Berkshires Loc: New Britain, CT.

Hello Everyone,

I'm not new to photography, but until just very recently I haven't ventured into the finer points of photography beyond the auto settings. As I've started to experiment more I'm wondering what others might recommend for organizing photos on one's hard drive. I imagine it's simply a matter of personal preference, but am open to suggestions. Also, what do you recommend for a good photo application for organizing and editing photos. In the past I've used Google's Picasa (no longer updated or supported). A laptop I bought earlier this year came with Photo Director installed on a trial basis. I'm not sure whether or not to make the purchase. I've also looked at Adobe's Photoshop and Lightroom, but I'm hesitant to go the subscription route.

Right now I have my photos organized by date with a separate folder for each date, and will probably keep it that way, except to add subfolders for dates within any given vacation trip, etc.

I would appreciate hearing form others about what they might be using and what they would recommend.

Thank you!

Jim Williams

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

Hi Jim, welcome to UHH! You're probably going to get an overwhelming number of replies suggesting Adobe Lightroom, so let me be the first. One of Lightroom's key features is its cataloging capability. You can organize your photos in and out of the program, and its photo editing features are also top-notch.

Treepusher Loc: Kingston, Massachusetts

Welcome to the forum! For about ten bucks a month, you can't go wrong with Lightroom and Adobe, as you'll also get full-version Photoshop, with free updates! Sounds scary, it's not. It's what we like to call 'a value.'

photomom Loc: Southern CA

Looking forward to reading answers ... i am in a similar situation .... i feel like I'm sinking in the organizing department ...i don't do well with change - tried a trial of LR years ago and opted out as what i do somewhat works for me -- the digital age has me on digital photo overload. I load my pictures into iPhoto from there i put them into folders by date - i have so much on back up drives and want to organize my years of back ups before i die and they end up in a dumpster.

Japakomom Loc: Originally from the Last Frontier

A concur with the others in regards to using Lightroom to catalogue your photos. It really makes it easy.

rgrenaderphoto Loc: Hollywood, CA

You spend more per month on coffee than the $9.99 for the Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop subscription.

warrenrowephotography Loc: Kempner, TX

I'm going to say what others are already saying: Get the Lightroom and Photoshop subscription. I had used Picasa before, just to get my feet wet. I purchased the subscription and haven't looked back; it's really worth the money, and boy does it make a difference for editing photos.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Welcome to our forum!

Organizing could have its own section on this forum since there is so much to it. I've been using this system for decades, and it works for me. I have the My Pictures folder, and inside that I have many others, for example, Cars > Mine > Car Shows > Old, etc. Under Travel > Florida > Cape Cod > England, etc. I don't organize by date because if I can't remember when I went to a certain place, I can't find the image.

If you use Lightroom, you can give keywords to every image. You can also get free organizing software or a buy a program. There is a lot online about organizing. Below are lots of links

http://www.toptenreviews.com/software/multimedia/best-photo-organizing-software/
Basic ideas -
http://photography.tutsplus.com/articles/using-a-controlled-vocabulary-to-organize-digital-photographs--cms-23344

Lots for free -
https://www.digikam.org/
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-digital-photo-organizer.htm
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/10-free-photo-managing-software-you-should-at-least-know/
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/pictures-story/412-best-free-photo-management-software.html

Or not free -
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2402024,00.asp
http://photo-organizing-software-review.toptenreviews.com/
http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-best-way-to-organize-a-lifetime-of-photos-1429637857

gman7403 Loc: Illinois

jerryc41 you quite often offer links for researching different topics. I for one really enjoy your suggestions and visit the links you suggest most of the time. There is a lot of interesting reading. Thank you for the suggestions and the time you spend searching for these links.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Welcome to UHH, JIm. I shoot with several cameras, and have for a number of years. My practice is to save to folders based on date and camera. I rename the images with a camera code-date-roll-image number. I run a program which extracts the information from the exif data and writes it to an sql database. This is all independent of any processing software which makes things easy if I decide to use some other processing program.
--Bob

Longshadow Loc: Audubon, PA, United States

I organize my images by subject, I can [i[never[/i] remember the date I shot something. I use sub-directories for different dates on that subject (YYYY-MM). I don't make the day part of the directory as that is in the file info. If I want to find something, it's usually by subject.

HallowedHill Loc: Chattanooga, TN

Hi Jim:

I to use Windows My Pictures file to store my shots. I do it chronologically by year and within that by event: IE. Christmas, vacation at ..., etc. To my mind's way of working this is easy for me to remember and avoids saving multiple copies of each shoot. For example, I just got back from Alaska with some shots of bears eating salmon. Do I store this under Alaska, bears,salmon, streams, or mountain? I might post process this for any of those, but it will always be under 2017 Alaska trip, and in the sub folder Brooks Falls. Think about how you most remember things: by date, person, event or subject matter? And keeping them in the computer's OP avoids the problem RMALARZ mentioned if you ever change systems. Works for me but the key is how do you remember things, and then what makes your post processing easier and quicker.

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

Under Windows, I use folders with dates, yyyy-mm, dd if needed plus a brief narrative descriptor and Photoshp Elements to keep things organized and do edits. Categories and sub-categories are indispensable. I load all my originals to an external drive and then copy to the HD to work with them in Elements. Then use Elements to backup edited pics to another external drive.

srt101fan

I don't know what level of capability or price limit you are looking for, but for a very capable image management program (no photo editing!) take a look at IMatch at photools.com. It may be a lot more than what you need for keeping track of your photos but might be worth looking into.

SusanFromVermont Loc: Southwest corner of Vermont

Organizing your images can be done on your computer in a Pictures folder. You don't really need an external program. However, if you are also looking for an editing program, the Adobe CC subscription is a very good solution. It includes both LR and PS, but you do not have to even look at PS if you are not ready for that yet. LR is a powerful cataloging tool for organizing your images as long as you follow this one rule: Any reorganizing of images MUST be done from within LR. Those changes will automatically be transferred to the folder on your Hard Drive where the images actually reside. LR is a program only, does not contain the pictures. Making changes in the folder on your HD breaks the connection between those images and LR, so that LR no longer "knows" where they are. It will tell you the photo is missing! Some people use only LR for their editing - I did for around 5 years before deciding to tackle PS.

There are a lot of programs out there, and I am sure if you search the UHH forum [Search function in the page header], you will find plenty of threads discussing them. Once you have an idea of some choices, go to their websites and look for a free trial [some are free to start with!]. Try before you buy!