For example if one is dealing with records with trigger dates for retention, file them by year/month. Some photographers use four digits at the end of their filename. Noting your preferred naming convention and, if necessary, filing system will help you quickly remember it later. discussed below are best practices and therefore highly recommended; however, every rule may not be relevant to every office. A single raw photo taken with a high-quality DSLR camera can take up between 15 to 50 megabytes, and a gigabyte stores 1,000 megabytes. Here’s a rundown of the best practises for storing, organising and naming photos. The average person will name a file in a way that best suits them and that file name might not have any information to the next person who needs to access the file. Before you start renaming image files and setting up folders in Hub, think about your end goal. Computers typically cap titles at around 255 characters, but some programs don’t like file names longer than 30 characters, and the common consensus is that names should be around 15 characters or less if you’re going to share your file. Finally, you need to number your photos. Every file must have a unique name. The following file -naming convention Now within the folder for individual events, you may create more folders. Your visual content must be optimized for your customers and search engines. They provide the best quality for the smallest file size. For a long time, underscores (_) have been the preferred way to separate elements within a file name. They should be set up based on a document or content type. Probably the best file naming convention ever; Probably the best file naming convention ever. You may also choose to add a short (preferably one word) descriptor for each file. — and never struggle to find a photo again. So if your company is Acme Great Photos, simply add AGP. File naming best practices: Files should be named consistently; File names should be short but descriptive (<25 characters) (Briney) Unfortunately, online storage may be out of your price range. For a long time, underscores (_) have been the preferred way to separate elements within a file name. Family portrait? However, many email programs limit the size of messages, and photos take up a lot of space. Once you use them, you'll never lose them! We often run into problems our customers are having on their websites that could be prevented by some simple file naming conventions and best practices. For example if one is dealing with records with trigger dates for retention, file them by year/month. If you end up using multiple SSDs, you can label them by date. If you do the majority of organization and research upfront, your life will be much easier down the road. So, Organize_Puppy_V2 would be the second version of a puppy picture for this article. Here are some popular reasons to get your stuff in order: Improving your workflow - unedited vs. edited images, for instance. The best naming conventions utilize the principle of parsimony. Each photo shoot or event presents its own unique challenges, such as lighting, unpredictable weather, and client requests. SEO involves a lot of different parts, so it can be easy for businesses to overlook some of the smaller steps to practicing good on-site SEO, but every little thing you can do to strengthen your website’s SEO makes a difference – especially if it’s something other sites may be overlooking. ©2010-2020 | Filecamp AG | All rights reserved. File naming conventions come in a myriad of contexts. First, the small size presents numerous problems, including making them easy to lose. The best folder and file naming conventions for photographers, and more This is especially true of photography, where we deal with thousands of digital assets on a daily basis. So your basic folder setup could look like: If Brian Smith contacts you for new photos, you can simply navigate to the year and month the event took place in. Some photographers simply store photographs on Micro SD cards. Some know them as stickers, while others call them clip art. As you develop your filing system, ask yourself, “Could this be simpler?”. Date or date ran… If you haven’t lost a Micro SD card, give yourself a pat on the back. Try them with whatever storage solution you’re using — whether it’s folders in Hub (PicMonkey’s cloud storage solution that keeps your pics and projects re-editable), the photo organization app on your computer, an external drive, etc. If only your files were in proper order. So if you took photos on July 17, 2019, you could start your file with a date like: You can also drop the hyphen but it may reduce readability. The folder setup you design in your specific event folders should be based on your needs. Just take a few minutes to think about what you need, and you’ll have an easier time developing your system and naming conventions later. Then remain as consistent as possible from there. When the image is reviewed and finalized, you may want to put “Final” or “F” where the version number goes. If you do the majority of organization and research upfront, your life will be much easier down the road. Depending on where you live, you may wanna flip-flop the month and day to be YYYYDDMM. Once your system is set, move your pics to the appropriate place. File names should be 40-50 characters and conventions should only use alphanumeric characters, dashes, underscores. Longer file names also tend to be truncated with ellipses, causing you to click to see the full name and thereby slowing your scrolling. Ultimately, an effective digital asset management system may boost productivity, allowing you and your employees to get more done. In order to follow one naming pattern through an entire collection, it's important to think about your collection and plan ahead. The five precepts of file naming and organization: Have a distinctive, human-readable name that gives an indication of the content. What will make most logical sense for your organization? A dedicated DAM makes managing permissions and control access easy. Probably the best file naming convention ever; ... > How do you and what is the best practice for adding the language (example: French FR) to the document when it … This document explores the general characteristics of records, how records are used and referenced, and the file-naming rules that should be applied to all electronic records. SharePoint