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Last Updated:
Jan 20th, 2007 - 12:55:03 |
Getting your Bytes All In a Row
As your photo collection grows it is harder to find the photo you want with file names such as DSCN1073. Over the next few editions of Bit of Bytes we will explore ways in which to organise your photos into a system that makes sense to you.
Part 1 - Naming your photos
1 Name your photos immediately.
If you do not have a program that allows you to batch rename your images such as ACDSEE, Adobe Photo Album or the XP's photo management system its a tedious process but well worth the time to name your photos immediately. This makes it easier to not only sort your photos later but to find a photograph in a hurry and ensures that the information is accurate while it is fresh in your mind.
2 Give your photos a meaningful label
Your photo collection needs to be accesible to you so give your photos a name that means something to you. auntyjennyswedding_cake gives you detail that will make it easier to find.
A file name such as AJW_c01 may also be all you need to quickly identify that the file is a picture of the cake at Aunty Jenny's wedding
3 Do not use spaces or characters such as / * - @ or > in your filenames.
Space and characters in your file names can create havoc with your computer and are generally not accepted by websites. Underscores are a useful file name seperator and present no problems. Using lower case letters rather than capitals is also useful as it reduces the possibility of case sensitive search programs excluding files because the contain a capital letter
4 Including the date in a file name
In most cases your digital images record the file date of creation. You can access this information by right clicking on the photo and selecting properties look for the date created information not date modified for the accurate information. Depending on the camera you use it may display either the date the photo was actually taken or it may only display the date the picture was downloaded to the hard drive from the camera. However you may wish to include some date information in the file name auntyjennyswedding_cake_111602 (the numbers representing November the 16th 2002) to help with organisation. Remember you should not use / or \ in your file names.
5 Naming multiple subject photos
Deciding who or what is the focus of the photo can sometimes be difficult especially in group shots so it is particulary important that you use a filename that has particular meaning. Don't be afraid to add a few more descriptors if you think it will help. auntyjennyswedding_david_peter_sam_111602
6 Naming Photo Sequences
If you have taken 5 pictures of Aunty Jenny's wedding cake and have decided that they are all photos you would like to keep you need to distinguish between them using a sequence code eg auntyjennyswedding_cake01_111602 this tells that it is the first picture taken of the cake. You can refine this further by using AuntyJennyswedding_cake1of5_111602 if you wish.
9. Multiple file types
If you save your photo in several sizes of the same file type you may also wish to identify which size your file is in the file name. You may have an original .jpg file downloaded from your camera at 300dpi, a .jpg copy for web viewing at 72dpi and perhaps a medium resolution copy at 150dpi for emailing to allow reasonable printing quality for the recipient at a reduced file size. To distinguish between the copies and to ensure that the original is not overwritten you may wish to devise some form of identifying which file it is for example you could add o to the file name to identify it as the original file auntyjennysweddingo_cake01_111602, w to identify it as a web quality copy auntyjennysweddingw_cake01_111602 or e as the file size at 150dpi auntyjennysweddinge_cake01_111602.
7. Unwieldy File Names
Ensuring that you include all the information in your filename that you need to find it easily or for accurate identification may leave you with very long file names. It's a good idea to see what you can shorten to make them more manageable. auntyjennysweddingo_cake01_111602 could be abbreviated to ajenwedo_cke01_111602 or jenwedock01_111602. The most important part of this process is making sure the filename is still meaningful. You can go even further by creating a text file to keep with your photos which has details of abbreviations you have used or additional information eg jwcke01 may be your file name and in the text file you would make a note that jw stands for Aunty Jenny's wedding and since the date for these photos are all the same you can record that in your text file instead of with the files
8. Continuity
While you are naming your photos is one of the best times to weed out those shots that you do not wish to keep. This prevents gaps appearing later in your file names If you have named your five pictures of Aunty Jenny’s wedding cake using a sequence such as 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 and you later decide to delete the photograph with 03 you may end up spending valuable time looking for it at a later time because your file names tell you that there should be a 03 photo and you have forgotten you have deleted it. It also saves renaming your photo sequence to close the gap.
9. Searching File Names
By using detailed file names you will find that the photos are easier to search through using Windows Start>Search>For files or folders function. You can elect Search for files named jenwed* to find where all the photos of Aunty Jenny's wedding are or "containing text" and use your file name words to find files quickly eg jenwedock to find all the photos of the wedding cake are.
10.Going further
If you want to include even more information with your photos a simple way is to open a text file and include it in the folder of photos. For each photo or as required list the file name and then any other details you want to include, names, dates, place etc ..including any journaling prompts or even layout design thoughts. This is a comprehensive way to include valuable details about your photos and will be easily found for reference when kept with the photos.
We hope that the ideas presented in this article help you create a meaningful process for naming your digital and scanned photographs.
In the next edition we will explore ways of grouping your photographs into folders.
***First published in TidBytes 2003***
© Copyright 2003-2005 by Scrapbook-Bytes; & original creator/s of tutorials/articles
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