What is the best way to categorize, file and store digital photos for future use

1. 78

   bankscottageposted 12 years ago

   What is the best way to categorize, file and store digital photos for future use?
   
   I use a lot of photos in my Hubs so I carry a cheap camera with me wherever I go.  I now have a large number of photos that I need to organize and store for future use.  Tips and Suggestions?

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2. 70

   DreamerMegposted 12 years ago

   There are programs that will do that for you. They are usually called digital photo albums. They will search out all the photos you have on your computer and any external drives. You can then take your time at tagging them and categorising them. I need to do it myself! I am considering buying two (more) external hard drives and putting all my photos on one and then copying them to the other (for safety and backup). That will clear a lot of space on my hard drive. I have used one of these programs in the past but never had the time to do all the categorising and tagging that I needed to do - just so many photos!

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3. 66

   eugbugposted 12 years ago

   Personally I find Picasa the most user friendly software to use.
   When you download from your camera, you need to decide how you store your photos on disk. You could have a folder for each year or month. Often the default is that the cameras utility software creates a new folder each time the camera is downloaded but you can change this.
   When Picasa is installed and run for the first time, you have to select the folders which are to be added to Picassa. You cannot just browse folders as when using Windows Explorer. Once you have added folders, you can set which folders are continuously monitored by Picasa for new image/photo additions.
   Try to store your photos in at least three places. i.e. original + 2 backups in case the original and primary backup fails (it does happen!). This could be done simply by archiving your photos to another computer and a DVD every year or sooner. You could also upload your photos to the "Cloud". Google, Microsoft, Flickr and others provide free space, 2 GB seems to be the most space available free (I think come companies offer 5GB free, I can't remember who though)

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4. 76

   Crissyliteposted 12 years ago

   You can create file folders on some of the programs already mentioned. You can even create folders within folders to really organize your pictures. Try categorizing your folders by date, source, size, topics (ie. flowers, water, animals, sunsets), etc.

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