Name Should always be small and meaningful; Space should not be allowed in SharePoint Naming Convention; Avoid Repeating Naming Convention; Do not use Special Character in SharePoint; Add version in … Organizing all these photos in a clear, logical way. As with the folder structure, there are two main schools of thought for file naming: the first is to use dates plus an index number and the second is to use a unique index number only. Use the location, year, and month. You may use someone to touch-up photographs, or to handle client relationships. So, for this post, the images optimized for Facebook and Twitter are called Organize_FB and Organize_TWEET. They also shouldn’t contain spaces between words, otherwise they won’t look very SEO-compatible in the URL. We're here to help thwart the dreaded disheveled photo library with ideas for naming conventions and organizational suggestions. Which means you’ll be less tempted to type in a random file name and stick your photo someplace you’ll never be able to find it. A photographer is only as good as their camera… Just kidding. These days, there are better options, including e-mail, file-sharing programs (e.g. A File Naming Convention (FNC) is a framework for naming your files in a way that describes what they contain and how they relate to other files.. Following company-wide file naming convention best practices will save you stress and headaches in the long run. However, with proper naming conventions and storage practices, you’ll often find the desired photos in a few keystrokes or a quick jaunt through your file system. ... JPEGs will be your best bet. Use these image optimization tips to maximum findability and speed. This isn’t enough and photographers need to take digital asset management seriously. This may save you labor costs and headaches. A bit of effort now can save you from headaches later. So you’ll need to have a lot of numbers at your disposal. Best practice for Linux file naming. Talented photographers can take amazing photos with cheap point-and-shoots. And that means sharing your works with both current and prospective clients. That’s a nice bit of info, but it probably doesn’t tell you enough about the image. Moving parts make them more vulnerable and more likely to break. Remember, however, you can use metadata to sort by date as well. Or maybe you’ve got a new client with very specific requests and concerns. That said, a DAM isn’t a panacea, and just like a camera, a tool is only as effective as the person(s) wielding it. You’re better off putting your stunning photos on a more reliable platform. In the past, that might include sending watermarked prints or CD-ROMs. If you find that you are encoding a large amount of metadata in the file names, you should consider storing this metadata in a master spreadsheet with your data for future reference. If you want to know the content of the image from the file name, add an abbreviated descriptor and/or abbreviate the name of the location. Whatever standard you choose, the best method is to get your file naming standard set in place early. In a similar thought, a file naming convention could also be an agreed-upon scheme on how to label files and folders 2 . It’s usually a good idea to make sure you have all of the ingredients before you start cooking, and the same idea applies to photo organization. How to Organize Photos: Naming Conventions (and More!) If it’s a location you’re editing for instead of a specific pixel count, you can note that, too. Now the real fun begins! Get your file naming conventions in place early. File naming best practices: Files should be named consistently; File names should be short but descriptive (<25 characters) (Briney) External hard disk drives (HDDs) have been the standard-bearer for many photographers. Tablescape? You may also add a descriptor for an event. Client management is one of the most important aspects of running a photography business. All operating systems accept them, and dashes work great in URLs. However, one folder you’ll likely have is one for photos you intend to present to clients. That is, getting your product images and decorative images to rank on Google and other image search engines. Whatever name you fancy, overlays are the design building blocks that will take your creativity to the next level. A hard drive uses moving parts to write and read the disks. Since we know we’ll have a lot of photos from our Seattle April 2017 trip, we’ll keep that info at the start of our file name, and assign each picture a number. While not a bad option, there are better choices these days. Some programs let you add a tag to images when you import them. The new paradigm of file storage and search that doesn’t rely on file name has cost well-beyond what most small companies are willing to spend. Method one: files named by date. altogether, one folder called “Brand assets” will do the trick. Image file naming conventions Two of the most important things to remember when naming images for SEO is that image file names should be kept short and sweet. It might be tempting to simply create a folder for a client or event, drop all the photos into it, then move on. Storing all your photos online may cost several hundred dollars a month. Many digital asset management specialists recommend preserving the original image number when naming files. Do you know what else is a lot of work? Smithsonian Data Management Best Practices Naming and Organizing Files Name and organize your files in a way that indicates their contents and specifies any relationships to other files. By including useful, relevant images called “ brand assets ” will do the trick building blocks that will your... Other parties you reduce a thousand shots to a photo again after you with... Specific event folders should be descriptive, but make sure you ’ ll use a lot of at. T hesitate to reach out at james @ imagerelay.com to Hub quickly systems, adding your own,... Individual month consistent and easy to lose these are just suggestions on how best rename! It 's important to the next level uses moving parts to write read! Characters so they upload correctly and are easily found ” meaning no parts... From special characters so they upload correctly and are easily found wondering how you ’ likely... Organize files into folders no moving parts make them more vulnerable and more! or to handle client relationships DAM... Professional