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01/28/2006 10:31:19 AM · #1 |
How do you organize your images on your hard disk(s)?
I keep mine in two sets (where -> is used to denote levels of the folder tree). But I'm not sure this is best anymore. I want to keep the originals for masters together with the
Personal -> Year -> YYYYMMDD -> files
Artistic ->
Captures -> Year -> YYYYMMDD -> files
Masters -> Title ->
Full Size Files
prints
800
640
So once I title a work, it gets moved into a separate tree of my "masters". Then all the reductions and versions are in subfolders of that. But I also keep a copy of the original with the captures.
And of course in backups.
In truth, I also keep copies of the smaller online versions in a tree called "online", where a copy of each file is in a subfolder named after the site (or contest) where I've uploaded it.
I am wondering what other people do. So I started this thread in the interest of seeing what others are doing and to see if there's a better way or improvements to my own methods.
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01/28/2006 11:59:34 AM · #2 |
I need to find a better way but I create folders as follows:
2006-01-28 - Shoot Subject
This is rather simple and it allows me to keep my shoots sorted by date. I keep these in the my documents\my pictures\photos folder.
I run a short script file ever day that copies the updated contents of the photos folder to my external USB hard drive. Once or twice a month, I archive the contents of the photos folder to DVD, but leave the files on the external USB drive until it starts to get full.
My 'prints' are stored as photoshop files in another folder and they are named by a different scheme. I keep them all together. I only have about 170 print files.
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01/28/2006 01:28:06 PM · #3 |
I organize images using windows explore only...
I find grouping images by traditional subject areas: flora, fauna, cityscapes, landscapes, etc at the highest level works for me. Then I drill down into organized subgroup folders for further refinement of subject. For example, landscapes are subgrouped by state in the US and inside each state are individual site locations.
Organization folders: SubjectName
Picture folders: SubjectNameYYYYMMDD
Folders containing actual pictures are given short meaningful names I always keep the same with the date in YYYYMMDD format appended to the end opposite to Setzler's method. Picture folders are always inside a subject folder or subfolder.
That keeps specific sessions of a particular subject and/or location grouped together but separated by date. They are listed from oldest to newest. It is easier for me to look at subject first then date rather than the other way around.
I often shoot the same subject or location many, many times over a period of years and this organization helps me find individual images quickly.
Btw, within each folder that contains pictures I create a separate folder that I put all the post processed images into. Sometimes I will devote an entire folder to just one post processed image if there was a lot of files created to produce it.
Also, there is no rule that every picture taken in one outing must necessarily be stored together in one group. They are separated into logical groups when that makes sense. Grouping them by similar subject is what makes it easiest for me personally to find things.
There are many organizational software tools that you could purchase and use, like Adobe's new Bridge, and add keywords and such to organize images. But when you have 10s of thousands of pictures that is just too much work to keep updated for lazy people. :)
Pick the organizational method that works best for you.
Message edited by author 2006-01-28 16:36:33.
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01/28/2006 01:44:04 PM · #4 |
Bad update. ;)
Message edited by author 2006-01-28 13:44:40.
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01/28/2006 01:46:09 PM · #5 |
On a smiliar note ... does anyone know of a piece of software I could use to organize and catalog my images that are all on quite a few CD's and DVD's?
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01/28/2006 01:50:12 PM · #6 |
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
On a smiliar note ... does anyone know of a piece of software I could use to organize and catalog my images that are all on quite a few CD's and DVD's? |
I've just started using iView MediaPro and love it, so far. I burn CD's by date, and then iView to categorize them. I'm not a professional yet, but even just for home use it's great to be able to easily find & sort images of the family, vacations, etc. |
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01/28/2006 01:52:24 PM · #7 |
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
On a smiliar note ... does anyone know of a piece of software I could use to organize and catalog my images that are all on quite a few CD's and DVD's? |
Yes, but that's a different topic than I brought up here. I've come to realize that whatever software you use, it's still most important that your files are well organized to begin with (especially when it comes to backup, and maintenance). Anyway, the thread I started doing some reviews of software is here but I got busy with work and will have to finish it in the April/May timeframe. Though as I said in that thread I welcome others to design and do "task-oriented" comparison tests too, and post them there.
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01/28/2006 01:59:09 PM · #8 |
Originally posted by fotomann_forever:
On a smiliar note ... does anyone know of a piece of software I could use to organize and catalog my images that are all on quite a few CD's and DVD's? |
I've used the "pile of CDs and DVDs" method myself for backups. :) I mark them and put them into the empty cases that the new ones came in after they are emptied. Not the best method.
A better method is to budget for double the hard disk space needed for storage and purchase external hard disks to hold backups. That keeps the backups organized the same as the originals, disaster recovery is a lot easier and you can take the images anywhere you want. I mostly, but not entirely employ this method.
Message edited by author 2006-01-28 13:59:55.
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01/28/2006 03:49:37 PM · #9 |
I have been considering putting together a simple Microsoft Access database to catalog my photographs. I don't need it to actually store the photos, but I need it to catalog my DVD archives so I can quickly search for which DVD contains what I'm looking for. Would anyone be interested in this if I put it together? I'd share it for free... feedback?
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01/28/2006 03:59:43 PM · #10 |
YYYYMMDD - subject of shoot
backed up (less frequently than I should) to two external HDs. |
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