Don't Put the Photos Back Under the Bed!

By now, you are probably getting the idea about the whole scanning process. The folder of scanned images is growing exponentially. The folder is filled with image files named old_photo_001.jpg to something like old_photo_999.jpg. This is not a good thing. Before you begin any serious scanning, a file naming protocol will be most helpful, especially as you approach scan number 1000 and beyond.

There are many approaches that can be used, but it is very important to pick one and stick to it. My preference for naming files normally includes a date, a name, and if needed, a sequence number. I'll detail my approach; it works for me. But, you must settle on a naming protocol that will work for you.

Keeping old photos in chronological order fits my way of thinking. I incorporate a chronological naming sequence in new and old photos. Computers sort files and folders by using alphanumeric sequence; they order things by number then by the alphabet. I start all my file naming with the year then month then the day. After that, I add a word or name that means something to me in relation to the photo. The computer keeps the files or folders in order.

Using my naming system on a classic family photo (as depicted above), I immediately run into a problem. I don't know the date it was taken. Bummer! Okay, pull on the Sherlock Holmes' had and start working on some deductive reasoning. I know where the photo was taken, and it looks like summer. Good clues! I know the subjects; a well posed photo of my siblings and me. Time to try and pinpoint, to the best of my ability, our ages at the time of the photo. I'm thinking 1962, and that is the year I will use until proven wrong (I can always go back later and change the file name). Looking at the shrubbery, I can see that there are no flowers on the azaleas. This would indicate that a guess of July or August would be reasonable. For the day, I'll pick my default, the first day of the month. Based on this flawless deductive reasoning, my file name would be:

620801_ragan_kids_01

I've picked August 1, 1962 as the date of the photo, that's my current best guess (and likely my final guess unless my sister sees the photo and is able to recall the actual date and time - she is capable of total recall). If I found a second photo of these handsome children, taken at the same time, I'd call it 620801_ragan_kids_02. Don't spend too much time on guessing the date, but it is helpful to put the images in some order. Check the photo, front and back, for a date; you might get lucky.

If the number of image files grows too large for one folder, create additional folders. My naming protocal is similar. Start with a date and add a discriptive word. I might choose to add a folder per year or for 5 year segments. The folder names would look something like 62_ragan_family or 61_to_65_ragan_family. You can sort that our for yourself.

Now that you are scanning and you have a file naming protocol working for you, you are starting to think about where you are going to save all of these scanned image files. Saving them on your computer is probably where you are initiating the saving operation. We all know computer hard drives crash, can be infected with viruses, and various other evils that can corrupt or destroy your files.

Saving files to more than one location is a good practice. There are options. The options that I use are additional hard drives and DVDs. My main back up is external hard drives; I keep 2 copies on separate drives not counting what is on my active computer. It is preferred to keep one of these drives in a different location; I accomplish this 99% of the time. An alternate solution is to back up on DVDs. The gold DVDs are reported to last up to 100 years without deterioration; this is about 6x a normal DVD. Gold DVDs can be scratched just like regular DVDs; the result is the same - lost data. When using DVDs, I would suggest gold, and I would burn at least 2 copies. Gold DVDs are in the $3/DVD range.

How can you go wrong if you end with a photo of a boy and his duck. The back of this photo indicated it was a "Kodacolor Print" developed/printed on the "week of Sept. 21-57". I've got the date, and I know the place, Avalon, NJ. I'm not sure about the subject.