|
Heidi Dillon
Organizing Digital Photos - Part One: Structure
Nelly and I often take long walks around our neighborhood. She loves to be outside, and it's good to have a change of scenery sometimes. One day as we were walking, I saw a hand-written notice attached to a telephone pole. It touched my heart because, as the flyer explained, a camera had been lost. But even though the camera would be expensive to replace, the notice didn't ask for its return but begged instead for the return of the memory card. "There are hundreds of irreplaceable photos on that card from my son's first year, my sister's wedding, and our trip to Disneyland." A $1,000 reward was offered, and if the card was returned, the money would be given with no questions asked.
As you can imagine, such a plea sent a chill down my spine. It felt so familiar and so scary at the same time. A few years earlier, my sister-in-law took her camera to our brother's wedding, and her husband left the camera in the pocket of his tuxedo. When the tuxedo was returned the next day, the camera was lost for good, including all the photos from the wedding and months' worth of her son's adventures, including a Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday.
Recognizing how similar these two stories are made me see that this kind of thing could happen so easily to any one of us. My husband lost several months' worth of phone photos when his phone died before he'd backed up his data. All of my parents (step, bio, and in-laws) keep their photos in their cameras, only downloading them to the computer when the camera becomes full. And since I've seen that first sign, I've seen two more like it: One asking for the return of a lost phone with photos and another asking for the return of a misplaced camera from a community event.
How often do you gather your photos from your camera, phone, or video recorder? After every shoot? Once a week? Once a month? When your memory card is full?
Let me plead with you to make it as regular as possible. I will often download my photos from the day in the evening while I'm wrapping up things on the computer (checking emails, adding finishing touches to layouts or designs, etc.). It doesn't matter when you do it as long as you make it a habit and stick to it. I'll show you my process over the next couple of weeks and hopefully inspire you to get going on your own!
Step One: Choose an Organizing Method
It's helpful if you have an organizing structure in place so that you don't just download your photos all into one big heap. If you do, you'll never be able to find anything again! You won't know where or how to look. My organizing structure is based on dated folders. You can choose another method like events or persons, if you prefer. Here are the reasons I use the date method:
- It's fast. I don't have to think about anything, just check the date and download to the appropriate date folder.
- It's straightforward. There's only one date, so you don't have to worry about whether a photo with your son and daughter in it should go in your son's folder or your daughter's folder or an entirely new "Son and Daughter" folder. Just put it in the correct dated folder.
- It's all-inclusive. Everything has a date, but not everything has an event like "Birthday" or "School" associated with it. Rather than trying to sort through where to put those random snapshots, just file them by their date.
Once you have your method, get it all set up and ready to go so all you have to do is drop your photos in. This will save you time in the long run.
I have my folders organized under a main folder for "Digital Photos." In there is a folder for each year, and in each year is a numbered folder for each month. Why numbered? Because that way, the months will stay in order. If you name the folders using the month names, they will be disarrayed when the computer lists them in alphabetical order. I choose to name my month folders using a combination of numbers and names; as long as you have the number first, the folders should appear in correct order.
Another tip for keeping your folders organized? Use a two-number system. For instance, although January is the first month, don't name its folder "1." Use "01" instead. Putting a zero (or more than one, if your sequence will go higher than 100) in as a placeholder will help keep your files and folders in order.
Here's a look at my folder structure:
Keeping your folders in this system will help you grab the folder you want much more quickly and easily, both when depositing and withdrawing photos.
More on that next week! Stay tuned....
- Heidi
Scrap Girls, Etc. is a weekly column pulling bits and pieces from all over Scrap Girls. Stay tuned each week as Scrap Girls' Jane-of-All-Trades Heidi Dillon brings you tutorials, musings, recipes, interviews, design/software tips and tricks, layout walk-throughs, and who knows what else!
| 
