For Beginners
Getting Your Bytes in a Row - Sorting Your Photographs into Folders
By Shelleyrae Cusbert 2006
Jun 10, 2006, 02:51

Getting All Your Bytes in A Row

Part 2 – Sorting your photographs into Folders

Now I know that you have spent the last month renaming your files in a way that is meaningful to you. I can ask you for a copy of Aunty Jenny’s wedding cake and you can find it in a snap. Or not? When you open My Pictures or My Photos are you confronted by hundreds of photos or by folders with names like Img083 ? Sorting your photographs and files into folders will be another helpful tool to organize your image collection.

1. Where to start?
Deciding how to sort your photographs is largely dependent on what type they are, what time frame they encompass and the amount that you have. Broadly you can create a folder system determined by the subject of the photographs, or the timeframe in which they were taken or a combination of both.

2. What type are your photographs?
What are the main subjects of your photographs? Your family? Vacations? Heritage?
Organizing your photographs into broad cateogories can help you find them quickly. Begin in “My Pictures” or “My Documents” and begin to create folders using File >New>Folder and renaming each with broad cateogory names. Some suggested folder names are Family , Vacations, Holidays, Events, Friends, Work, Sports and Hobbies ..just to name a few. The cateogories will be determined by the subject of your photographs. If you have photographs that don’t really fit in any of your main categories and there are not enough of them to justify a folder of its own create a folder named Miscellaneous in which to sort these images. When your images could belong in one or more folders decide what is the focus of the photo. It maybe a photo of Aunty Jenny in her bridal dress who of course is family. But the focus of the photo , coupled with a large group of similar pictures is an event ..a wedding. Where ever you decide to put it remember to put others of the same subject together. If you are really stuck , copy the photo and place one in each folder of your choice.

3. When were the photographs taken?
If you have photographs that span several years or even decades you may find it useful to sort them chronologically. Chances are most of your photographs are recent. Start with creating a folder for each year starting from where you have the most photographs eg. 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003. For earlier photographs, where you have few, create folders that cover a period of decades. Eg 1970, 1980, 1990. If you have a few photographs from even earlier periods you can divide these among periods of 20, 30 or even 50 years. If you have photographs that aren’t dated look for clues in clothing, colours, props and ages to determine where they belong.

4. Combining the two systems.
Using both chronological and subject methods of sorting together is a comprehensive way of organizing your images. Start by sorting your photos chronologically, placing each in the appropriate labeled folder. As you work you may discover that you need to create more folders for particular years or condense some yearly folders into decades.
Once you have sorted the files into an appropriate time line create subject cateogory folders for each folder. It is not necessary to keep your subject folders identical in each chronological section, you may not have any pictures of family vacations in the 1980’s but have plenty taken in 2002. Again if you have photographs that don’t really fit in any of your main categories and there are not enough of them to justify a folder of its own create a folder named Miscellaneous in which to sort these images. Create new folders in different time periods to cover other subjects. By the completion of sorting your folders will have a structure similar to “My Pictures” > 2002 > Family / Vacation / Holiday / Events etc. and “My Pictures” > 1950’s > Family /Vacation / Holiday / Events etc.

5. Is there such a thing as too many photos?
Of course not! But it is all too easily to lose track of them when you have hundreds of photos with the same subject or taken at same event. For this reason once you have sorted your photographs into primary folders you will find you will need to create sub folders that further cateogorise your pictures.
If you attended several special events last year , Aunty Jenny’s wedding, a family reunion, attended a play then you will want to separate these events into their own folders to make it even easier to find them. Label the folder with the event and move all relevant photos into that section. Your folder structure will then be My Pictures > 2002 > Events > Aunty Jennys Wedding / Reunion / Opera for example.
Now you can if necessary create folders within folders. Think about the main events of a wedding for example. Albums are often divided into a timeline during the day, Bride/Groom Preparation , Ceremony, Reception. You can do the same to create folders for Aunty Jenny’s Wedding, especially valuable when you have large amounts of photographs. Similarly if you took several vacations in 2002 you will want to create subfolders that hold all the photographs of a particular vacation. For an extended or well traveled vacation you may find it worthwhile to create subfolders for each vacation. Perhaps by day eg Day1, Day 2, Day 3 or by place eg. The Hotel, Sydney Opera House, Taronga Zoo, Sydney Harbour Bridge etc

6. Moving photographs between folders
In Windows the easiest way to move photos between locations is to use CTRL (control) to select multiple files to be moved to the same destination. Then choose Edit from the toolbar > Move to Folder. It makes the task much easier than cutting and pasting photos between folders. You can use the same method to copy photos to other folders or use the select all / invert selection choices as appropriate.

7. Now my photographs are sorted what do I do with all these elements I have downloaded?
If you have all the elements shared at Scrapbook-Bytes you will have found that you have quite a collection. You have most likely also downloaded elements from other places or scanned in your own material. It is important to have these organized to access easily. Name your primary folder Elements. Create several source folders that tell you where you downloaded the elements from – eg the website, e list or other source. This is useful to find element sources at another date or to aid in acknowledging credit for items for example in a published layout you may give credit by using Ribbon : downloaded from Scrapbook-Bytes.com contributed by shelleyrae. Create folders within each source folder to sort the elements into. You can use the model at SBB to begin, sorting them into types like backgrounds, buttons, metals, tags, alphabets etc. New material downloaded can then be easily saved to the most appropriate folder.

8. What about my layouts?
Once you have created a large number of layouts you will find it easier to sort these into folders also. You can use the same methods above to organize them. Create chronological folders for the year in which the layouts were created and then if you save your layouts in multiple formats create folders that divide by type such as .psd (native format), .png (shared format), .jpg format (email or web format). Then sort your layouts by subject particulary where you have made multiple layouts for an album. Including a current project folder for active layouts you are working on is helpful which can later be moved when completed to the appropriate place.

Once you have established your system, it’s easy to sort your photographs as you download or scan, and then name them. They will slot neatly into a pre existing folder or you can create another folder as required. The system is easily maintained and it reduces the time spent searching for photographs, minimizes to chances of photos being mislaid and when you copy the photos to disc they are already organized. While the suggestions presented here may be a useful starting point , don’t be afraid to make your own adjustments. It is important that the system you use makes sense to you and is easy for you to maintain.


In the November issue, Part 3 of Getting All Your Bytes in a Row will explore archiving your files to external media.


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