Organizing your photos (Page 4): I'd just add that while renaming can be very helpful, either do so before importing into Lightroom, or afterwards using Lightroom. Don't use a renaming...

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

DirtFarmer wrote:

It is not important for a database to have unique ... (show quote)

I'd just add that while renaming can be very helpful, either do so before importing into Lightroom, or afterwards using Lightroom. Don't use a renaming utility after import unless you want to lose your photos as far as LR (Classic) is concerned. Also, since my cameras recycle numbers every 10000 photos, the odds are almost zero that duplicate names can be an issue if you file in some sort of event or date-sequenced file structure. And, If I'm looking for file named DWU21361.CR2, I just select all photos and tell LR to search by filename for 1361. It may return 4 or 5, and I then use the thumbnail of the image to select the one I want.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

DirtFarmer wrote:

It is not important for a database to have unique ... (show quote)

Sorry if this posted twice - UHH is behaving oddly. I'd just add that while renaming can be very helpful, either do so before importing into Lightroom, or afterwards using Lightroom. Don't use a renaming utility after import unless you want to lose your photos as far as LR (Classic) is concerned. Also, since my cameras recycle numbers every 10000 photos, the odds are almost zero that duplicate names can be an issue if you file in some sort of event or date-sequenced file structure. And, If I'm looking for file named DWU21361.CR2, I just select all photos and tell LR to search by filename for 1361. It may return 4 or 5, and I then use the thumbnail of the image to select the one I want.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

DWU2 wrote:

.... And, If I'm looking for file named DWU21361.CR2, I just select all photos and tell LR to search by filename for 1361. It may return 4 or 5, and I then use the thumbnail of the image to select the one I want.

I have no problem with that mode of searching. The problem I have is how you determine that the file name you are looking for in the first place is DWU21361. It's a meaningless set of characters as far as I can see. How do you know that is the image you want?

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

DirtFarmer wrote:

I have no problem with that mode of searching. The problem I have is how you determine that the file name you are looking for in the first place is DWU21361. It's a meaningless set of characters as far as I can see. How do you know that is the image you want?

Maybe I wrote it down yesterday, intending to come back and look at it. Or, maybe it's in Photoshop' s recently-opened files, but Ps can't find it. Or, it's in my screensavers folder, but I want to edit the original. Or, somebody I sent the pic to wants me to change it and refers to it by filename. Or, well, you get the idea.

Timmers Loc: San Antonio Texas.

philmurfin wrote:

Hello,
Can some of you please share your ideas towards organizing your photos?
Please include the software you use and as importantly any tips you may have.
I, like many of us here, have a gazzillion photos, I thought I had an order to them but they are getting out of hand.
Many thanks for any ideas and help.
Best.... Phil

The answer is always keep it simple. So I am from the film days of photography and in digital it is easier!

Give a sorting 'name' like the person's name, a location or like 'rose', or such. Then take the date and put in the six digits of the day was made September 4th 2021 becomes 090421. So that is "Rose 090421", in addition there is a generated file number, say 3456, so a specific file for a single images would be "Rose 090421.3456" On any hard dive I can use a simple search to find this one file among all the files.

JoeBiker Loc: homebase: Houston, TX

Hmm, it looks like almost everybody is using Adobe Lightroom ($120/Year ?!?). Any simpler or cheaper options?

I am not looking for a photo editor, I am just looking for a quick and easy way to cull through my photos, rate them, and add keywords (the rest of the info is already in the EXIF or directory structure). I realize that many/most programs can edit the EXIF metadata, but I am looking for something with quick and easy keyboard shortcuts.

Background: For the last 20 years, I have been using FotoAlbum by http://www.fototime.com and it suited me just fine. BUT, earlier this year, they had a "catastrophic outage", lost everybody's data (mine was just a copy of my local data) and ceased operations. So, I suspect FotoAlbum (even though it is a standalone program) will not be a viable option for much longer.

I started to go into more detail about the Fototime saga, but I decided that I should create a separate topic for that, because I don't want to send this topic off on a tangent.

DirtFarmer Loc: Escaped from the NYC area, back to MA

JoeBiker wrote:

Hmm, it looks like almost everybody is using Adobe... (show quote)

Adobe Lightroom at $9.99/month (plus sales tax) is a bargain. With Lightroom you get Photoshop (and a couple other programs).

Lightroom is an editor, but it is not the best one out there. Where Lightroom shines is in its organizational ability (the main topic of this thread). The king of editors is Photoshop, and LR and PS talk to each other nicely so you can go back and forth.

