Organizing photos

[jtdl]

I'm looking for an easy photo management program. I've read that Photoshop Album, Ulead Explorer, and Jasc are some good ones but I'd like some reviews of what you are using. Thanks. Oh yeah, I am brand new at this!

 

[rtphokie]

I'm looking for an easy photo management program. I've read that Photoshop Album, Ulead Explorer, and Jasc are some good ones but I'd like some reviews of what you are using. Thanks. Oh yeah, I am brand new at this!

I use Picassa, it's not perfect but it's about the best I've come across. The plugin which allows you to easily upload to SmugMug is really nice.

 

[jtdl]

Thanks - I was beginning to think nobody on this board uses this type of program!! I'm thinking everyone can't be using the program that came with their camera - the one that came with my Canon seems pretty useless other than to organize them strictly by date taken. I'll see what I can find out about Picassa.

 

[tiggerwannabe]

Creative Memories

 

[tiggerwannabe]

double post

 

[tiggerwannabe]

ahhhh!!! Triple post

 

[alan]

Also, the Windows Live Photo Gallery is good - it stores any tags you add directly in the image files, so that they can be read by any program, and doesn't rely on a special, separate database file. The tags are also usable across operating systems.

Also, the tags can be searched by programs like Windows Live Search, so you can search for files with Great Aunt Maude in them...

Additionally, you can upload photos to flickr and Windows Live Spaces with it...

regards,
/alan


And, the price is right!

 

[becca-becca]

I just save my photos into files labeled by the year and date of each set of pictures. I put this into My Pictures which I access through My Pictures or, if I am copying something, through Windows Explorer. Am I missing something by doing it this way? If I need to edit, I either upload to Snapfish or use an editing program and re-save it to my original folder.

 

[Master Mason]

Photoshop Lightroom

 

[MICKEY88]

I have 2 250 gig hard drives one internal and one external for photo storage,

I upload using windows explorer..
I have a folder system, such as model shoots, family stuff, WDW etc, within those folders I have sub folders with more specific names and dates, such as, for family stuff , I recently added 2 folders xmas 07 and new years eve 07, when I need a specific pic I have a pretty good idea where to look...

I also upload my pics to my 2 websites, for sharing and backup storage...

I also burn my pics to dvd, keeping similar folders on each, such as model shoots, on one dvd, family stuff n another, seperate disks for scenics etc...

the disks go into a metal storage box I bought at walmart, it has little numbered hanging files to hold the disks and an index to keep tabs of what is on each disk

once the pics are uploaded to the web, and burned to dvd, I then delete from the hard drive to free up space...

Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 also has a built in organizer, which I haven't taken full advantage of yet since I'm used to my old system and it works..

if I ever have the time I might integrate that into my system..

 

[My2Girls66]

Is there anyway to automatically number photos in a folder? I'm trying to organize trip photos from 2 different cameras and my D50 which at the time was set to start numbering from 1 with every memory card change. I can't get my slideshow programs to keep them in the order I want(date and time). My programs like to number them 1,11,12,13....2,21,22,23. Its going to kill me to number each photo 1 by 1.

 

[boBQuincy]

BreezeBrowser has an option to rename or renumber photos in a folder. There may be other ways but this is one I have used to get the photos to display in sequence.

 

[mabas9395]

Use windows explorer. Select all the files you want to change at the same time, hit F2 to rename, type in your new name and hit enter. Your first file will have that name, all of your other filesfiles will have that name followed by a number, example: Disney Trip, Disney Trip (1), Disney Trip (2), Disney Trip (3),etc.

The photo software that came with your camera might also have a batch rename feature.

Or use this, its free: http://www.irfanview.com/

 

[My2Girls66]

Thanks a bunch to both of you! I knew there had to be an easier way

 

[Alztybrn]

I am looking to hear how everybody downloads/organizes their pics on their computers.

Presently I download everything to Picassa, then to Smugmug. But I want to do a bit more editing than Picassa provides, so...I have been playing around with PS Elements. Can I store my pics there before I send them to smugmug...or is it best to keep them in Picassa and use Elements for editing?

Since I downloaded the trial for Elements, I have noticed that when I download my pics, they end up in both elements as well as Picassa. So...are my pics being stored in both places (thus taking up double the space on my computer?)

Another thing I would like to do and have not figured out how to do it yet, is edit some of my pics, but still keep the original. I have not found how to do this yet in either program (especially Picassa...been using that longer). Another words, I want to "Save As" with the new, edited pic, but still have the original left in its original format.

Now that I have showed my complete "rookieness"...I am grateful for any and all suggestions!

