Do you have so many digital photos that you find it nearly impossible to enjoy them? What good are they locked in your computer or camera? Photos are meant to be shared and enjoyed, and often printed. But did you know that for every 100 photos taken, only about 3 actually ever get printed or shared? Would you file away important papers and documents in a box marked “Miscellaneous stuff”? I don’t think so. Here are a few tips I use to make them more accessible.
First I make it a habit to transfer your digital photos from your camera memory to your computer about once a month or so. It will free up camera memory and enable you to get them organized. If you are like most people you hate to delete photos, even the marginal ones. But you have to do it. Start by deleting the really bad ones – out of focus, bad exposure, old girlfriend etc. Let’s be honest you know you will never look at some of these again.
Next, create folders for the various photo categories you have. Think of it like a filing cabinet with folders for each subject category. Any way will work as long as you understand it.
Here is key to everything – create a folder called “Best of the Best”. This will contain those photos, regardless of category, that you really love. Once you have the best of the best in that folder you can use them to make Christmas cards, send to people, have a photo on canvas done, use them for screensavers etc.
With the photos you have left, name them in a way that you will understand and be able to remember. I like to name them based on the primary subject category – kids, Christmas, pets, travel etc. I use the format: primary subject category/ who or what/date. Other people like to store them strictly by date. Whatever your scheme, stick to it and be consistent. If you have a photo that fits in more than one logical category make a duplicate and name them both appropriately. For example a photo of the kids with the pet dog might be saved in the “kids” category as well as the “pet” category.
Next, as you review each photo, place it in one of the folders. Try to do a few dozen at a time until you get caught up. The most important thing here is to put your very favorite photos in the “Best of the Best” folder, regardless of how you have classified them. This will grow to be a collection of your most cherished photos. When you need a special gift such as a photo on canvas, or a Christmas card, or scrapbook material, you can go directly here to find that perfect photo for the occasion.
Photos are not meant to live in your camera. The first step is to get them into a filing system that makes it easy to find them. Then you can do what I do and make nice gifts, such as a photo on canvas for that special occasion.
