What's your folder structuer?

Okay so even though I have now started using a photo manager, I don't want to dump hundreds of pictures into the same folder... I still want to have some windows-based management.
What is your general folder structure for how pictures are physically organized?


The other thing is, I randomly get sent pictures from friends or something.

Some may be from something they did the night before, or from months/years ago!

Where exactly would someone recommend I put these types of images?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kandieman101

Okay so even though I have now started using a photo manager, I don't want to dump hundreds of pictures into the same folder... I still want to have some windows-based management.
What is your general folder structure for how pictures are physically organized?


The other thing is, I randomly get sent pictures from friends or something.

Some may be from something they did the night before, or from months/years ago!

Where exactly would someone recommend I put these types of images?

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Top level structure:

- Family
- Events (something happening in the world)
- Parties
- Work
- People (images of named individuals)
- Sport
- Travels (pictures of places, timeless)
- Holidays (pictures relating a particular holiday, with the people)
- Semi-pro (weddings, books, stuff I have done for other people)
- Diaries (anything that I can't figure out where to put)
- Home (self-portraits, places I have lived, etc)

The folders have different levels of intimacy. Travels I can show to anyone, but Family, Holidays, Parties and Home is more private. Inside each top-level folder there is one subfolder for each item.

Each top-level folder is backed-up to rewritable DVD. When a top level folder goes over 4.2GB then it gets split into two (Family01, Family02, etc). I currently have more than 40 top-level folders..

Charles

That is a pretty good standard of file structure Charles and a good starting point for anyone. It is when you don't do this sort of structuring that things start to become a dogs breakfast.

If a photographer doesn't take heaps and heaps of photos, a bit like me, putting the folders into years and then months under that can be a useful way of structuring as well.

The thing to remember is to keep the description to something you will be able to understand sometime in the future, not have to guess what you were thinking about at the time of creating the structuring.

I have a _download_ folder where I dump my images. After I discarded the ones I don't want and rename them the go into a _renamed_ folder. From there, they go into directories numbered consecutively that correspond with a backup cd (ie backup_cd_001). A problem I've had with putting it by subject is sometimes things fit in more than one so I'm never sure where to look. I usually know when I took the picture so the real trick is the filename: yymmdd-nna--place-person. The date format will automatically sort by data if it's in that format. The nn is the consecutive picture number. The a means it's unaltered (as shot). Then in place and person I try to get some details (keeping filename length to 32 char is a trick) such as -zoo-Sally or wedding-Sally. This is a system I've adapted from someone else who's an archivist. I have the link at home if you're interested.

If you go out.. say saturday night and take pictures of both friends and landscapes/buildings, or maybe you saw some random person doing something silly so you took a picture of them....

What would you do with these files? All in same folder (what folder/subfolder?) or separated, how?

also.. i forgot to mention... does the fact that some pictures are the saturday and others are EARLY sunday morning? Any affect for your organization?

35mm > Sub Categories By Roll or Event

Biking > Sub Categories by Date of Ride more recently, but mostly just lumped

Car

DCIM To Be Sorted

Landscapes > Sub categories by state or city

Friends > Concerts and Events; Visitors; Before move from washington, visit to washington; and other subcategories

Wildlife

Pets

Family > Subcategoried by event

Surf > Will begin subcatting by date or state or something

Misc > subcategoried randomly

and Computer related folders.

If you went out to a bar (or whever) with your friends for the night, took lots of pictures with them and all, but then maybe took a picture of the bar, or the bartender, or perhaps some pics on the way there/back... would those go under friends->events, or would you split them up and put them elsewhere?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mr Yuck

35mm > Sub Categories By Roll or Event

Biking > Sub Categories by Date of Ride more recently, but mostly just lumped

Car

DCIM To Be Sorted

Landscapes > Sub categories by state or city

Friends > Concerts and Events; Visitors; Before move from washington, visit to washington; and other subcategories

Wildlife

Pets

Family > Subcategoried by event

Surf > Will begin subcatting by date or state or something

Misc > subcategoried randomly

and Computer related folders.

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