Using Filenames and Tags Intelligently in Photo Organization

Photography is one hell of an addictive trait, regardless of being done as a hobby or on a professional level.

The availability to high resolution cameras has meant avid photographers can quickly amass a ton of photos before they even notice. Keeping such a database well organized is of paramount importance, since it helps the user to quickly locate any particular image when required.

 

Let’s begin with the most front-line defense against a disorganized collection of image files; filenames. Filenames are the most obvious place to begin when thinking about organization. Camera-generated filenames aren’t realistic and don’t give any clue whatsoever about the image e.g. IMG_00032.JPG, DSC_00065.JPG etc. An image that contains meaningful information can be of immense help with regards to relaying information about itself, e.g. camera model, location, the date the image was captured etc. For example FujiXT2_04-15-2017.JPG and Canon5D_1600_Paris.JPG tell a lot!

Once you’ve decided that you want to change all of the filenames from your photography you need a flexible, efficient, and reliable way to change many files at once.

 

One excellent third-party program built specifically for this purpose is Easy File Renamer (EFR). It allows you to change the filename of thousands of files at once using file renaming rules that can include replacing plain filenames with timestamps, author information, and sequence numbers. This is exactly the sort of power and flexibility needed to set up huge photo collections nicely.
A well-organized interface means that you can easily find the tools you need for working efficiently. EFR’s interface makes the task even more easier as the various renaming rules help you easily select a ruleset that works for your needs. If you don’t you can easily create your own!

 

Another fantastic and really helpful feature offered by Easy File Renamer is that it helps to easily copy and move large numbers of files with complete confidence for accuracy. This feature comes in particularly handy when you have to move huge volumes of data within your laptop.

Apart from using a powerful file renaming program, you should also be tagging your files in whichever database you are using to catalog your photos. Tagging files with meaningful keywords will enable you to navigate quickly to a wide range of images at an instance. The photo management software will either store tags within the image itself or in a separate database. Storing the tags in a separate database is non-destructive and leaves the image files unedited which might be useful if you change programs in the future. Also, tags stored in the metadata of files by one program may not be readable by another.

 

Also, don’t forget to add more meaningful tags to the images. For instance, you may categorize a photograph of a bride with wedding, bride, marriage etc but you can refine that further with tags like portrait, black and white, and so on. The goal should always be to insert tags that can help you zip your path to the relevant image once you decide to look for it in your photo management software.
For a very large numbers of files, it is absolutely essential that you have a plan in place for organizing your photo library. By putting into use a software like Easy File Renamer you can be well on the way to organizational happiness, speeding up your workflow.