How to Organize & Print Photos
The convenience of point-and-shoot digital cameras has made it a simple task to take photos anywhere, anytime. But before you know it, you have filled your camera and hard drive with thousands of pictures. Organize your digital image collection before it grows too large for you to manage. Take advantage of several organization tools to sort, name and print these images.
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Instructions
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Plan how to group the photos on the computer. The way you organize photos will depend on what they are about and how you want to use them. Ask yourself how you want to find the pictures you will need later on and arrange them accordingly. For instance, if you have a collection of travel photos, try sorting them by location, by date or a combination of both. For baby photos, try grouping them by month.
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Choose a photo-organizing software. Even though you can organize photos using only the tools that are already on your computer, photo-management software can make the task much easier. For example, many tools can automatically rename pictures when you transfer them from a camera. Check your camera package for bundled software and install it.
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Create locations to store your pictures in the computer. For example, open the Windows Live Photo Gallery and make new folders in the "Pictures" library in Windows 7. Or create folders or albums with your photo-management software. Use descriptive names such as "Summer Vacation 2008" or "Grandma's 65th Birthday Party."
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Upload or scan the photos to the computer. Do this frequently to avoid filling up your camera's storage space. Save the copied or scanned photos to the folders or albums you made for them. Organize the photos by date, location, topic or however you desire.
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Label the photos you have transferred to the computer. Use tags, captions and ratings if the software you use has these features. If you do not have photo-organizing software, try Windows Live Photo Gallery. Labels and ratings are useful when you are looking for a specific photo or group of photos on the computer. Tag photos according to their topic and content.
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Open the "Pictures" library or the photo-management software. Browse to the folder or album containing the photos you want to print. Click to select the pictures. In Windows 7, click "Print" on the menu bar. In a photo program, look for "Print" in the "File" menu. You will be offered several options to customize the print job. You may be able to set the number of copies per page, print size, paper quality and so on. Choose your settings and print.
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Tips & Warnings
Burn the photos to a DVD or make backups in a removable drive.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit stock photo submissions (original digital drawing) image by Stephen Jacoby from Fotolia.com