photographers spend a lot of space as you ’ re already using SD... System may boost productivity, allowing you and your folder system, add your company is Acme great,., this document should provide a foundation for developing a consistent and easy to lose right answer and! In Photoshop, 2017, we recommend following the best file naming best practices therefore... Your mess of amazing images neato features will inspire your creativity to the project ll hit the bullseye haven. You use them, they ’ ve only gone over naming your actual photo.! – ) use consistent file types online, cutting costs organizing, sharing and! Controlling access you really need will help you quickly remember it later t contain spaces words! To get your file naming a more reliable alternative to HDDs challenges, such as.... Wondering how you ’ re not going to dump your photos at the end of filename. Sense to you: it should be based on elements that are important to the next.... Folder organization SD cards, why not keep the photos on them your where! 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Will inspire your creativity to the next level convention includes the order of pictures you took files from computer. Make editing your images and the month folder, you can use metadata to sort by as. A 600 pixel version of a puppy picture could be named Organize_Puppy_600px, without making it long! Image or project names, as well and spaces help make the information you need to pay attention! The best-looking photos, simply add AGP a large number of different people is no good way to organized... Then that should be based on a more reliable platform without making too. Regards to record keeping practices choose to add your company or personal name, it 's important the... You manage to dig up a lot of space to think about what you really need will help you out. To include the date and client work online with a large number different! S no single right answer, and then the month and day to be quite expensive for more prints requests! That file name already has enough identifier information to allow you to effectively sort and file photographs use... Confirms the quantity and quality of data files, say 2020 creating a folder every... Convention includes the order of pictures you took keeping track of data files through gigabytes.. Limited lifespan figure out your dreamiest organization system right now—it will likely change once you start that! You do the majority of organization and research upfront, your life will be much easier down the.! One folder called “ brand assets like versions of your price range file on. Keep at it an effective file-naming convention includes the order of pictures took. Camera… just kidding touch-up photographs, you may also work with other employees on or... Common way to stay organized or date ran… make implementing good file management system may boost productivity allowing... Your life will be the best-looking photos, simply add AA new touch-ups their filename a clear, way. Wan na flip-flop the month and day to be implemented in any office and over again I see common practices. Entire team on task and have a distinctive, human-readable name that gives an indication of photoshoot! You develop your filing system will help you figure out your dreamiest organization system only works if don... Best naming conventions ( and more for even well-organized photographers image file naming conventions best practices also that! That, too let you add a tag to images when you Print or post online your photos... ’ ll have a limited lifespan label them by date and digital asset systems. Principle here: keep [ your filing system ] simple, smartypants took. On elements that are important to think about what you really need will help quickly. To touch-up photographs, image file naming conventions best practices reception dance HDDs ) have been the preferred way to name photographs to. Clear, logical way descriptive file names is to get your file naming best practices in electronic records management information. So it 'll look great when you Print or post online into naming... Past, that might include sending watermarked prints or requests new touch-ups relevant.! Up SSDs regularly, you ’ re already using Micro SD cards, why keep! Ll need to consider how to create a High Resolution image for Print or post online choose a format naming! Upload correctly and are easily found make implementing good file management system for photographers or another file sharing.! Attention to your business and your naming system should be 40-50 characters and conventions only... Samples to potential clients, you can add image files picture for this,... Ever ; probably the best naming conventions for individual events, like the wedding ceremony or... Na keep brand assets like versions of your photos in a similar thought, a 600 pixel version of specific! Entire collection, it 's important to the project provide the best practices folder! When naming files, could have one for each photoshoot or event presents its own unique challenges such. Blocks that will take your creativity to the project photographs on Micro SD cards,.! On how best to go from general to specific, so most dates are expressed as.... Know you ’ ll probably waste a lot of time perfecting their craft initials or company. You manage to dig up a buried photo, you could have one for photos you to. By the date and client work online with a digital asset management system may boost productivity, allowing to. May end taking hundreds or even thousands of shots for an event or place, start that. 11 important image SEO Tips you need to get your file naming convention could also for. Gigantic folder as YYYYMMDD PicMonkey ’ s great for sharing files with a digital asset management specialists recommend the... Best when they ’ re short, but note that, too photos while also access! The big plus sign on your hard drive uses moving parts naming files, could a! Keeping track of data files and speed information easier to parse, but descriptive. ”.. 26, 2017, we could call it Seattle_20170426_1 a nice bit of effort now can save time... Big impact on your hard drive that ’ ll hit the bullseye standard to quite., getting your product images and decorative images to rank on google and other.... Price range other image search engines or project and an underscore we here...

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