So how do you stay organized?

[npmommie]

How do you keep all your photos organized in your computer? How do you keep track of what you have saved to disc or external hard drive?
I used to just have mine all in dated folders, then I started giving the folders names and dates, and now I feel so disorganized, because it was easy to keep track of what I back up and what I didn't now it isn't unless I do it each time I put pictures in the computer, but I don't do that.
so give me your best storage organization tips.
thanks!

[Chikabowa]

Lightroom - you can organize by date, keywords, events, etc. I love it!

[Pea-n-Me]

There's a wide range of options depending on photography habits and technological skill level and experience. Some people here are very experienced and extremely tecnically savvy; others, well, aren't (but we're learning :lmao: ). I'm not sure where you lie.

It's important to back up in some manner because if you lose your photos off your hard drive they're not always easy to get back. Some people do "automatic back up" (ie to two separate places) when they download their pictures, some use online storage, some use portable hard drives (which can also fail) and/or discs, and some keep two sets of discs, storing one in a fireproof box, etc (though apparently basic discs may not last indefinitely, either). I'm not an expert in any of those arenas, but just to give you an idea, there are different ways to go about it.

I'm still feeling my way around, but basically I try to keep up with my photos as much as I can, as quickly as I can after I take them. They've gotten away from me before (and I've lost lots) so I'm trying to stay organized. I edit and upload my best to a SmugMug account, and also put them all to disc, which my husband organized into albums by date/event for me (via CD organizing albums). That's what's working for me at the moment, but it takes quite a bit of time and is easy to fall behind if I don't keep up with it.

If you normally take just a few pictures here and there, shoot in straight JPEG and edit minimally, then it's generally less complicated.

[spinetnglr]

Organization is starting to become a problem for me too. It was ok while I was putting pictures in dated folders but if I am looking for a certain picture and dont know the date it was taken it takes a long time to find something. I want to try and devise a system that works for me but I dont really know where to start. I will be interested in watching this thread to see what others suggest and maybe from that I can work out something doable for me. I won a one year smugmug power account this month and just got that set up so I am going to start putting pictures there but that still doesnt get me organized :confused3

[Groucho]

I've used CD/DVD cataloging programs for years. If I didn't, I'd really be in trouble! I burn a huge number of discs.

I used to use DiskBase (http://diskbase.learsy.com/), the author abandoned it so it's now freeware. There are countless other ones out there... try a few and see which one you like best. If you're lucky, it'll be a free one. ;)

If your main concern is making sure they're all backed up, you might do well with an online backup service like Mozy or Carbonite. They'll take care of that for you.

[zackiedawg]

When I load my photos to my computer, I use Microsoft's photo uploader (which automatically triggers when you plug in a USB device or memory card to a USB input) to give the photos themselves a name based on subject and date. For example: Disney Dec08 001, Disney Dec08 002, etc. It's a batch uploader, so it names all the photos with the name you assign and adds sequential numbers to them.

You also choose what folder they load to - I have always been a user of MS Windows for a long time, and folders are just real easy for me to understand and work with - so I keep it simple and just use the Windows folders and subfolders to stay organized. For each new batch, I'll make a new folder (Disney Dec08, Disney Jul08, Wakodahatchee Nov08, Key West Mar08, etc). All the photos from that upload go into that folder. Then, I open a new subfolder called 'processed'. As I work on any photos and modify, crop, and process them, I save the new processed version to that subfolder. This ends up being the 'final' version folder that I would slideshow to friends and family, as it has been culled of any unneeded duplicates or bad photos. This has the added advantage of leaving all of my originals untouched, in case I ever want to go back and reprocess a photo or try a new technique on it.

Once a subject gets to be fairly common, and I end up with alot of folders on that topic, I'll grab all of the folders with the same subject (Disney, Cruises, etc.) and put them in a master folder. So I can click on photos/disney/disney dec08, for example, to get to the photos I took a few weeks ago.

