Cataloguing photos.

[Tormentil]

The number of photos I have is growing almost daily, so its time to get them sorted. Up till now I was just creating a new folder, named with the place and date. eg MSQ17_7_6.

This is obviously makes finding a particular photo a bit time consuming and difficult, so I'm thinking of doing the obvious and creating folders for birds, flowers, caterpillars etc.

But even this may end up being cumbersome. The answer probably lies in creating a database (I have Access), with the pics linked.

I wondered how other members catalogue their pics.

[canonman]

Hi
I have mine in separate folders i.e. birds, flowers etc, would be interested to see the feedback on this.
Mick

[life through a lens]

There are software packages available that allow you to tag and catalog photos. I have an Adobe system (can't remember the name at the mo) that came free with a photography mag.

Might be worth a tinterweb search to see whats available and I will see what I have at home.

As an alternative idea why not file them in some sort of order and then create a basic html file index using hyperlinks. You could then have a basic order like you would in Access but may be easier to use.

Olly

[eeyore]

I think you are talking about adobe bridge - I looked at that but went in the end for extensis porfolio for no better reason than that this is what andy rouse recomended. I have also heard that google have a freebie download - picanto ? I think which is supposed to be okay.

[Gaina]

There's also a great catalogue software I use called Canto Cumulus. It also allows you to catalogue other file types too, which is handy.

[cherrybee]

Originally Posted by eeyore

I think you are talking about adobe bridge - I looked at that but went in the end for extensis porfolio for no better reason than that this is what andy rouse recomended. I have also heard that google have a freebie download - picanto ? I think which is supposed to be okay.

Picasa it is great highly recommended by me also has basic tools for cropping sharpening etc

I always move the folder off the camera card which is dated to a Folder called Photos (seperate from My pictures folder).I then use psp to go through them and do necessary edits which I then save into catagories virtually the same as wab eg.Birds,subfolder named thrushes and chats etc and the same for all the catagories on wab.When I have done all I need I move the original folder to a second hard drive so the originals are kept intact in the dated folders.When i want to find a particular one I open picassa click on the catagoriy and from there it is easy to find as you can right click a folder or photo and locate on disc.Try it its free and very good

[glsammy]

I've recently downloaded Picasa, for exactly the same reason as Tormentil. My Pictures are usually kept in date order, which makes finding that particular photo you want very awkward.
My initial tests with Picasa are very favourable. It will display all file types, including movies, RAW etc. You can limit this if you wish. It's very easy to create new folders and to move images around.
I've not done much more than that for the moment, but it certainly worth trying.

[Ollie]

I just use Photoshop Elements 4.0 With this you can create collections. For example you can have a birds collection, dragonfly collection, whatever and as many as you wish. Within these collections you can create tags, so for instance within the birds collection you can have as many tags as you wish, example Yellowhammer, Blue Tit. Whenever I want to find a photograph it's only a couple of clicks away. Click the collection you want example birds then the tag you want example Yellowhammer and all the Yellowhammer photographs are shown in date order of taking them. Works for me anyway. Of course this does depend on you putting them in the collections and tagging them at the time of editing.
Roger

[nightshade]

I always hated filing but it is obvious it is necessary so keep it coming There must be something good (and easy)my computer skills are very basic (no pun intended Henrya)
I think I have elements 4

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by Tormentil

The number of photos I have is growing almost daily, so its time to get them sorted. Up till now I was just creating a new folder, named with the place and date. eg MSQ17_7_6.

This is obviously makes finding a particular photo a bit time consuming and difficult, so I'm thinking of doing the obvious and creating folders for birds, flowers, caterpillars etc.

But even this may end up being cumbersome. The answer probably lies in creating a database (I have Access), with the pics linked.

I wondered how other members catalogue their pics.

Lol............I am in the same boat as you, must get round to it. I just use the windows xp "my pictures" and upload the photo's into it, have a few folders, but nowhere near enough. I do back up on to a seperate hard drive every so often........

[Alan]

I don't think cataloging as such is the problem as you can get a lot of software to do it, and all doiing a similar job. It's getting the workflow right that can save a lot of work.

Contained in one master folder I have four folders setup named as follows (name them with numbers at the front so they appear in order):

1_Originals - this contains all the RAWS before converting. Any that aren't any good are deleted here.

2_Pending - after the RAWS are sorted, they are re-saved as TIFFS and placed in here ready for editing.

3_Processing - edited TIFFS are put in here and cropped, levels adjusted and sharpened etc.

4_Finished - finished TIFFS are put in here ready to be moved to the catagory folders.

By breaking the process up in this way means you can do a bit at a time, and know at which point the images are in the editing process. It's not as complicated as it appears once you get used to the system.

[John]

I make a folder for each individual species I get an image of. When I take another image of a particular species, (Bird, Moth, beetle etc) I just add it to the folder.