 

[jann1033]

i have elements 5 and can't really say i love the organizer, maybe because my computer stinks ( getting closer to my new one) but it crashes a lot( ihave a big catalog as well)
so now i just download, use the free raw image viewer( iorget now if it's adobe or microsoft) and that will open them into the editor, or if they aren't raw just go to open with in file and hit adobe editor...i just store mine in folders under "my pictures",( and backed up on disks) send selected ones to my zenfolio account, flickr or photobucket depending on what i plan to do with them

if you save as with a different name ( ie blah blah blah vs blah blah blah edited) and or save as a copy you should end up with 2 files..in elements there is a box you check when you save that says "copy" in the pop up box that comes up and asks what kind of file you want to save as ie jpg tiff , do you want to add to organizer etc. it's the first box that comes up when you click the close on a edited file. you can change the name there as well as make it a copy or what ever you want to do

to change the name just type in the additional part in the box with the file name but be careful you don't mess with the end part..i usually type it in after the image title but before the jpg( or whatever)
you have to highlight then click where you want to insert or the whole name goes away

 

[TinksDH]

Since I downloaded the trial for Elements, I have noticed that when I download my pics, they end up in both elements as well as Picassa. So...are my pics being stored in both places (thus taking up double the space on my computer?)

Another thing I would like to do and have not figured out how to do it yet, is edit some of my pics, but still keep the original. I have not found how to do this yet in either program (especially Picassa...been using that longer). Another words, I want to "Save As" with the new, edited pic, but still have the original left in its original format.

Now that I have showed my complete "rookieness"...I am grateful for any and all suggestions!

Photoshop Elements has a cataloging feature which allows it to display your pictures in multiple ways. You first have to tell Elements where your pictures are - it then goes and catalogues all of them for you. Any time you bring a new image onto your PC, and you put it into a folder that you have Elements "watching", it adds it to the Elements catalogue but leaves the image in its original spot.

When you edit an image in Elements, and then save, it asks you if you want to save it as a "version". This means that the original image is left untouched, and the new one has all the edits. Now here's the powerful part of Elements - you can save that edited image to a different folder on your hard drive - or even a different drive altogether - yet Elements can display it in the browser right next to your original image as a "version". You may or may not find this advantageous.

You can also have Elements display your file tree, in which case you won't see different versions of the same image side-by-side with the original unless in fact you stored the version in the same folder.

The cataloging feature also has some drawbacks. If you move or delete folders or images outside of Elements, they become "disconnected" and Elements has to go and find them again. The organizer part of Elements only works well if you move, edit, delete, etc all of your images from within Elements. Otherwise it gets a little cumbersome.

I shoot RAW and use Photomechanic to import, rank, cull, sort, etc my RAW images. I then use Capture NX to convert and process my images. I mainly use Elements for those rare few things I can't do in NX (spot removal, clone, etc.). I am trying to use the Elements browser, but still trying to figure out how it fits into my workflow.

 

[Master Mason]

A couple of things.

Your photos are not "stored" in any program, they are in a file of some sort on your computer, you may have a program that allows you to do that fileing or to organize them, but they are not "in" the program.

Second, as Jan mentions, you should be able in any program to hit save as and it will save it as a new name, leaving the old name. However, It is my strong suggestion that you do that immediately upon opening rather than after you have done your edits, this way your only working on the copy and have the original to go back to if you make a mistake somewhere along the line.

 

[jann1033]

Photoshop Elements has a cataloging feature which allows it to display your pictures in multiple ways. You first have to tell Elements where your pictures are - it then goes and catalogues all of them for you. Any time you bring a new image onto your PC, and you put it into a folder that you have Elements "watching", it adds it to the Elements catalogue but leaves the image in its original spot.

When you edit an image in Elements, and then save, it asks you if you want to save it as a "version". This means that the original image is left untouched, and the new one has all the edits. Now here's the powerful part of Elements - you can save that edited image to a different folder on your hard drive - or even a different drive altogether - yet Elements can display it in the browser right next to your original image as a "version". You may or may not find this advantageous.

You can also have Elements display your file tree, in which case you won't see different versions of the same image side-by-side with the original unless in fact you stored the version in the same folder.

The cataloging feature also has some drawbacks. If you move or delete folders or images outside of Elements, they become "disconnected" and Elements has to go and find them again. The organizer part of Elements only works well if you move, edit, delete, etc all of your images from within Elements. Otherwise it gets a little cumbersome.

I shoot RAW and use Photomechanic to import, rank, cull, sort, etc my RAW images. I then use Capture NX to convert and process my images. I mainly use Elements for those rare few things I can't do in NX (spot removal, clone, etc.). I am trying to use the Elements browser, but still trying to figure out how it fits into my workflow.

you can use the version but that is really for saving different versions ie if you are editing something and are working on a project and want to save the steps. then you have them in steps so you can go to one and work on it,( like maybe you want to crop then go to black and white, rather than crop and add saturation, you can save a version just cropped and use that to build on later if you want. and you can stack them in the organizer.... other wise they are beside each other, which personally i find easier since as soon as i open the folder, they are all visible. long story short,saving in versions isn't needed to save a copy, particularly if you have just a finish copy and an original and just takes up space unless you are doing something complicated you might want to change later.

 

[jann1033]

A couple of things.

Your photos are not "stored" in any program, they are in a file of some sort on your computer, you may have a program that allows you to do that fileing or to organize them, but they are not "in" the program.

Second, as Jan mentions, you should be able in any program to hit save as and it will save it as a new name, leaving the old name. However, It is my strong suggestion that you do that immediately upon opening rather than after you have done your edits, this way your only working on the copy and have the original to go back to if you make a mistake somewhere along the line.

yep good idea...since i have lost a few original jpgs along the way( raw isn't so much of a problem )