I also use the subfolder system for places where I go often enough that individual folders for each trip would be a little too busy - I frequent a wetlands area for much of my bird and wildlife shooting, called Wakodahatchee. If I added a new folder for every trip out there, I'd have hundreds of subfolders. So instead, I have a master folder (Wakodahatchee), then subfolders separated by date ranges (Jan-Jun 08, Jul-Dec 08, etc). Each has a 'processed' folder within as well.

Having the larger folder topics is useful for 'stray' photos - let's say I took 5 shots of my Grandmother's xmas tree before going to Disney, and those 5 photos downloaded with the Disney pics. I can just drag those first 5 photos out of there, and put them in the 'Christmas' master folder, which is separated by subfolders for each year's Christmas.

Of course, once you've put all those photos in folders, and start to get alot of folders going, you can still use alternate photo organizing tools like Picasa to search and find photos to view for slideshows and such. Since all the photos are in a folder by subject and date, and all photos within are named by subject, date, and sequence, it makes it a breeze to find anything you need in seconds.

As for backing up - I don't move some photos to one drive, and others to another drive. I personally prefer to keep all my photos on a single drive, then backup that drive in its entirety to another mirrored drive, and also to an external drive...that way I've got 3 copies of my entire photo collection. Every so often, I'll burn some DVDs of my photos as another form of backup (not easy though when you've got 182GB of photos...takes alot of DVDs!). For those, I keep the previous burn, and just burn new DVDs of the most recent photos added. Once the DVDs get to 3 years old, I'll burn those contents again to a new DVD.

[steery1]

I name my photo folders firstly the year the photo was taken. Then subfolers named either with the place or event .

For example-
Photos 2008 will have subfolders of......
Christophers Birthday 2008 or Victoria Park 2008 or Stevies 43rd Birthday 2008, Gerard and Lisannes Wedding 2008 etc, etc.......

Each photo will be named with the exact date taken.
ie the photos in the folder Stevies 43rd Birthday 2008 will each be named Stevies 43rd Birthday Aug 10th 2008 (1), (2) etc.

My Disney pics will have numerous subfolders ie....
Photos 2008 then subfolder......
Florida July 2008 then subfolders.....
Magic Kingdom 2008, Animal Kingdom 2008, Beach Club 2008, Universal Studios 2008
Maybe inside the Magic Kingdom 2008 subfolder I'll have another subfolder entitled Castle photos 2008
I find this way easiest and also not too difficult to retrieve certain photos should I need to. Having said that I dont take many pics in comparison to some guys on here so it may not work for everyone.

All my photos get backed up onto an external hard drive when I can be bothered and the complted jpg's get uploaded to Smugmug immediately they're done

[Pea-n-Me]

When I load my photos to my computer, I use Microsoft's photo uploader (which automatically triggers when you plug in a USB device or memory card to a USB input) to give the photos themselves a name based on subject and date. For example: Disney Dec08 001, Disney Dec08 002, etc. It's a batch uploader, so it names all the photos with the name you assign and adds sequential numbers to them.
Do you shoot in RAW? This doesn't work for my RAW files. Currently I have to edit my photos in Olympus Master and convert them to JPEG, then they automatically go back to my folders. Each of these RAW photos also is about 2MB, so every folder (of all pics) that used to fit on one disc now takes about three or more. I suppose I could delete some of them but that kind of defeats the purpose of shooting in RAW (ie they're often "fixable" or "re-editable), and besides that, the deleting process itself takes quite a while. As I said, currently this system is working, albeit slowly - I don't know if there's a better way. We aren't especially technically savvy here.

[zackiedawg]

I only shoot a handful of RAW, namely when I know I really want to post-process a photo like crazy (like shooting way underexposed to get a faster shutter speed in very dark conditions). In general, I shoot .jpg most of the time, as it fulfills my needs perfectly - I really do prefer to try to get the shot right as I shoot it and minimalize any need for post processing. I haven't noticed any difference between .jpg and RAW files for prints up to 16x24, which is about the largest I will print 99% of the time. And I've been able to notch sales and publications from .jpgs, so I just don't have too much need for RAW. Besides, I've surprised myself with how much you can post-process a high quality, super-low-compression jpg.

