Help me finalize my edit/organize workflow please!

[Jinkies]

Now that it's the end of the year I get that organizing itch... and I have completely slacked ALL year with my pictures, just dumping them into either my laptop or desktop, whichever is more convenient at the moment.

Anyways, I'm trying to come up with a process to upload my pictures, organize them, and resize and rename them.

My first idea was:
1. Upload all new pics into computer organized by month
2. Batch resize with Irfanview (to 300dpi / 4.5x6) and place in subfolders (i.e. event, whatever)
3. Edit (I have Lightroom or could use Picasa)
4. Upload to SeeHere for any printing/projects

Do you have a more streamlined approach? I'm just trying to find a consistent way of doing this so maybe I'll be more disciplined next year. Maybe a program that does all of these things?

Since I keep my photos in a date structure I don't do a lot of 'tagging' so that isn't a real requirement for me.

Also, each of my kids have their own cameras - any tips on keeping their photos separate since we share a desktop?

Thanks for any help!!
Jen

[lauramarie]

I am probably not the best person to give advice but I will tell you what I do. I use iPhoto and I group them month/year. I am very bad at tagging but I am going to do so to make my search easier. So, all of 2008 are in one folder by month and 2009. 2010 will be my new folder. To keep your kids pics separate have them create their own folders and drop their photos there. Folders are the best way to keep things where you can find them.

[Scrapberry Designs]

I organize my the same way that Laura Marie does. I have a folder for each year and then folders broken down my the month in those. I don't ever resize my photos unless I'm specifically printing one of them or scrapping with it.

[msbrad]

Here is another thought.
My photos are all in folders by topic:
examples:
~Christmas--then inside there are folders for, 2005, 2006, 2007,etc.
~Vacations--then inside by location and year (Alaska cruise-2007)
~M_G --wedding

I do not go and re-size them. I leave them from the camera's formatted size. I might not want 4.5 x 6 aspect ratio. This way I can create the crop and sizing and resolution of my choosing.

I agree with above-have a folder per child.

[pgoodlin]

Since we have such a huge family, I make a folder for each family each year (ie)
2009
Barry's Family
Kris's Family & so on

Then I make a folder for the activity I took pics of (birthdays etc)within that family's folder. I also make a folder my my husband & I. That's where I store Christmas, barbeques etc that are family functions held in our home.

I don't resize the photos at all until I'm actually working with one.

We have such a huge family, I find it much easier to keep track of photos by family versus certain activities.

Hope this makes sense!

Patty

[g8rBeckie]

I organize my the same way that Laura Marie does. I have a folder for each year and then folders broken down my the month in those. I don't ever resize my photos unless I'm specifically printing one of them or scrapping with it.


DITTO!

The only thing I'll add...I try to go through them right after I upload to delete the bad pics. DH loves to put them into slideshow mode on the TV (through our PS3) and I hate seeing all the bad pics there! I've been doing this the past few months and it actually makes it a lot easier looking for pics to scrap, too!

[Jinkies]

I guess I never thought of leaving the pics the default size until I use them! And thanks for the suggestion of giving the kids their own folders, I'll set them up for next year.

[Just Plain Kristi]

My only thought was that even through you don't want to tag them, ACDSee does all of those functions...Photo Manager does basic editing but Pro does tons more (much like Lightroom) and there's a built in uploader but it's only set up for Flickr and SmugMug. I wish they'd add more uploaders...maybe the new version of Photo Manager will do that. (you didn't say if you're on a pc or mac...we have a pro for mac but it's still in beta...free at the moment but not ready for commercial release)

I also don't resize anything. I want the maximum pixels to work with and do my cropping and resizing when I drag them onto a layout.

I tried folders for each kid and had to duplicate so many pics I just don't have room for that. I keyword with the subjects' names so they just sit in folders by year...generally broken down into quarters. Now as I go around grabbing copies of my mom's, siblings' and cousins' photos I put those in a folder with the camera owner's name and that goes in the year folder. I'm trying to assemble a family archive.

HTH!
Kristi

[kimlizzy]

My photos are all in folders according to date and event. Each time I go out and take photos I upload them into their own folder. Each folder is dated and has the event/person for easy reference. eg: 2009-12-6 School Formal or 2009-8-22 Mums Birthday. I find it so much easier to find what I'm looking for that way rather than having all photos from one month all in one folder.

[Just Plain Kristi]

oh, almost forgot to mention ACDSee's photo calendar...you can browse your photos via a calendar display...dates with photos have a thumbnail of one of that's days photos on the date...you can click on it to get all pics with that date. If only my mom would reset her camera's date when she changes the batteries (just about all of her pics last year are dated for 2005 and so are her Hawaii trip from October of this year. LOL) So really, I could store pictures by subject or any other criteria and still browse them by date easily.

Kristi

[Jenna]

I have them organized YEAR > MONTH > DAY and if there is a special event, I'll break it down further, like DISNEYLAND or BIRTHDAY, etc. I wish I had a better labeling system, but it works for me. I leave my photo as is out of the camera, delete the bad ones, etc. Then I have a seperate folder broken down similarly for all the photos I have run through Photoshop, resized, etc. I tend to look through those for scrapping since I already know they look good.