Photo Organization
Don't know if this fits into this forum or not but it's a place to start. I tried a search but I am not sure if I am using the right keywords because i really didn't find anything relavent.
What I'm looking for is information on organizing photo files on my computer. Are there programs out there to help with this? Is there an "industry standard" on naming, folder structure, etc etc? My problem is that I have thousands of photos on my computer that are in a hodge podge of folders and sub-folders that don't really make finding anything easy. What would really be great is a program that can sort out my pics automatically based on keywords, kind of like how in iTunes you can "consolidate" your library. I understand that in order for this to work I would actually have to go through all my photots and put keywords in them but it will be easier to do now then later as my library grows. Plus this will give me a good reason to go through all my photos and delete all the OOF, Over/Under Exposed, just plain wretched shots I have kept because I'm like a pack rat sometimes.
Any information you can share would be great, I haven't been able to find anything like this on my own yet so anything would be a great help
Nick
What I'm looking for is information on organizing photo files on my computer. Are there programs out there to help with this? Is there an "industry standard" on naming, folder structure, etc etc? My problem is that I have thousands of photos on my computer that are in a hodge podge of folders and sub-folders that don't really make finding anything easy. What would really be great is a program that can sort out my pics automatically based on keywords, kind of like how in iTunes you can "consolidate" your library. I understand that in order for this to work I would actually have to go through all my photots and put keywords in them but it will be easier to do now then later as my library grows. Plus this will give me a good reason to go through all my photos and delete all the OOF, Over/Under Exposed, just plain wretched shots I have kept because I'm like a pack rat sometimes.
Any information you can share would be great, I haven't been able to find anything like this on my own yet so anything would be a great help
Nick
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I have recently gone through and reorganized all my photos. I used to just keep them organized by date, but it doesn't take long before that turns into a bloody mess. Now I set up folders for Family, Sports, Wildlife etc. then Sub folders under those to organize them as much as needed. That along with key word searches with Bridge have made things much easier to find.
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I'm assuming your not a mac user and/or have never tried iPhoto? This is my favorite way to organize images because you can keyword them, rate them and have "smart" albums such as "all photos rated w/ 5 stars in the month of August" It's a lot like itunes organization.
If organizing your photos is a big deal to you it might be worth looking into the mac mini as a second computer for iPhoto and the other great iLife applications...
OK, Mac commercial over let me give you some ideas from some "PC" friends of mine just in case your not quite ready to jump to another OS tomorrow.
Most people I know will organize their photos like this. First level is just years (2000, 2001, 2002 etc.) then months (Jan, Feb, Mar etc.) then (and this is really important) Project (Father's day trip, rawlings wedding, kids at home, etc.) This way you can quickly go through your folder structure to find a particular shoot.
There are also some applications out there that do some of what iPhoto does such as Adobe Album that you might want to check out.
Hope that's helpful. - Ken
iPhoto is fine if you're not shooting RAW. If you are, avoid it. Or if you think you might, you should still avoid it.
iView Media Pro is good, and I find that the new bridge in CS2 is much better than the old one. Just make sure that you don't use a centralized file for your catalog. It's in the prefs.
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I do use a PC and shoot RAW. I may get a Mac in the future if their next line of laptops is worth it, possibly dual processor or dual core?
iView media Pro looks interesting but I don't want to spend that kind of money on software right now.
Thanks for all your suggestions, it looks like I'll go with Bridge for the time being and try to figure out a folder structure that works for me. Now all i need is a RAID 5 set up and I'll be good to go
Nick
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Nick
After using iPhoto for several years, I've recently moved to Portfolio 7 available for trial here. I needed something more industrial strength than iPhoto and I trialled Portfolio with about 2,500 of my photos to test the workflow. After about 12 days of the 30 day free trial period, I was fully satisfied, paid up, and now have all of my 7,000 or so photos loaded and catalogued. I partner Portfolio with Photoshop Elements 3 for photo editing - the two work harmoniously together.
The Portfolio vendor site includes a number of very good videos showing how the application can be used which, together with the free trial period and the quickstart and full user manuals also available for download, made the whole evaluation process very straightforward for me.
However there are many other options which work well for others and which they swear by, so I suggest you take other advice offered on this forum and also go to a download site such as VersionTracker to identify other possibilities which might be suitable for you.
Good luck!
Understandable, but you may not need the pro version. If you're shooting RAW you will.
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