But, true that RAW files don't get picked up in my Microsoft photo uploader - I have to open the drive folder and drag them over to the hard drive. As for RAW editing, there are lots of aftermarket options you can consider buying that might do better conversions and be easier to work with, including batch processing...ACDC, Arcsoft, Bibble, Lightroom, and more.

I don't like to get into RAW vs JPG debates - they're both fine, and some folks like to use both methods. RAW ultimately has more flexibility to process, but takes up alot more space and is slower. For me personally, JPG works fine a majority of the time.

Thanks for mentioning the MS Photo Uploader's incompatibility with RAW...I failed to mention it.

[Groucho]

Do you shoot in RAW? This doesn't work for my RAW files. Currently I have to edit my photos in Olympus Master and convert them to JPEG, then they automatically go back to my folders. Each of these RAW photos also is about 2MB, so every folder (of all pics) that used to fit on one disc now takes about three or more. I suppose I could delete some of them but that kind of defeats the purpose of shooting in RAW (ie they're often "fixable" or "re-editable), and besides that, the deleting process itself takes quite a while. As I said, currently this system is working, albeit slowly - I don't know if there's a better way. We aren't especially technically savvy here.
What I do with my RAWs is keep them all in folders of 1,000 pictures each. So I have a folder for each of the DSLRs and under that, a folder called "00001-01000", "01001-02000", etc. The raws all go in there. I process them in Lightroom and the outputs go in a similar folder structure (to make them easier to flip through using a standard photo viewer like Irfanview), and for specific topics, I create collections in Lightroom and output those photos in a small resolution (usually 1280x1024 max) and those are the ones I use most of the time. They're relatively small so they load quickly on any photo viewing devices that I have, and if I need something bigger, I can find the full-size one easily by looking for the one with the same time/datestamp.

Trying to organize RAWs the same way you organize the finished JPGs is probably an exercise in frustration, I think...

[jann1033]

i haven't used lightroom for the organization area yet although i do keyword stuff to make it easier(if i do) later...i save all my stuff under a main folder that lets me know what it is ie "zoo" then a subfolder that describes it...ie "dec gorilla photos" , " 08 touch tank" what ever...numbers and dates mean nothing to me so i use as few as i can:rotfl: i am paranoid about saying my computer space so that is why i haven't used lightroom's yet...it's on my c drive although maybe i can use it and actually save them someplace else...(i need to do some lightroom book learnin'). i back up to dvd and save them all there as well. i haven't even looked at the vista photo stuff since i am happy with what i am doing

unintentionally funny walgreen commercial that says you don't need to keep your photos on your memory card, you can save them online....so i guess i could just keep buying memory cards and forget all of the above:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

[handicap18]

I keep my digital image files the same way I kept my photo albums: In order I take the picture.

When I download my RAW files I use Nikon Transfer and have it set up to automatically to download to 2 different hard drives, 1 internal and 1 external. Each RAW file is then sorted by year and month taken.

Same thing for JPEG's. I have a file under My Pictures for each year. Within each year is each month. I don't change the file names so they are the same that the camera creates (until I get over 9,999, then I have the transfer software add a 1 at the beginning to make a 5 digit number to keep then in order).

If I edit any images they go in a seperate folder (still keeping the original in the original folder). For me this system works.

When I first went digital I would change the file names and had all kinds of folder, but I found it way to much work to eventually not only sort the images, but then to find them later. I then went to a 4 folder system under each year, but I was taking to many pictures. Doing it monthy makes the folder smaller. I can find an image just as fast as someone else can with using all those tags and what not. I don't like using Lightroom for that kind of thing, to me its extra work to get the same thing done. However, I will say that everyone has their system that works for them, so go with what YOU find the best.

