How to Organize Digital Photos

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By Julie Mayfield
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Don't lose those digital photos!

If you take photos, chances are you've entered the digital age with a digital camera. Now that those photos are on your camera, you'll want to make the most of them by organizing your digital photos.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Make a regular habit of transferring your photos from your digital camera to your computer.
Step 2

Create folders under 'My Pictures' on your hard drive to organize your photos into. The top folders can be organized chronologically, or by theme.
Step 3

Create subfolders that organize the photos further. For instance, if your top folders are by year, create subfolders by month, and then by event. Continue creating subfolders until you have the level of organization that you desire.
Step 4

Once your folders are on your hard drive, create backup storage by

1. Saving photos on CD's.
2. Saving photos to an external hard drive.
3. Uploading photos to an online storage source.
4. Having hard copies and negatives of your photos printed.

Use more than one of these if you desire an even greater amount of security.

Tips & Warnings

When creating folders with months of the year, label them as follows: 01 January, 02 February, 03 March, etc. These makes sure that they stay in chronological order and not alpha order on your computer.
Do not skip Step #4. If your photos are only on your hard drive, chances are you will lose them at some point. Hard drives fail every day and you don't want your memories going with them!

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Comments

Limowreck said

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on 8/5/2008 I definitely need help keeping my digital camera photos in order. This is a super article with an interesting approach to digital clutter. Thanks!*****