Last time, I talked about archiving photos. I intimated that it might be a lot easier to archive your photos if you make an effort to organize them before saving them to CD. Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that when it comes to files, many people seem to use the archeological method of file organization. In archeology, you have to dig deeper to find older stuff. With computers, the archeological approach means that the older the file, the harder it will be to find.
The problem is even worse with digital photos, which by default have cryptic file names like DSCN0560.jpg. Most people often don’t take the time to rename photos. It’s easy to take 100 photos at one event, so multiply that over a few years of using your digital camera, and you have a serious file management nightmare.
But with just a little effort, you can dig yourself out of this digital disaster and make it easier to keep track of your photos. After all, the great photo you took of Aunt Edna doesn’t do anyone any good if you can never find it again.
The first step is to learn to love folders. To create a folder, go into Windows Explorer by choosing Start|Programs|Accessories|Windows Explorer. In Explorer, navigate to the folder where you want to put your photo folders. For example, many people put all their photos in folders under the My Pictures folder. Choose File|New|Folder to create a new folder. The key to your organization is to create a folder naming system that makes sense to you.
Think about what aspect of the organization is most important. For example, I take a lot of photos of my dogs, so I have a top-level folder named Dog. Under that, I have one called HoundFaces, which are close up shots and another folder called OnTrail, which contains photos of the dogs running around on the trails in our forest.
Alternatively, if you take photos of events, you could take a monthly or yearly approach for your folders, depending on how many photos you take. For example, first, you’d create a folder called 2005. If Aunt Edna throws a big party every year, for those photos, you’d create a folder called "Aunt Edna Party." Next year, when you take photos of the big bash, you’d put them in the "Aunt Edna Party" folder that is under the 2006 folder, instead of the one under the 2005 folder.
If you think of your folders as a home for a "roll" of film, you’ll never end up with too many images in one folder. Whenever, you have more than 36 photos in a folder, it’s probably time to organize them into more subfolders. So if you go on a month long Alaskan cruise, you might want to create a folder for each day or each of the ports of call. If you take 200 photos each day, you might even go down another level and create sub folders for Scenery, People, Boat, and so forth for each day.
No matter what you do as far as organization, it will be better than the archeological filing method. If you want to find your photos again later, it’s worth it.