rando Loc: Rochester NY

I have sold a photo but can't find the image file. I have thousands. I only have a 4x6 print. Is there any way to do a high res scan and be able to enlarge it to a much larger size with decent quality or am I out of luck?

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

Oh boy, it sounds like you are in trouble.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

If you want a happy customer, find the file!
If you don't care about destroying your photographic reputation, send a scanned copy of the print.
When done, take a good look at your filing system and initiate a re-vamp so you can locate the files you need easily.

Shellback Loc: North of Cheyenne Bottoms Wetlands - Kansas

scan the file - then use a duplicate photo finder against your photo storage to locate the original

Charles 46277 Loc: Fulton County, KY

This is a problem I have--not selling them but just finding them for myself. I know I should classify them and save them in folders, but have never a) set up a practical system for that, or b) taken the time after shooting to file them properly. I have many folders that are hard to identify by looking at most of the names. My camera card (still using the first one) files them by date, which rarely helps much. On top of this, they are saved in different places--in PhotoShop, in an external drive, in computer drive, etc.

If you have thousands, that is not so bad--it will take awhile. In fact, you might take a few days while you are at it to sort and file all of them--and delete the unwanted ones. That way, the penance becomes a positive project.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Just be honest with your client, state that you cannot find the original and give away whatever you have in 'compensation'.

When and if you find the original then reprint it for yourself and tell the client (who may not want to hear from you ever again ~ then abstain)...

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

And yet, knowing all that, you still decided to sell that image........?

Jim Bob

Very doubtful. As the old saying goes, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Sorry.

rando Loc: Rochester NY

Hey, I had to have it on my computer or else I wouldn't have been able to create the print on the first place. Just checking to see if you guys had any new or creative solutions to offer. Thanks to all who responded.

Peterff Loc: O'er The Hills and Far Away, in Themyscira.

OK, what format was the original? JPEG or raw? Do you have no idea of roughly when you took the picture? You could do a search by file type and let the computer find it for you. You may need to look at the thumbnails to find it, but that isn't too hard, just maybe a little tedious.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

This is precisely the reason why many photographers, especially those that generate lots of images, use Lightroom. But that doesn't help you with your current predicament. Something to consider for the future so this doesn't happen again. No need to put stuff into different folders, and if an image has content that really belongs in multiple folders, you end up having multiple copies of the same image, and if you have different sizes, you end up with multiple copies of the same image in multiple sizes - and so on.

With LR you can make theme-based virtual collections, and the same single file can be part of multiple collections without having dupes all over your hard drive. And if you simply save output settings as presets - you never have to save jpegs - you just create the jpeg from the raw edited version or the working psd version when you need it, and once it arrives at it's destination you can delete your copy, If you make the habit of only editing the source files and not the jpeg, and you save a series of export presets rather than 1000s of files, you can really organize your photographic life. Just a thought . . .

rando Loc: Rochester NY

Thanks

tgreenhaw

Use advanced search on your entire pictures folder or wherever you store your files to narrow down by date range and/or other file properties you know like size or dimensions or date taken. On Windows 10, click on the parent folder, and then click in the search box; there is an "Other Properties" pull down in the Search Tools menu that lets you search using the file info within the image - that could help. Once the search results are in, use the Sort By and Group By view options to organize and then view by Large or Extra Large Icons.

If you simply no longer have the file, just tell them the truth and either offer a refund or discount. Maybe a scan is fine if they need it for a smaller size or web usage.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Finding one particular photo can be a challenge. Try to search by date. A small, free program called Everything will search your computer for files if you have an idea of the name.

https://www.voidtools.com/

You can scan and enlarge, but there are limits to the quality you will get. On my other computer I have the names of a couple of programs that allow you to enlarge without losing significant quality. Hopefully, it won't come to that.

Your next step should be setting up a good organizational system.

rando Loc: Rochester NY

Thx to all.