Photos, Photos, Photos

[Michael B. Ross]

Any of you who are grandparents will understand this. I have managed to accumulate hundreds of photos on my laptop and desktop. The number doesn't bother me so much as does the cataloging challenge. It gets very complicated. For instance, I have a folder for Amelia. But, that folder has multiple folders such as Amelia's birth, baptism, Zoo trip etc. plus some that don't fit into any event.

Then I have photos of Amelia with Ian on the Zoo trip etc.

Then I have photos of Amelia, Ian, their mom and dad and Diana and me.

Yikes, how do I catalog those? Do I do it by person or event? By date? If more than one person is in the picture, do I put a copy in each person's folder?

And, isn't there a program that will rename them rather than using HPIM6641.jpg and HPIM6642.jpg etc? Would Amelia-birth.jpg be better, or Amelia-birth-11-03.jpg be better? Or something else?

So I guess I have two questions. How do I catalog pictures and how do I name them?

Edited to add: I have picassa and other such programs, but I want to transfer most of the photos to discs. Thus the cataloging question becomes even more important.

Edited to add #2: One other complication is that I have no idea which pictures on each computer are unique and which ones are duplicates of ones on the other computer. Is there a way to compare folders. I am networked, btw.

Another thing: I think this would become less frustrating and more manageable if I could design the system of cataloging for future use. Then, I could, as I have time, go back to previous photos and place them in the right place.

[Billie Goodson]

I store pictures in folders by the day that I load them into the computer. You can also open a folder, select all the pictures, then select rename and give them a root name (like Amelia-Birth) and windows will rename each picture with that name and then add a number to it. I also try to put a text file in each folder that simply contains some keywords (like soccer kristin family melbourne) etc... Then I can do a text search on the main folder and find all of the keywords -- then look in those folders for the pictures. I also use Irfan to do some tasks. You can do some batch work like resizing and even renaming. Just some ideas, there are many ways to skin this cat.

[Jeremy D. Scott]

Your problem is mine also. I've begun making myself delete photos that are not necessary or worth keeping as soon as I get them off my digital camera now.

Anyway, I find that Picasa does do what I want. I haven't yet, but I think that I will soon buy the space offered by Picasa/Google beyond the free space online available. I think it will be worth it and they'll be online if my house were ever to burn down or something. I didn't like their organization format at first (by date only), but after a while, I think that it is the best and most efficient way to do it when all else is considered (like the problem you highlighted). Picasa is a reminder to me how Google continues to move us to a completely online-based OS. I think that I'm looking forward to it.

The naming thing is a bit easier. You can select all of the pictures in a given folder and right click on them to "rename" them. They will then be individually numbered after you type in a name.

[Hans Deventer]

So I guess I have two questions. How do I catalog pictures and how do I name them?

Michael, I think the main problem is finding the picture you are looking for. The file name can be of some help, but to name a file "Amelia's baptism with pastor and mom and dad.jpg" somehow doesn't seem to satisfy.

I think the best thing to do is to store information regarding pictures in IPTC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPTC). Using a program that can do a search on those keywords in the IPTC header, you'll be able to find what you are looking for.

I understand you have Picassa. In the Picassa help file, it says:

What are captions?

Picasa creates captions the way journalists do - using the IPTC standard. That means your captions are saved along with the photos and stay with them, even when you export them, send them by email, or send them to friends using Hello. Picasa captions are fully editable and searchable, and you can choose whether to display them or not.

To create a caption for a photo, double click on the desired photo and place your cursor in the text titled, "Make a caption!" You can then type your caption in the space provided.

If you'd like to delete a caption, simply click the trash can icon to the right of the caption text. To edit a caption, place your cursor at the beginning or end of the caption and use your keyboard's arrow keys to change the cursor's position. It's not possible to use your mouse to re-position the cursor to the middle of the text.

Please note that captions will only be displayed in Picasa and other IPTC compatible programs. Also, your captions won't be displayed when you print, email your photos, or run the auto-slideshow.

[Dave McClung]

Any of you who are grandparents will understand this. I have managed to accumulate hundreds of photos on my laptop and desktop. The number doesn't bother me so much as does the cataloging challenge. It gets very complicated. For instance, I have a folder for Amelia. But, that folder has multiple folders such as Amelia's birth, baptism, Zoo trip etc. plus some that don't fit into any event.

Then I have photos of Amelia with Ian on the Zoo trip etc.

Then I have photos of Amelia, Ian, their mom and dad and Diana and me.

Yikes, how do I catalog those? Do I do it by person or event? By date? If more than one person is in the picture, do I put a copy in each person's folder?


And, isn't there a program that will rename them rather than using HPIM6641.jpg and HPIM6642.jpg etc? Would Amelia-birth.jpg be better, or Amelia-birth-11-03.jpg be better? Or something else?

So I guess I have two questions. How do I catalog pictures and how do I name them?

Edited to add: I have picassa and other such programs, but I want to transfer most of the photos to discs. Thus the cataloging question becomes even more important.

Since I started taking digital pictures, I have accumulated 300 Gig of pictures. I bought a 500 Gig hard drive and have them organized by year. Within each year, I have folders by the date.

