Fall Colors in Northern MinnesotaI am in the process of re-organizing my digital pictures. I've been using Irfanview as my photo viewing program, and sorting my pictures into folders in my Windows file system. It works great, I can go to the My Pictures directory where there is a folder for each year and subfolders for different activities (specific trips, sports, school, friends, home). In addition to the annual folders, there is a folder titled "working" for storing new pictures that haven't been labeled and filed yet.
I've had this system for 5 years, ever since I purchased my first digital camera. When something works, I tend to leave it be, even if there is a better way to do it. Why am I changing my system now? I had thought to write a post on How to Organize Digital Photographs, a simple guide to decluttering the digital pictures on your computer's hard drive.
It was going to start with something like this:
Whenever I ask someone for a copy of their digital picture, I cringe if it involves long searches through picture files that are unlabeled and not dated. Just like a cluttered closet filled with shoe boxes of printed photographs, a hard drive cluttered with unorganized picture files will cause you to waste time and energy when you need to find something.
As I wrote about my system, and researched other systems, I realized a lot has changed since I discounted the free photo management program that came with that first camera, and all the ones that followed. So, while my system still works, I want some of the advantages of the better programs.
So this post has gone from How You Can Organize Your Digital Photos to How Can I Organize My Digital Photos, and I'm asking for your help. Please leave your tips and suggestions in the comments below or send me an email. How do you organize your photos? What programs do you use and why?
Thank you for your help!