Using one spread sheet I have tabs for Birds, Butterflies, Moths, Dragonfly & Damselflies, Reptiles, Animals and other insects. Within those tabs (in alphabetical order) I have the name of each species I have a photo of. I select the best photo of a species and hyperlink to that photo. I am then a click away from the best photo of each species.

If I want to see a particular photo of a species (other that the one I hyperlink to) i can easily go to the folder of that species.

I have done this from the start and it is easy to maintain. However I realise what a pain this would be to start afresh with a load of photos to catalogue.

John

[Tormentil]

That sounds like the sort of thing I was thinking of. I'll start doing it this weekend me thinks.

You're right though John, its gonna be a bit of pain sorting and renaming, but once the current lot are sorted it sounds easy to controll and maintian.

Thanks to everyone else for the tips and advice.

BTW, I use Photoshop CS2 and Adobe Bridge.
Ben

[John]

On this spread sheet I also link to the few movie clips I have taken with my CP 4500 also and in the end it becomes quite an extensive list for me to use.

If you were just thinking of maintaining a list of birds seen there is a data base designed by a Birdforum member that not only can you use to log all your bird sightings but also you can attach photos, video clips and sound recordings to as well.

I use it to log all my sightings. This is different to my spreadsheet as this only logs the best photos whereas the Bird data base logs every sighting of every bird I have entered down.

If anyone is interested in downloading it, it can be found here: http://www.brandonbirding.co.uk/news/default.asp

Just look to the right of the page and you will see Jeff's Birding Database. To use it you will need the MS Access programme.

John

[Tormentil]

Originally Posted by John

If you were just thinking of maintaining a list of birds seen there is a data base designed by a Birdforum member that not only can you use to log all your bird sightings but also you can attach photos, video clips and sound recordings to as well.

If anyone is interested in downloading it, it can be found here: http://www.brandonbirding.co.uk/news/default.asp

John

Excellent database that, John.

[Mully]

So if I have read this right, most of you store your photos on your computer or online? Isn't the best way simply to burn them onto disc once you have renamed them etc?

[Tormentil]

Originally Posted by Mully

So if I have read this right, most of you store your photos on your computer or online? Isn't the best way simply to burn them onto disc once you have renamed them etc?

Yes and most of us probably do. But it is better to have some way of finding a particular photo with out having to scroll through wads of pics. Much better if you have some sort of system that quickens the process up.

I have a second hard drive purely for all my data and pics and I periodically transfer these to CD/DVD.

[rlchew]

Originally Posted by Alan

I don't think cataloging as such is the problem as you can get a lot of software to do it, and all doiing a similar job. It's getting the workflow right that can save a lot of work.

Contained in one master folder I have four folders setup named as follows (name them with numbers at the front so they appear in order):

1_Originals - this contains all the RAWS before converting. Any that aren't any good are deleted here.

2_Pending - after the RAWS are sorted, they are re-saved as TIFFS and placed in here ready for editing.

3_Processing - edited TIFFS are put in here and cropped, levels adjusted and sharpened etc.

4_Finished - finished TIFFS are put in here ready to be moved to the catagory folders.

By breaking the process up in this way means you can do a bit at a time, and know at which point the images are in the editing process. It's not as complicated as it appears once you get used to the system.

Now why didn't I think of doing something as organised as that to keep track of progress?

Thanks Alan .... guess what I will be doing later today.

Richard

[rlchew]

Originally Posted by John

I make a folder for each individual species I get an image of. When I take another image of a particular species, (Bird, Moth, beetle etc) I just add it to the folder.

Using one spread sheet I have tabs for Birds, Butterflies, Moths, Dragonfly & Damselflies, Reptiles, Animals and other insects. Within those tabs (in alphabetical order) I have the name of each species I have a photo of. I select the best photo of a species and hyperlink to that photo. I am then a click away from the best photo of each species.

If I want to see a particular photo of a species (other that the one I hyperlink to) i can easily go to the folder of that species.

I have done this from the start and it is easy to maintain. However I realise what a pain this would be to start afresh with a load of photos to catalogue.

John

This also sounds very organised John .... but I am put off of the thought of cataloguing a huge number of photos from scratch.

Maybe if they give me a few weeks off work ....

Richard

[BartonFlyer]

Thumbs plus from Cerious Software is a good cataloging tool as it will maintain the catalogue of files that have been archived out onto CD or DVD - once you get beyond your hard disk capacity (easy to do with images) that becomes a real problem.

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Mully

So if I have read this right, most of you store your photos on your computer or online? Isn't the best way simply to burn them onto disc once you have renamed them etc?

discs have a nasty habit of dying unexpectedly - so although they are great for secondary back up it is a good move to have your photos somewhere else as well, i store mine on a hard drive with two sets of back up discs, one of which lives at my mums as proof against burglary or fire.

[Chalk Downlanders]

Alan’s method is good. Similar to what I use. In addition to this I would suggest that you save each sessions RAW shots in a separate folder with the date and location.

I would get the main Windows file structure in place before you start playing with databases etc. That way if you decide to change anything at a later date, or your software becomes obsolete, everything is easily repaired and sorted.