[SharonLovesMickey]

I store my photos by year-->month-->event

I backup all my photos and share them on www.smugmug.com

[wdwwishes]

I'm a Mac user and use iPhoto. The photos are arranged into one main "photo library" as well as by events. You then give each event a name. You can also assign keywords and ratings to your photos. To search the photos you can do so by event name, keyword (s), rating or date. I find it a nice system. I do have a backup hard drive but still burn all of my photos to c.d.s

[DisneydaveCT]

My system is similar to others on this thread.

I have folders for each year, followed by subject folders (a series of photos of one subject) or monthly folders (for everyday life photos). If I decide to keep the photos after reviewing them on the computer, I rename each photo with one or two words for the subject with the numerical date of the photo. For example, "SpaceshipEarth010109." If I save multiples of the same subject, shot on the same day, then I add a letter to the end...SpaceshipEarth010109a.

Part of the reason I name my files this way is that I use a commercial printing service, which also prints the name on the back of the photo. So if someone is looking at one of my photo albums and they want a copy of the print, it is easy for me to find it in one of my storage systems. I save copies on flash drives and on-line.

[tubachick]

I keep various folders on the cpu with name date like many of the others here, I burn CD's of large events or trips, or Months if not one large event. I also back up on-line and on an external hard drive.

[rileysmommy]

I have a folder listed for each year. 2007, 2008, etc.

Within each year's folder I have monthly folders. Jan, Feb, etc.

Within each month's folder I have folders with each event. In Dec's folder I have folders labeled Christmas morning, dance recital, decorating the tree, etc.

I try to remember to burn the monthly folder at the end of every month but I am really bad about it. I do need to go burn the 2008 folder right now. I keep all my photos on my EHD.

The only exception to this filing system is Disney. They get their own folder and their own CD's burned because there is just too many photos.

[blackears]

I make a master folder for the year, another folder w/i the year folder for each month. My PSE 7 downloads according to the date, I just have to select w/ folder to put it in. If I need to remember something particular about that date, then I add it onto the date name (11-19-08-Kevin's Bday party) Pretty simple so far, now I just have to work on back-up to DVD...

[KarenAylwood]

All of my folders are labelled as such: Year_Month_Date_Event

For example: 2008_12_25 Christmas or 2008_05_15 Mom's Visit (even though the pics went from the 15th to the 20th, I have the day as the start date).

That way I have it by date, but I also know what the event was just by looking at the folder.

I have them on my computer hard drive only when they are not backed up. When I get about 2 GB worth of pics, I backup. I burn them on a DVD, upload to smugmug and put on my external hard drive all at the same time. Then I delete from my computer (I don't have enough space to keep everything... I'm hovering at over 26GB worth of pics from the last two years!).

I put them on DVDs because they hold so much more. Each DVD is labelled 2008: Jan-November, or Disney: 2007 & 2008, etc.

I'd love to use Bridge to organize and put key words and such, but I just haven't had the time yet. I got my XSi in August and have been shooting too much to keep up! I'm just lucky I am diligent enough to back them up on a regular basis :)

[qtzar]

I use Lightroom to import my shots in a folder structure of Year\MonthNumber\DayNumber so December 25th of 2008 would be in 2008\12\25. This import routine is an easy to select option in the lightroom import screen.

The folder structure is sitting on a 3 terabyte Network Attached Storage device which is setup in a RAID5 configuration which means if one of the disks in the array goes bad the pictures are safe and can be recovered once the bad disk is replaced.

When importing into Lightroom I attach keywords to the pictures to help make finding them faster. So if i need to find Christmas pictures from Disney I can do a search for 'WDW XMAS' and it will pull them all up.

Once the images are imported into Lightroom I'll examine all of them and give them ratings and delete any images which did not turn out good. There is no point in keeping bad images, they just take up disk space.