I have a backup copy of all but the latest on 2 200 Gig External Drives that are stored at my daughter's house.

I use Picassa to access the photos that I want to see at a particular time.

Dave

[Michael B. Ross]

Okay, you guys are helping me. Keep those ideas coming.

Any of you who are grandparents will understand this. I have managed to accumulate hundreds of photos on my laptop and desktop. The number doesn't bother me so much as does the cataloging challenge. It gets very complicated. For instance, I have a folder for Amelia. But, that folder has multiple folders such as Amelia's birth, baptism, Zoo trip etc. plus some that don't fit into any event.

Then I have photos of Amelia with Ian on the Zoo trip etc.

Then I have photos of Amelia, Ian, their mom and dad and Diana and me.

Yikes, how do I catalog those? Do I do it by person or event? By date? If more than one person is in the picture, do I put a copy in each person's folder?

And, isn't there a program that will rename them rather than using HPIM6641.jpg and HPIM6642.jpg etc? Would Amelia-birth.jpg be better, or Amelia-birth-11-03.jpg be better? Or something else?

So I guess I have two questions. How do I catalog pictures and how do I name them?

Edited to add: I have picassa and other such programs, but I want to transfer most of the photos to discs. Thus the cataloging question becomes even more important.

Edited to add #2: One other complication is that I have no idea which pictures on each computer are unique and which ones are duplicates of ones on the other computer. Is there a way to compare folders. I am networked, btw.

Another thing: I think this would become less frustrating and more manageable if I could design the system of cataloging for future use. Then, I could, as I have time, go back to previous photos and place them in the right place.

[Michael B. Ross]

So, you don't catalog by name or event, just by date? Then, do you use the caption or key word idea mentioned above?


Since I started taking digital pictures, I have accumulated 300 Gig of pictures. I bought a 500 Gig hard drive and have them organized by year. Within each year, I have folders by the date.

I have a backup copy of all but the latest on 2 200 Gig External Drives that are stored at my daughter's house.

I use Picassa to access the photos that I want to see at a particular time.

Dave

[Dave McClung]

So, you don't catalog by name or event, just by date? Then, do you use the caption or key word idea mentioned above?

I will sometimes add a caption to the file name -- like the name of the place the photos were taken or the name of an event.

Dave McClung
mcclung@naznet.com

[Dave McClung]

Another Question -- Edited to add #2: One other complication is that I have no idea which pictures on each computer are unique and which ones are duplicates of ones on the other computer. Is there a way to compare folders. I am networked, btw.

From time to time I use a freeware program named "Dup Killer" to identify duplicate files. It compares file name and file size to identify duplicate files. Then, I delete all duplicates. I keep the file that is in the folder with the shortest name.

[Jonathan Long]

I catalog by date as well. For each day I also include a "contact sheet" of the images.

I use a database to keep track of the images...

Once they're entered I burn the images to DVD for storage.

It can be a pain to do... but compared to having prints and negatives (like not that long ago..) it's much easier!

Jon

[Larry Brincefield]

I think the answer you are looking for is "keywords". Using Keywords you can add tags to each photo that are searchable. For example, one picture with my whole family would have the following keywords attached: me, Kay, Amelia, Ethan, Lora, Jason.

Then, let say I am looking for all the photos with Amelia in them, when I pulled up all the photos that are tagged "Amelia", that photo would be included.

I use iPhoto for the mac, which used keywords. Also, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 or higher would use keywords. Photoshop Elements 2.0 was packaged with a scanner that I bought. Someone else in this thread mentioned editing the metadata for the photo. I'm not familiar with picasa, but if you can edit that metadate, you can add your own keywords.

Good luck!!

[Michael B. Ross]

Larry, how are you? I was driving up I-75 a couple of weeks ago and thought about you. In fact, my wife, granddaughter and I spent a week at a cabin in Silver River State Park. Anyhow, when I passed your exit, I had pleasant memories of our time together. Are you and your children doing well? How about your parents.

Thanks for the photo tips. I hope to spend some time this summer getting them organized. Do you store any photos online, such as snapfish?

I think the answer you are looking for is "keywords". Using Keywords you can add tags to each photo that are searchable. For example, one picture with my whole family would have the following keywords attached: me, Kay, Amelia, Ethan, Lora, Jason.

Then, let say I am looking for all the photos with Amelia in them, when I pulled up all the photos that are tagged "Amelia", that photo would be included.

I use iPhoto for the mac, which used keywords. Also, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 or higher would use keywords. Photoshop Elements 2.0 was packaged with a scanner that I bought. Someone else in this thread mentioned editing the metadata for the photo. I'm not familiar with picasa, but if you can edit that metadate, you can add your own keywords.

Good luck!!

[Larry Brincefield]

I'm good, as are the kids and mom and dad.

I haven't started using online storage, but I post the occasional photo on my blog. I've thought about using online storage, but just haven't convinced myself yet. I'm somewhat of a photo nut (very amateur...but I have over 10,000 photos on my computer:eek: ). So, when you talk about organizing, that is always something I need to do!!

I'm leaning more toward storing my photos on 2 different external hard drives. The prices have come down so much, I could keep one hooked up for my daily use, and the other use it for back ups.

Larry