I have just shy of 10,000 images archived and managing them is not an easy task. I decided to go with Picasa because of their software which turns out to be fantastic, I don’t think I had used it since version 1 or 2, and it is free. I doubt I’ll be hitting the 1GB any time soon and I’m uploading 1600×1200 which are good enough for 4×6’s if anyone wants to order prints.
My new photo organization strategy will let me move to a different host quickly if I outgrow Picasa. Previously I only had one folder called “Images” with a bunch of subfolders for different sets like “Andrew Birthday 2002”. For my new system I renamed my “Images” folder to “Image Archive” and created a new folder called “Image Gallery”. Here’s how my workflow is going to go now:
- Camera imports go straight into “Image Archive/_Import”
- Sort through and star favorites of the imports
- Copy favorites to a folder in “Image Gallery” for publishing
- Move imports to an appropriate folder in “Image Archive”
- Process images in the Image Gallery folder leaving original files alone in the Archive
- Image Gallery folders are then printed and/or posted to the web
- Run backup sync to external hard drive
Previously I was creating a “picks” subfolder inside each set’s subfolder and didn’t have an easy way to see the images I had printed or posted to the web. I was also resizing for the web before uploading so I’d sometimes have “web” folders under the “picks” folder. This will keep things nice and tidy.
I might refine my directory structure or naming scheme eventually, but having a completely seperate folder with my full size favorites ready for use will make getting things published a lot easier. The Archive will now strictly be an organized vault of the original images coming off the camera.
Other photo news, I sold the D70 for $340 and I’m just waiting for my $200 cashback from Microsoft at the end of the month. That brings my upgrade cost to $360 dollars, not too shabby.