited in the sequence in which it should be edited.

Furthermore, save your work early and often. As soon as you start a new file, save it right away, and then regularly press Cmd+S (on Mac or Ctrl+S on Windows) to make sure your work is safely saved to disk. Make sure your network is optimized so that saving to your shared storage server is as quick as possible. At Small Tree, we're the experts in Mac networking, so we can make sure your network runs at the speed you need. Saving your PSD files doesn't have to take a long time, and the more often you save, the less work you'll lose in the event of a program or computer crash.

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