What is a Workflow?

Workflow is a term that is commonly used in the printing industry. It is simply the sequence of tasks required to accomplish a particular objective. There can be different sequences of tasks that will all accomplish the same objective.

In everyday life, we simplify things by developing habitual methods for our daily tasks. For example, a simple workflow might be the sequence of steps for scrambling an egg:

1. Open cupboard and select pan.
2. Place pan on burner and turn on the burner.
3. Get bowl, whisk, spatula, and serving dish and place on counter near the stove.
4. Open refrigerator, take out eggs, butter, and milk and place on counter.
5. Use spatula to place small amount of butter in the pan.
6. Break required number of eggs into bowl, discard shells.
7. Add milk to eggs in bowl.
8. Whisk egg and milk mixture until smooth.
9. Pour egg and milk mixture into heated pan.
10. Use spatula to scrape cooked mixture from bottom of pan.
11. When egg mixture is thoroughly cooked remove pan from heat.
12. Turn off the burner.
13. Use the spatula to transfer the scrambled eggs to the serving dish.

It is unlikely that the last time you scrambled an egg you actually thought of it as a workflow with a sequence of tasks... but it is. You probably scramble eggs nearly the same way each time you do it, your "workflow" is probably very similar to the one used by the person who taught you to cook, and you almost always come out with scrambled eggs at the end.

For digital photography, having a standardized workflow - or work process - for your photos increases the probability of obtaining good quality results, and greatly reduces the chance of loosing images. In other words, using a standardized workflow - habituating a process - significantly reduces the chances for errors that can cost your business time and money.

The diagram, below, is a visual example of one work process for handling digital photos. It was designed to met the business requirements of one particular customer, but it contains the common requirements to Capture, Transfer, Store, Enhance, Organize, Archive, and Output digital photos.