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Organizing Digital Photos If you're struggling with how to manage your digital images, then following these tips may help you regain control: Choose Only The Best Photos Our first recommendation is always the same, whether you're organizing digital images or physical photographs. You must purge--relentlessly! Immediately delete any photos that are dark, blurry, or otherwise unattractive. If you've got several pictures of the same thing, pick one or two of the best and delete the others. The great thing about digital cameras is that you can make this decision instantaneously, which is exactly when you should do it! If you don't, you'll be creating much more work for yourself later. Creating Your Internal File Cabinet Once you download your "prized" photos onto your computer, you then need to think of your computer like a file cabinet; and treat the folders like folders in your file cabinet. You need to decide what filing method works best for you. Do you like to file chronologically or by event? If you're not sure, then ask yourself how you go about looking for photos. If you look for things by when they occurred, then you'll probably want to sort chronologically. (You can set up a folder for each year, with sub-folders for each month.) If you look for photos by the person featured or by certain events, then you should set up folders by people and/or by subject. Of course, you can then sort chronologically within the subject. Creating Folders An effective folder system will really help you manage your images more easily, because, as you have found, it is difficult to avoid using somewhat repetitive file names. Another thing you can do to simplify your sorting process is to view your files in thumbnail sketches, which display tiny previews of image files in a folder. That way if you have several photos of the same thing, you can get an idea of which one is which. You may not be able to avoid calling them Abby 1, 2, 3 but you'll be able to identify each photo. It is a good idea to include the date in each file name, like this:
You can also add details along with the name and date to help you better identify the images. Here are some examples:
If you've got multiple photos of the same event, then you can add another number to show that they're part of a series. For example:
If you're trying to organize multiple images from a single event, just narrow down the event with descriptive titles, like this:
Staying on top of your digital images takes the same diligence as managing your physical photographs. Procrastinating only magnifies the mess. Regularly take the time to organize and manage your images, so that you can enjoy the convenience instead of having to cope with the nightmare. And speaking of nightmares, please be sure to read the following segment on what you must know if you're going to rely on digital photography. Copyright 2005, by The Sentimental Playground. Article may be reprinted with permission. Please contact info@organizedphotos.com About the Author Christine Sutton and her business partner, Tracey DuBois have helped countless people organize, protect, and enjoy their precious photographs. As authors of "Save Your Photos and Your Sanity" and producers of "Treasure Your Memories" , they take a unique and FUN approach to organizing photographs. They offer a FREE Photo Organizing Idea Kit at www.organizedphotos.com
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Countless people are touting the convenience of digital photography. "It's so easy," they say, "no piles of photographs to deal with." While it's true that the mess may not be as visible, there's no doubt that managing digital photos can be an organizing nightmare! 