Organizing and archiving digital photos can be a bit tricky. But, it really doesn't have to be. I travel a lot for the specific purpose of taking photos. When I get back home, I've got lots of images to transfer and organize.

I use my photo organizing software (also known as digital asset management) to create folders, organize thumbnails, create searchable fields, add information, and produce contact sheets and burn DVDs (or CDs). Not everyone has to use image organizing software this detailed but it actually has been a great timesaver for me.

The software creates a "record" of each and every image (along with generating a permanent thumbnail) and shows me (text field) on which DVD or CD I've burned the original. It also lets me perform searches and shows me all thumbnails that match those search terms all without ever having to load a DVD or CD.

Remember, all the originals may no longer reside on the computer, yet the software can still find them and tell me which DVD or CD they're on. I then just retrieve that particular DVD or CD and I've found my original image. The folder hierarchy you create resides on your hard drive but it's a very tiny file. This saves you hard drive space!

As for an organizing/archiving workflow, here's one way of doing it:

1. Transfer your digital images to your hard drive.

2. Burn them to your DVD or CD twice, with an extra copy used as a backup.  Why burn two copies? If one gets stepped on say, by your dog, and gets scratched or cracked, you've not lost your photos. If you cherish those images and want to be real safe, store that second copy at a different locale .fires, twisters, space aliens could happen.

3. Next, use organizing software to categorize the images on those DVDs (CDs) and add any additional notes (who was that in that photo? Grandma? ... what was the event? where was the event? anecdotes, etc.)

4. Print contact sheets for the images on your DVD or CD

5. Store the contact sheets and DVDs (CDs)

6. Finally, remove images from your hard drive to reclaim space if you need to.

This may be a more detailed method than most people need but the main point is to find a flow that works for you. Then you'll find it easy and, dare I say it, fun to organize and archive your digital files.

Text: Copyright 2003 Deborah Siminski Tappan.  All rights reserved.