scanning home photos ... how to organize!?

[target2019]

File naming:

19nn_mmdd and add additional number if more than 1 shot on a given day. Then add the occasion and name(s).

 

[OldShooter]

There are a number of digital asset managers (DAMs) around. I use the one that is part of Lightroom, though I would not recommend it because of Adobe's business practices.

DAMs typically solve the "Where do I file it? question by allowing each image to be associated with multiple keywords. Example: "Lion" "Africa" "Zimbabwe"

I just saw an announcement for this one: https://excire.com/en/ today. Of course it claims AI capability as is currently required in any market. It also claims some ability to create keywords, grade photos by image content quality, and some kind of people recognition. That's all I know; I just read the press release.

But the punch line is that a keywording tool can help with the "Where to file?" question.

 

[easysurfer]

File naming:

19nn_mmdd and add additional number if more than 1 shot on a given day. Then add the occasion and name(s).

That's assuming one knows when the photo was taken.

There are many unmarked so as to exact date is a guessing game.

I used to get teased by some for having the date time stamp turned on using my old cameras. But having that record is so helpful when trying to determine the photo's history. Guess I had the last laugh .

 

[steelyman]

That's assuming one knows when the photo was taken.

There are many unmarked so as to exact date is a guessing game.

I used to get teased by some for having the date time stamp turned on using my old cameras. But having that record is so helpful when trying to determine the photo's history. Guess I had the last laugh .

That’s information I wish I had for many of my older prints, especially those where I didn’t take the photo.

Another frequent piece of missing information is, “who the heck ARE these people?”. Only The Shadow knows, I guess..

 

[target2019]

That's assuming one knows when the photo was taken.

There are many unmarked so as to exact date is a guessing game.

I used to get teased by some for having the date time stamp turned on using my old cameras. But having that record is so helpful when trying to determine the photo's history. Guess I had the last laugh .

I can always identify the decade, ata minimum. It only takes a few moments to tale a stab at the year, and add numbers appropriately. For example 1960_0001, and add the person(s) and/or some unique word to help you later.

Looking at a scan just done, and not dealing with the filename right away, is certain to confuse you later.

Starting with the year always saves my butt in a search. YMMV.

 

[topnotcher]

Some 10+ years ago I went whole hog on making our life a digital library (which took the better part of 2 years)(be patient).

For Hardware: In the early days I used my own server with Microsoft Media Center as my manager. Then as that neared its end of life, I moved to my own Unix server and Plex (Which still runs for my personal media that should not be on servers that I cannot control) and also as a backup. When Google Photos offered unlimited free storage or re-sized photos I went all in, It took me weeks to upload my libraries. (which in no longer the case for new uploads).

File/Folder Naming: In the creation stage and being a programmer I was carefully naming what files I could (like: 20021031 Video Halloween Party.mp4) and creating folders using indexable folder names like "20021031 Halloween Party" I never changed photo file names, I found that to be fruitless. I was able to use several online tools to edit the metadata of older pictures to get the dates as close a possible using folder names.

Today: Google does a great job finding people and pets by name. It also reads meta data and does just about any types of searches you wish like place. People are amazed with the size of our library and how quick we can access photos of specific people. For my movies which are not personal in nature Plex on my Unix server allows access on all my home devices and can also work for remote access if I open it, which I do not.

I never had any regret with how much time I took to make this happen. Our kids enjoy the depth of our digital libraries.

Looking forward, I use Google Photo Scan app to add new photos and edit Meta Data and attach personal facial recognition especially as my parents age and I fear loosing some of the connections.

Good luck.

 

[bobbyr]

just went through this after my mom died in December. I scanned one at a time and uploaded to several specific, descriptive google photo albums. Also have the images stored on my hard drive organized loosely.

The Google photo sharing has been easy and helpful, with the ability to add comments. Shared it four albuns with about 20 family members across the country.