How to organise digital photos before making a book
Organise digital photos by gathering them into one working collection, sorting by year and event, preserving originals, then making a separate shortlist for the scrapbook.
Begin with one year or one device. Finish that batch before sorting the next, especially if the collection holds thousands of files.
Use folder names another person can understand. Keep a list of the devices and accounts you have copied, including those you have not checked yet.
Make a digital scrapbook
Add your photos and keepsakes in tbf scrapbook, then arrange them on the pages.
Gather without deleting
List the phones, computers, camera cards and accounts holding photos. Copy one event or year, then check the copies against their source before deleting anything.
The Library of Congress recommends descriptive names and grouped folders. Choose a date-and-event pattern you can continue using.
Separate originals from book selections
Keep complete event folders in the archive. Make another folder for the book's selected working copies so a page edit cannot replace the only original.
- Use a year folder followed by a dated event folder.
- Keep scans in a clearly named folder beside digital photographs.
- Put uncertain dates in an unidentified folder until confirmed.
- Track which device or person supplied a batch.
Check the copies can be read
Open files from different parts of the collection, including the oldest batch and the largest images. A folder count alone does not prove the images are readable.
Keep additional copies in separate places and check them periodically, as the Library of Congress advises. Decide who will maintain the archive.
Steps
Find the photo locations
Write down the devices and folders holding photos for the chosen year. Mark any accounts or cards you have not yet checked.
Create event folders
Group working copies by known date and occasion. Keep original filenames in a record if you rename a batch.
Make the book shortlist
Choose a setting photo, portraits and close-up details for the book. Copy them into a project folder and leave the archive intact.
Open the backup files
Open a sample from each source and each backup location. Keep a short description of the folder structure with the collection.
Questions
Should I organise photos by person or by date?
Use date and event as the main folders when events are known. Add names in filenames or a separate index so a group photo need not live in several places.
How do I deal with duplicate photographs?
Start by comparing obvious repeats within one event. Keep the highest-quality useful version and avoid deleting files you have not opened or checked against the original.
Should edited photos replace the originals?
Keep both. Store the untouched source in the archive and put crops or colour-adjusted versions in the book's working folder.