Amy visited Local 7 Lifestyles to discuss with Laura Kirtley how to digitally organize photos before the holidays.

Set the Time and Date on Your Camera

• During the holidays people often bring out nicer cameras that aren't often used.
• It is important that the correct time and date is set so that the files can be organized easily once they are downloaded onto a computer or photo storage software.

Set Aside Time to Upload, Backup & Organize Photos

• Once an event is over, set aside some time to upload and backup the images from that event.
• Organizing photos in smaller segments will make it less overwhelming.
• A great time to organize you photos is on a rainy day or when watching TV.  Uploading and backing up can easily be done while doing something else.

Organize Photos by Year, Month, & Event

• When organizing photos, set up a folder for each year.
• Inside of each year folder, create a folder for each month.
• Within each month folder, set up a folder for each event.
• As you upload photos from various devices, they can be put in the correct folders.
• Photos organized by month, year & event can be easily searched and found based on the date and the event.

Batch Rename Photos

• Once Photos are put in the correct folders, select all of the images in the folder with CTRL+A or Command+A.
• Right click and select "Rename".
• Type in the name you desire (think who-what-when-where & the date) and the images will be automatically renumbered with that new name.
• This is important so if the images get removed from the folder they can still easily be found.

Backup in 3 Places

• You should have at least 3 copies of your photos.
• Backup options include:
  • A copy on your computer
  • Cloud Storage
  • External Hard Drive
  • Archival CD or DVD stored off-site (safe deposit box or at someone else's house)
• Off-site storage is key in case of a fire or other disaster.

Make an Annual Photo Book

• During the winter months when the weather is cold and dreary it can be the best time to organize photos.  Cuddle up with a warm blanket make some hot chocolate!
• Go through all of your photos and delete delete delete. Get rid of duplicate images, blurry images, or images that aren't as good.
• Once you organize photos, at the end of the year it will be easy to take the "best of the best" photos and put them into a annual yearbook.

Just remember that it is more important to have 10 photos of an event that can be looked at and enjoyed than is is to have 400 photos of the same event that are never look at because it has become overwhelming.  So...permission to delete has been granted!

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