Flex your folders

I have written last week that it is very important to learn how to use your operating system and your folder structure to organize your pictures, instead of relying on some software that tries to do it automatically. This week I will describe how to name your folders so that you would be able to find your pictures quickly. My method is based on the names you give to your folders. Yes, it takes a little more time but the payoff will be great in the long run.

Use clues that help you remember things.

What helps you remember events? If you think about it, most of the times you need three things: approximate date, place and a short description of the event. So, this is what you need to have in each of your folder’s description.

For example: 07_07_04-church_picnic_beach_july4th will quickly identify the pictures in this folder. Or: 07_07_01-baby_shower_smiths_house will also identify the event and the place together with the date. If you remember to place these three pieces of information in each folder description you will be able to identify them very quickly.

Use the date as an automatic sorting mechanism.

You’ve probably noticed that the beginning of each folder name contains the date in this format: YY-MM-DD. Sometimes you don’t know the day of the event or the event span multiple days. In those cases you don’t have to include the day. The year and the month will be enough to allow your operating system to automatically keep your folders in order. The only catch is that you have to use the same format for each of your folders.

For a detailed description of creating a folder structure click [HERE]

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