If you ’ve had your digital television camera for more than a few month , chance are your hard drive is overdue for a bounce cleaning , despite what the calendar says . It ’s much easier to find the exposure you need when they ’re organized . Programs such as Adobe Photoshop Elements and Corel Photo Album are designed for just this sort of task , but you may take ascendency of your digital photo ingathering without spending much ( or any ) money , with these low- and no - cost options .
Rename files in batches : Your digital television camera assigns seemingly meaningless names like ‘ DSCN0001 ’ and ‘ PC000023 ’ to word picture . Renaming each by hand can take hours . alternatively , select a set of photos – say , the 20 or 30 you took at Thanksgiving . Right - click the selection and chooseRenameType a descriptive recording label such asThanksgiving-2006and press < Enter>.The pic take that name , with a sequent act tack on to the end , making it easier to find relevant photos by glance over the names or using Search . Rename visualise on a regular basis ; if you procrastinate , you ’ll have K of images to rename , and it ’ll never get done .
Try nuclear - power renaming : You do n’t have to depend on Windows to organize your files with smarter Indian file name . The $ 10 utilityName Dropperenables you to create a mint of name fragment and put them to a dozen clit . To rename photo , you simply combine the fragment into descriptive compound names . Siren , a detached option , give you access to the metadata associated with your photograph – include camera model , ISO , exposure data , lens selective information , and day of the month taken . you could commingle this data into file cabinet names to see all you ask to know about the exposure at a glimpse .
Rotate easily : you could spread out your crabwise icon in batches , as well . If many photos on your computer are turned obliquely ( credibly because you snap the shot with your camera turned on its side ) , select them and then decent - click to pull in the choice of rotating them clockwise or counterclockwise . Make your option , and Windows will do the sleep .
regard their thumbnail : We humans are visual animals . Even if you give every photo you take a descriptive name , you ’ll still find it easier to locate a specific mental image if you may see what it bet like . Windows XP tries to show you thumbnails when it finds folders full of photograph , but sometimes the OS mystify scattered . If XP represents the contents of a folder of picture as nondescript icons , chooseView , Thumbnails(orView , Filmstripif you want a large preview of the selected photograph ) . If you ca n’t find those options on the menu at all , selectView , Customize This Folder , and in the folder template menu choosePictures ( best for many files)(seeFIGURE 1FIGURE 1 : effect photo booklet to show a thumbnail view of your effigy , by using Windows XP ’s folder customization duologue box . ) . ClickAlso practice this templet to all subfolders , and finish the operation by clickingOK .
Get some barren help : When it come to organizing your photograph , Windows XP is n’t especially helpful . engage the aid of some freeware to find your pictures more easily . Both Adobe ’s Photoshop Album Starter Edition ( which is a undress - down edition of the photo PDA that comes withPhotoshop Elements ; andGoogle ’s Picasaallow you to group characterization with descriptive labels and then station the photos into albums .
Tagging Your Photos is Easier in Windows Vista
If you latterly upgraded to Windows Vista – or if you buy a newfangled computer with Vista preinstalled – expend window ’ Photo Gallery lotion to orchestrate and see your photos . At last , the ability to attach descriptive rag to figure of speech is bake right into Windows . Using tatter to find photos is easier than relying on Indian file public figure , because you may footnote the pictures with several terms , such as the hoi polloi , places , and things in the images . subsequently , browse the tatter leaning in Photo Gallery and click to filter your pic collection instantly by that ticket . It ’s a flying way to fag up a specific pic – no thing where or when it was take .
