One Simple Trick for Organizing Photos {Batch Downloads} & Giveaway

how to organize photos

Organize Photos with One Simple Trick

Keep reading below for a chance to win one very cool photo prize package worth well over $150.

I’m doing a series of three posts this week, just in time to help you with holiday photos and gift giving. With digital photography, excellent photos are so easy for even the novices among us, but it also creates a new problem…photo overwhelm.

Believe it or not, there are three simple tips to managing this new problem of the digital age. The first of these tips is:

Batch Download to Organize Photos

If you get names like “img_0128” when you download your photos, you need this tip.

Heck, if you never download your photos off your camera or phone, you need this tip.

Even if you store your photos on the iCloud (or some other cloud), you need this tip. Maybe especially then!

Despite all of the advice from my Mac-friends, I am still a PC. Windows Live (or Windows Live Essentials) is what I use to organize my photos on the computer, but the advice is basically the same whether you are a Mac or a PC, whether you use a camera or a smartphone.

How to Download in Batches

Whenever I’m ready to process some of my pictures, I connect my camera to my PC with the cord that came with the camera, and Windows Live Photo opens up.

digital photo organizing tips

Instead of just hitting download immediately, I take a moment to select the folder to send the photos to, then click the file naming settings.

how to organize digital photographs

 

On the next page, name the batch with something that makes sense and that means something to you. I like this type of naming convention: Year-Month-Event. I mentioned how to do this in my How to Make Photo Book article. Once you’ve set up the name for the batch, click the pictures you want in the batch, and hit download.

digital photo organizing tips

Only the pictures in your batch come down, and they all have the file name you applied, followed by a sequential number.(2012-12-Christmas1, 2012-12-Christmas2, etc.)

Avoid Downloading Duplicates When Organizing Photos

Be sure that “delete files from device after importing” is clicked so the photos leave your camera or phone, and you won’t be saddled with multiple copies of the same photo. You’ll get this when downloading.

tips to organize digital photos

Now, if you need to find your little munchkin’s kindergarten picture in the future you’ll have a much better shot by looking in the file you set up for that event, by searching on keywords from the file name that you’ve used, by looking at the date, or all of the above.

Does this sound better than leaving your photos on your camera, trapped and vulnerable to losing your camera or a corrupted card? Download a batch of photos today and let me know how it goes.

Win a Photo Organizing Prize Package worth over $150

You can enter to win this great photo prize package including three things:

1. photo organization box

photo book2. A Linea hard-bound photo storage book for apx. 100 photos.

3. A one-hour phone consultation to format your Linea book or help you with any other photo storage questions.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Next up: Batch Review to Organize Photos

Followed by:  Batch Printing your Photos

This Post Has 22 Comments

  1. Life with Kaishon

    I am glad you have found something that works so well for you! I have been uploading literally hundreds of pictures each week during this busy holiday season for my clients. It can be overwhelming. Thanks for sharing about this great product.

    1. Darla

      Yes, you and I both know there are a million ways to do this, but this approach is free and reliable and already installed on most newer Windows-based machines. Do you have another easy favorite tool to do this same thing?

  2. Susan

    I would love a new kitchen!

  3. Heather

    I definitely need help organizing all of my photos!

    1. Darla

      Stay tuned for more tips. I also provide hands on and virtual services. Let me know if you need personal help.

  4. Patricia Wojnar Crowley

    I need to remodel my bathroom!

    1. Darla

      Me too! Thanks to your answer, I just realized that the survey question was wrong. It was supposed to be, “Who or what is in your favorite photo from this year?” Makes more sense, right? But don’t worry, you and Susan are still entered in the drawing. Thanks for entering!

  5. Gail Wagner

    My golden retriever Dakota on a cliff overlooking the ocean in Maine this summer!

  6. Heather M

    My kids at the beach.

    1. Darla

      People are loving their summer pictures.

  7. Becky

    My favorite picture is from our family photo shoot in the spring.

  8. Kelly Moran

    My favorite pic is our family pictures at the Duck Pond at Haverford College

  9. Pat S.

    My favorite pic is my sister asleep on the sofa with her dog snuggled up against her. The dog is about to fall off because there really isn’t enough room. It’s so cute!

  10. nancy vecchione

    Looking forward to my daughter’s wedding in Feb. and know the sheer volume of photos is going to be a bear to organize, no matter how much I love them all!

  11. Gabrielle Pearson

    My favorite picture from this year was the first picture taken of my daughter and I when she was born!

    1. Darla

      Of course! Congratulations.

  12. Ella Bryant

    President Obama is one of my fave pics.

  13. Vikki Salmela

    My favorite photo this year is one I found, a slide I do not remember ever seeing, as I went through my Dad’s slides for him. I’m a young girl, curled up on the wet beach, drawing in the sand with a feather. I can’t wait for the digitized version to come in!

    1. Darla

      That sounds amazing. Good luck with the digitizing.

  14. Ann Cluck

    My husband and his great granddaughter

    1. Darla

      Wow, that’s special.

Comments are closed.