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[bidimagic]

Hi all,
this is my first topic ! Ciao everybody !!!
I have bought the 300D also because I had a "normal" EOS 300, and so I'm
trying to learn "digital photography" tricks & tips.
One problem I would like to share with you is about how to catalog photos that
are going to became thousands and thousands ... if you are using particular
software products, or if you are simply creating folders and subfolders ...

Actually I store photos simply in folders, but it is not easy to retrieve them, though...

[tim]

Welcome to POTN :)

I use a free product called DIM, from http://alanlight.com , it downloads pictures into a tree of folders. eg A photo taken on the 12th May 2005 would be stored in

- 2005
- 05 (ie may)
- 03May2005

If you have photos from multiple days on the card it puts them in the right folders, and the folder structure is configurable. You can also make it run automatically when your card reader is plugged into the PC, write protect the images, etc. It's smart enough not to copy pics you've already copied.

I also rename the folders, I add a short description to the folder so I can search for it. I don't bother to rename files or add metadata, I have a good enough memory not to have to. This system's worked well for me. What you can do is use the photoshop cs2 bridge to put metadata (ie descriptions, keywords, locations, names) in the photo, and you can search for them like that.

Hope that helps :)

[scottbergerphoto]

Welcome to POTN :)

I use a free product called DIM, from http://alanlight.com , it downloads pictures into a tree of folders. eg A photo taken on the 12th May 2005 would be stored in

- 2005
- 05 (ie may)
- 03May2005

If you have photos from multiple days on the card it puts them in the right folders, and the folder structure is configurable. You can also make it run automatically when your card reader is plugged into the PC, write protect the images, etc. It's smart enough not to copy pics you've already copied.

I also rename the folders, I add a short description to the folder so I can search for it. I don't bother to rename files or add metadata, I have a good enough memory not to have to. This system's worked well for me. What you can do is use the photoshop cs2 bridge to put metadata (ie descriptions, keywords, locations, names) in the photo, and you can search for them like that.

Hope that helps :)
I downloaded DIM at your suggestion. How do you get it to run? I am using Windows XP and it doesn't recognize a JAR extension.

[Curtis N]

A folder naming technique that I have been using for years is to use a date format like
050623 or
20050623 (for June 23, 2005)
By putting the year first, then the month, subfolders will automatically sort chronologically.

Adding a brief description after the date code, such as "050623 family reunion" is usually enough to help me find what I'm looking for.

[Baadil]

I use Zoom Browser to download images. I create a folder for each year (2005 for this year). I use the zoom browser to download using the downloaded date as the folder name to put the files in and prefix the files with downloaded date and something helpful, like Trip to BlaBla. I only wish I could use a utility similar to this that will name the files based on the prefix I provide as well as add something like pic taken date.

[jfrancho]

I downloaded DIM at your suggestion. How do you get it to run? I am using Windows XP and it doesn't recognize a JAR extension.You can use WinRAR to extract it. Download it for Windows here (http://www.rarlab.com/rar/wrar342.exe).

[mgbeach]

I'm a big fan of ACDSee 7.0 It is really great.

[jfrancho]

I use Adobe Bridge. I copy to a folder named [yyyy_mm_dd]-[descriptionAsOneWordLikeThis]. The files are renamed to [yyyymmdd]-[moreDetailedDescription]-[xxx]. The xxx is a serial number. I use the Color Labels to sort similar keepers and filter each color when copying to my HDD and just change the description for each group, i.e. baseballFrontierField, sideGarden, nightOut, etc. It takes a little bit longer this way, but the description along with the date helps jog my memory.

[bidimagic]

Thank you for your responses! You give me a lot of suggestions ...

:)

[BrandonSi]

I use a 4GB parition on one of my hard drives and throw all my RAW files (and some processef .TIF's) there. When that fills up, I burn to DVD and print out a contact sheet as a label for the jewel case. Then wipe the 4GB parition clean and start over.

[jfrancho]

I use a 4GB parition on one of my hard drives and throw all my RAW files (and some processef .TIF's) there. When that fills up, I burn to DVD and print out a contact sheet as a label for the jewel case. Then wipe the 4GB parition clean and start over.What happens when the DVD is damaged or corrupted? It's probably a longshot that you'd actually need to get a RAW file from one that went bad, but what if?

[Baadil]

Brandon, how do you find your files then? For example, if you have 30 DVDs for 2 years back and you need a nice pic that you can use on some site, how doyou find it? Go throug and load each DVD and look through the files?

[jfrancho]

Brandon, how do you find your files then? For example, if you have 30 DVDs for 2 years back and you need a nice pic that you can use on some site, how doyou find it? Go throug and load each DVD and look through the files?He looks at the contact sheet he created for the jewel case insert. I do this, too.

[PhotosGuy]

I downloaded DIM at your suggestion. How do you get it to run? I am using Windows XP and it doesn't recognize a JAR extension. I don't use the .jar, but he's pretty good at answering his email, so you might ask him.
I use DIM quite a bit &, after getting past a set-up question, have had no problems with it.

Everything I save is to a separate internal HD & is duplicated on an external HD. Karen's Replicator is free & great for that.
http://www.karenware.com/powertools.asp
CD's are kept in a separate location from my home.

I make descriptive folders & put them in common categories: J:\Carz 2005 Misc\Pampas Lanes 9-1-04
Web jpgs are so small that I never delete them. Why bother? Besides, they quickly remind me what's in the folder as I save then in the first tier, not in the raw & tiff folders.
Most of the time I can do so much in RSE that all I have to do in PS is crop. Resizing, ©, sharpening, & saving for the web can all be done in one action if you want to, so why save that Tiff?
Some "special" Tiff files that need a Layer Mask, etc., take more time to do. Those tiffs I'll usually save. The simple ones, I might save to CD & then delete them from the HD.

[scottbergerphoto]

I don't use the .jar, but he's pretty good at answering his email, so you might ask him.
I use DIM quite a bit &, after getting past a set-up question, have had no problems with it.


The .jar file is all that there is. He says to make sure Windows saves it as a .jar file and not a zip file. How do you use it?

[jfrancho]

The .jar file is all that there is. He says to make sure Windows saves it as a .jar file and not a zip file. How do you use it?See my post above. WinRAR in a utility that is like WinZip. Once you install it you can decompress jar files.

[scottbergerphoto]

OK. I downloaded WinRAR and decompressed the RAR file. Now I've got tons of files but no .exe file. Which one is the executable one?

[jfrancho]

OK. I downloaded WinRAR and decompressed the RAR file. Now I've got tons of files but no .exe file. Which one is the executable one?scott, I'm sorry, I misunderstood your original question. I was a bit puzzled why you wanted to open the .jar file...
Let's start over. Make sure you have the Java Runtime Environment installed. It needs to be 1.4 or higher (I think mine is 1.5, which they call 5). If double clicking the Dim-b153.jar file doesn't open DIM, or gives you an error, right click the Dim-b153.jar file, and select Open with...Choose Program. Check the Always use selected... box. Click on Java(TM) 2 Platform Standard Edition Library binary. Click Open. You should be in business, then. Again I apologize for the confusion.

[scottbergerphoto]

Where do I get Java Run Time Environment?

[jfrancho]

http://www.java.com/en/download/windows_xpi.jsp
Choose the XPI version. You'll have to do a reboot after it installs.

[scottbergerphoto]

Thanks. Thanks Tim for all the help via PM. It was a little confusing there for a while. I also got a reply from Alan Light.