Whether you need LR/PS or not depends largely on how many photos you take and how picky you are about postprocessing them. If you have only a few photos, you can organize them by simple means. I needed the advanced techniques available in Lightroom once my photopile reached 10,000 images. My memory wasn't good enough to remember how to find things, and even what photos I took. Lightroom made it possible to find things easily, even photos I didn't remember taking.

Alternatives to LR/PS are the subject of many threads, on this forum and others. In my opinion, LR is best at organizing, but others have other opinions.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

JoeBiker wrote:

Hmm, it looks like almost everybody is using Adobe... (show quote)

I don't to random walk us off topic, but it's impossible to beat 2 types of LR (maybe 3), full Photoshop, plus a free web site and some other freebies for 10 bucks a month. I'd give up Netflix first. But, this topic has many threads already on UHH.

cahale Loc: San Angelo, TX

philmurfin wrote:

Hello,
Can some of you please share your ideas towards organizing your photos?
Please include the software you use and as importantly any tips you may have.
I, like many of us here, have a gazzillion photos, I thought I had an order to them but they are getting out of hand.
Many thanks for any ideas and help.
Best.... Phil

Yes. I put them into folders named for the location(s) and dates they were taken. All them exist under a master folder titled (get this) "Photographs." Catchy, huh? The same format goes to my 2 separate back-up drives. I have no trouble finding what I want immediately.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

philmurfin wrote:

Hello,
Can some of you please share your ideas towards organizing your photos?
Please include the software you use and as importantly any tips you may have.
I, like many of us here, have a gazzillion photos, I thought I had an order to them but they are getting out of hand.
Many thanks for any ideas and help.
Best.... Phil

Old fashioned here. NO special software.
File folders using dates and locations/subject.

JimGrog Loc: Wash DC Area

1. Download the pictures into a directory that is named YEAR/MONTH/location(country/state/city/)/activity(vacation/activity/other designator)
2.Select all files and Rename files with YR/MO/Location/people names/other keywords(game/activity/store/park/reunion/etc)

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

If you have organizing / database software, why waste time doing the same work twice to add 'intelligence' to file names and folders and then doing the work again inside the software? Do it once, do it right, and move onto other important work. Your time and effort is the limited resource when it costs next to nothing to capture more digital images. Don't waste time on non essential work.

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

CHG_CANON wrote:

If you have organizing / database software, why waste time doing the same work twice to add 'intelligence' to file names and folders and then doing the work again inside the software? Do it once, do it right, and move onto other important work. Your time and effort is the limited resource when it costs next to nothing to capture more digital images. Don't waste time on non essential work.

Agree. In addition, when I export from card, sometimes there's a few shots from another day. Easier to just use LrC to move them to their own folder rather than re-rename them.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

JoeBiker wrote:

Hmm, it looks like almost everybody is using Adobe... (show quote)

$120 a year for a fantastically powerful suite of four Adobe Apps? That's cheap! It includes Photoshop (full version) plus Lightroom CC plus Lightroom CLASSIC plus Bridge, with Adobe Camera Raw running in all four of them. It is always up to date with bug fixes and updates and upgrades... automatically. You can suspend your subscription for months at a time and resume it without incident.

That's a bottle of table wine a month, or a meal out, or two special coffees, or any number of other small expenses I'm willing to give up.

The compelling thing about Lightroom Classic is that it is meant to be a workflow HUB. Import, sort, cull, rate. Develop. Create a photo book. Print to any photo printer using professional templates, or custom design your own. Export to the Internet, or to files for labs or social media. Send files to Photoshop or the NIK Collection of plug-ins, or to Negative Lab Pro if you do camera scanning. Send everything back for curation and further action. It's a digital asset manager (DAM) and so much more.

THAT SAID, if you're using a Mac, combine Apple Photos (poor man's Lightroom CC substitute) with Raw Power (ACR substitute), and Affinity Photo (poor man's Photoshop substitute). For less than $100, it's a workable suite.

JoeBiker Loc: homebase: Houston, TX

> If you have organizing / database software....

For one thing, you still need an organized directory structure for efficient/organized backups (or more specifically archiving). Secondly, some of us are still looking for a solution for people that don't consider spending $500 every 4 years to be a bargain (those monthly fees add up on you, if you don't watch it). $500 will go a long way towards a new camera (for my price range for cameras).

I do consider myself a photographer, but I am not exclusively, or even primarily, a photographer (I have a lot of other interests). So, I am looking for a simpler, cost effective, solution that still helps me find what I am looking for. As I said, I have a solution, but I don't think it is going to be viable long term, so I am beginning to look for other options.

FYI: My Netflix is free (included in my cell phone plan), which is a good thing because I have streamed one movie in 2 years. I do spend $5/month on Sirius/XM in my car, but I consider that a splurge, not a bargain.