7 Ways to Manage Your Digital Photo Collection

Nobody wants to have a photo collection that looks like an annex of the National Archives run amok. Unfortunately, it's all too easy to imagine that your spectacular zoo animal photos are neatly organized when, in fact, this is not the case. Clutter is clutter, whether it's visibly creeping across the kitchen table or invisibly lurking inside your computer. We know imposing order on your photo collection can seem daunting, so here's a blueprint for organizing those Kodak moments so they'll be safe and easy to find.


1. Standardize your folders. The best place to start your attack is by creating a uniform folder naming system for your pictures. Try creating folders by year, with subfolders organized by month or season ("June 2011" or "Winter 2010"). Within these folders, you can create other folders for specific events -- "David's graduation, May 13," for example. However you decide to set it up, it's a good idea to include the date somewhere in your naming system.  If all this sounds like too much work, proceed directly to Step 4 to learn about programs that will do the legwork of organizing for you. 


2. Attack the project. Once you've decided how to organize your memories, download your recent photos to your computer and start sorting. (There's no need to rename and reorganize everything from the past 8 years -- that can be a separate project for a rainy weekend.) As you're sorting your photos, take the opportunity to delete all but the best pictures. 


If deleting seems too final, try creating a "least favorites" folder for photos that might not be worth saving. Wait a few months; if you still haven't opened the folder to rescue any of the hangers-on, it's probably safe to go ahead and delete them. Finally, don't forget to delete photos from your memory card once you've moved them to your computer; there's nothing worse than missing a great photo op because your SD card was full.


3. Embrace the date. If your artistic sensibility allows it, turning on the automatic date printing feature on your camera can be a big organizational help. Yes, your pictures will be slightly blemished by having the date printed in the lower right corner, but think of the hours of discussion you'll save yourself in the future. ("Now, is this from Thanksgiving 2008? Or was that the year Jason was dating the trapeze artist?") The tradeoff might be worth it.



4. Alter and enjoy your photos. So you now have a fantastically well-organized photography collection -- so what? Half the fun of having photos is sharing them, and there are a multitude of programs that can help. Apple users can use iPhoto, PC fans have Windows Live Photo Gallery, and anybody can download Google's free Picasa photo management program. 


All three programs offer similar features -- basic photo editing (cropping, red-eye reduction, and so on), slideshows, and the capability to share photo albums online. Another common point is that all three programs offer features that will organize your photos for you. If you already have a system you love, the automatic organizing may be overkill; on the other hand, it could be a huge time-saver, especially if you have a large backlog of unsorted photos.


If your digital camera is a recent acquisition, dig out the paperwork and extras you got at the time of purchase. Chances are, the camera came with its own photo management program. Its features will probably be similar to those of the programs we just mentioned, but it's worth a look to see if has any cool features you've been overlooking and living without.



5. Back up your photos to a storage device. Now that your photo collection is being managed with the same precision as NASA's shuttle launches, it's time to prepare for the worst-case scenario. The safest and easiest way to back up pictures is by saving copies to an external hard drive. 


If you have a CD or DVD burner, another option is burning your pictures to disc. The downside is that this is far more time-consuming; also, you run the risk of having your photos trapped in obsolete media if CDs someday go the way of floppy disks. 


If you really, really care about not losing your photos, no matter what, it might be worth considering keeping backup copies of some of your most precious files in a location outside your home, like a bank safe deposit box. A USB thumb drive is the perfect option for this approach, since it's nice and small.



6. Back up your photos online. Another backup option is to store copies of your photos online. Websites like Flickr and Picasa Web Albums allow you to upload your photos free; you can choose to make them viewable to the general public or only to friends and family members you've specified.


Dropbox is another good option for online storage; think of it as an external hard drive, but online. You can get up to 2GB of storage free; if you need more space than that, you can purchase a subscription that gives you up 100GB of storage. It's your choice whether to keep your Dropbox folder to yourself or share it with friends or family to create a communal file repository.


7. Maintain your momentum. Once you've set up your grand organizational scheme, don't slack off! Set aside a little time once a month to download and organize your photos. The good news is, organizing pictures isn't really a whole-brain activity, so you can easily combine your photo maintenance with, say, watching TV or entertaining your cat. Before you know it, your photo collection will be practically managing itself, and you'll be free to engage in more amusing pursuits like balancing your checkbook. Good luck!