After rating the images I'll do a small bit of post processing on the 5 star images to make them as good as possible and then I'll export them in full quality into Flickr and export them a bit smaller into iPhoto so I can sync them to my iPhone.

Hope this little workflow helps.

[PixieDust32]

Organized me???? Oh boy I don't think so. I do try.

[PhotobearSam]

We just got a 1 TB external hard drive so I was wondering what way is best...Thanks for the suggestions.

[Groucho]

i haven't used lightroom for the organization area yet although i do keyword stuff to make it easier(if i do) later...i save all my stuff under a main folder that lets me know what it is ie "zoo" then a subfolder that describes it...ie "dec gorilla photos" , " 08 touch tank" what ever...numbers and dates mean nothing to me so i use as few as i can:rotfl: i am paranoid about saying my computer space so that is why i haven't used lightroom's yet...it's on my c drive although maybe i can use it and actually save them someplace else...(i need to do some lightroom book learnin'). i back up to dvd and save them all there as well. i haven't even looked at the vista photo stuff since i am happy with what i am doing
What is it that you're worried about Lightroom saving? It leaves the photos wherever they are now, no need to more them around. The catalog will probably be on your C: drive (though you can put it anywhere you want), but it's relatively small - I've got almost 22,000 photos in mine and it's all of 254 megs. It does have a camera raw cache that's a gig... but hey, if you have the hard drive space, it's just going to waste if you don't use it. :)

[ssanders79]

1. I offload the images from the memory card to my laptop using Bridge.
2. Tag the images using Bridge.
3. The images are saved in folders on my HDD. 1 folder per day. ie. 20090105.
3. When I get to about 3 GB I burn them to a DVDr.
4. I verify the images are burned and delete the files from the HDD.
5. The DVDr is put into a fireproof box.

My method is not ideal as I only have immediate access to the most recent files on my laptop, but I am OK with that.

[anut4disney]

Organized me???? Oh boy I don't think so. I do try.


:worship: Bless you I thought I was the only one. :lmao:

[ALittleDisneyFan]

When I upload mine to the computer I date the file names and then stick them into the designated Month folder. Once the year is done I stick all the monthly folders into 1 year folder.

[princess-lola]

After I get my photos downloaded on the computer, I edit them if needed, then I put them in their correct file.
I have five folders: dogs doing cute stuff, birds, outside photos, everything else and holiday photographs. I'll probably make more folders one day; but for now that system is working fine for me. :)

[npmommie]

thanks for all the great suggestions! I reorganized my pics into yearly folders, and subfolders by the month.
I still have to get organized with backing up to cd. I also have Picasa, but I don't know if this qualifies as online storage? i like it though because i can browse thru my pics and see them all.
i may look into smug mug

[rtphokie]

http://picasa.google.com/images/logo.jpg
download (http://picasa.google.com/#utm_campaign=en&utm_source=en-ha-na-us-bk&utm_medium=ha&utm_term=picassa)

I copy photos off CF cards onto my PC using picassa. Delete the duds, edit the good ones, organize them by folder, tag the ones I want to upload and then upload them straight to SmugMug all from Picassa.

The thing I like about Picassa is that it doesn't maintain much of a database of it's own. It organizes things by folder just like your PC does. I used Adobe Lightroom's predecessor (I forget the name, it was much cheaper and much less feature right) and it maintained it's own database rather than move files around by folder. When that database got corrupted (and it did, a lot), all the organization work I'd done was lost. If you move around photos outside of the program, it would really confuse it.

Picassa is simple and as effective because of that simplicity.

[Ellen aka Snow White]

Can someone help me know if I have my facts straight?
Picasa organizes pixs on your computer and also stores online?
however Picasa is not unlimited storage?
Smugmug is online storage only - unlimited with paid plan?

I am looking a new program to help me organize my photos - right now I use pictureproject and I hate it! I'm still a newby to digital and I don't do much with editing - but I am trying to learn more. Any suggestions will be greatly appreciated!!
TIA
Ellen