Images tend to pile up as time goes by. The act of trying to find a specific photograph is a daunting task. The image is lost in hundreds of digital images and it may take several hours to find that ONE photo unless one is organized enough to plan out a filing system.
General File Organization
If you are going to be writing on the internet and / or are taking hundreds of pictures with your camera or cell phone, you will need to create an organizing system for cataloging photos and notes. Use this exercise, also, when organizing your writing content. Set up a file system that contains common titles. The folder system here is from my personal computer. Let's use my Las Vegas folder.
Content specific folders are assigned names for hotels, locations, and activity topics. These are for photographs I already have in my collection. As I add new items a folder is created for that subject. The photo that corresponds to the related subject can easily be stored in a common folder. Sift out the related images and drop them in these general photo files. When you have time later, rename and tag them to for locating later. This allows for an easy find when searching for a photograph. Think about the topics for which you already have images. Set up a catalog folder system and move the files directly to the file associated with the content of the image. This example is how I set up my Las Vegas folder.
Random Vegas -
Aria
Caesars Palace
Flamingo
Wynn
 |
| Computer File Organization |
Change the Names on the File Itself
Select the image you want to change the title of. Let's use my Caesar's Palace Ducks image for an example. The image is currently assigned a few letters and numbers from my cell phone upload. Right-click on the image and select the Rename option from the drop down menu. I want to name this file Caesars Palace Ducks so I will add that to the box that opens when I click on Rename. The apostrophe will not be added because the file system does not allow certain characters. The photo is now moved to the "C" area in the photo gallery alphabetical listing and I can search it easily by imputing the name Caesars Palace Ducks in the Windows Explorer Search Engine. If you have an issue with a rename simply right click on the open page and select "undo" rename. The file will go back to its previous title.
Tagging and Signing Digital Photographs
The next thing you'll need to do is tag and sign your images. The more information you can add to a photograph, the easier it is to find on your hard drive and on internet searches relating to the content you have written. I have detailed that process in length here on my Wordpress blog about window painting. I would re-write the post here, but I do not want to duplicate my own content.
I highly recommend getting this tedious process started and dedicate at least two hours a month to the activity. It will help not only get your images organized but show you what needs to be edited and deleted. The gallery system is a great way to collect and catalog content. I have discovered several images I did not know I had and have run across photos I wanted to use in various projects. It helps me stay organized and creates a catalog system I can easily sort out new photographs and add them to the proper topic folder.
This is also a great way to sort out images you would like to move to a permanent file. Burn the lists onto CD's or DVD's and remove them from your hard drive completely. This frees up any unnecessary space and helps create a useful library that can be set to the side.
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