How To Organize Pictures On Computer

By: Mister Bruce

Break Studios Contributing Writer

After a long day of snapping photos during your latest trip, you might want to know how to organize pictures on computer hard drives before you lose track of them or get overwhelmed by their sheer number. Keeping pictures in order also makes it easier for you to not only backup your files and protect them from catastrophic data loss, but to find them again. It doesn't take a lot of effort to organize pictures on your computer, but it will save you major headaches in the future.

You will need the following to properly organize pictures on your computer:

Blank, writable CD-ROM or DVD discs
An image viewer program (preferably one that has thumbnail previews)

Gather your pictures. Create a single directory where you'll be gathering your photos. Any pictures you have scattered around on the computer should first be found and moved to this place. If you do have, say, a bunch of wedding photos in one directory, move the whole directory into this folder as a sub-directory.
Create your digital albums. If you have wedding photos, make a directory called “Wedding Photos.” If you have pictures from your niece during her graduation, make a directory named “Niece's Graduation.” Do this for every defined group of photos you know you have and for new types of photos that come in the future.
Organize your pictures according to your albums. After you have defined your albums, use your image viewer to identify your photos and move them into the appropriate directory. You will also want to name or rename the photos so that they can be recognized outside of their assigned album spaces.
Back up your pictures. Whether you use a DVD or CD-ROM, be sure to copy your pictures to a non-erasable medium that won't be damaged if your computer's hard drive dies. It is best to define each CD or DVD by a particular album: one disc for camping trip photos in the summer of 2009 and another one for photos taken during your fishing trip. Label your CDs or DVDs according to the album so you can quickly refer to them later.