HomeSupport How to Organize Your Slides and Photos
How to organize your slides and photos
Now that you have received your new DVDs from Arizona Scanning now what? That is a great question and we have developed this extensive guide that includes many tips and suggestions on how to organize all those newly digitized slides and photos!
Step 1: Copy your digital slides or photos to your PC:
The first step is to copy your new digital slides or photos from your Arizona Scanning DVD to your computer. Here's how:
Insert your Arizona Scanning DVD into your computer's DVD drive (Note: do not mistake a "CD drive" for a "DVD drive" -- a DVD drive will have "DVD" printed on the face of the drive.)
Click on the "My Computer" icon located on your computer's desktop. This will open a My Computer window that displays your hard disk (usually labeled as the C: drive) and your DVD drive (usually labeled as the D: or the E: drive).
Click on the DVD drive with the label "Arizona Scanning". This will open a new window which displays all of your jpeg slides or photos.
Click on Edit (top left menu)
Click on Select All (all of your jpeg slides or photos will now be highlighted)
Click on Edit (top left menu)
Click on Copy
Click on the Start button (lower left corner of your monitor)
Click on My Pictures (a new My Pictures window will appear)
Click on the My Pictures window's Edit (top left menu)
Click on Paste (your slides or photos will now be copied from your Arizona Scanning DVD to your computer's My Pictures folder)
Eject your Arizona Scanning DVD from your computer's DVD drive and store in your safe deposit box or in your relative's home. A Vault DVD copy can be obtained from Arizona Scanning should your original DVD get lost or damaged in the future.
Step 2: Create a naming plan:
The second step is to create a written naming plan that makes sense to you. It is important that you carefully think about how to organize and store your digital slides and photos so that you can quickly find a specific slide or photo at a moment's notice months or years from now.
There are many many ways to organize your digital slides and photos and, we will review just one method in this guide. For this example we decided to organize our slides and photos according to FAMILY then LOCATION then YEAR.
For example:
Marc Jones Family --> Charleston --> 1989
Jack Jones Family --> Scottsbluff--> 1969
Bob Jones Family --> Denver --> 1975
etc. etc.
Each FAMILY would have its own folder. Then under each FAMILY would be LOCATION subfolders for each place that the family lived.
Then YEAR subfolders would be created under each LOCATION for the years that the FAMILY lived at that LOCATION.
Depending on the number of digital slides and photos you have you may decide to further organize each YEAR by EVENT (a fourth level).
For example:
Marc Jones Family --> Charleston --> 1989 --> Glen Birthday
Marc Jones Family --> Charleston --> 1989 --> Jason Birthday
etc. etc.
Write down on a piece of paper your plan listing each FAMILY and their respective LOCATIONs (cities where lived) and YEARs (a folder for each YEAR that they lived there).
Don't make your plan too complicated. Keep it as simple as possible, clearly defined and sensical. When you plan is complete ask yourself, "Can I find that photo of Grandma Jones in Bismarck on her 50th wedding anniversary?"
Step 3: Create folders for your digital slides and photos:
Now that you have a written plan the next step is to create folders and subfolders in accordance with this plan.
Click on the Start button (lower left corner of your monitor)
Click on My Pictures (a new My Pictures window will appear)
Create a main folder for each FAMILY listed in your plan:
1.) Click on File (upper left menu)
2.) Click on New - Folder
3.) Type the FAMILY name (i.e. "Marcus Jones Family") replacing "New Folder"
4.) Repeat steps 1-3 above for each FAMILY until you have created a folder for each FAMILY listed in your plan
Now that you have created a main folder for each FAMILY it is time to create LOCATION subfolders beneath each FAMILY for each city the family lived in:
1.) Double click on one of the FAMILY folders
2.) Click on File (upper left menu)
3.) Click on New - Folder
4.) Type the LOCATION name (i.e. "Charleston") replacing "New Folder"
5.) Repeat steps 2-4 above for each LOCATION where the FAMILY lived
6.) Once you complete all the LOCATIONS for that FAMILY repeat steps 1-5 for each remaining FAMILY
Finally, you must create YEAR subfolders under each LOCATION for each YEAR the FAMILY lived in that LOCATION:
1.) Double click on the LOCATION subfolder
2.) Click on FILE (upper left menu)
3.) Click on New - Folder
4.) Type the YEAR name (i.e. "1989") replacing "New Folder"
5.) Repeat steps 2-4 for each YEAR lived in that LOCATION
6.) Once you complete all the YEARS for that LOCATION repeat steps 1-5 for all other LOCATIONs
Step 4: Move your digital slides and photos to their respective folders:
The final step is to move your digital slides and photos to their appropriate subfolders. Since you may have to reference the backings of your original film slides and paper photos during this step, Arizona Scanning kept your slides or photos in sequence during the scanning process.
Click on the Start button - All Programs
Click on Accessories - Windows Explorer
Resize the My Documents window so that this window only takes up one half of your computer's desktop
Expand the My Pictures tree by clicking on the "+" plus sign
Expand fully each FAMILY folder below the My Pictures folder as well
Click on the Start button
Click on My Pictures
Resize the My Pictures window so that it takes up the remaining half of your computer's desktop. You should now have two windows (My Documents & My Pictures) that do not overlap each other.
Look at the first photo in the My Pictures windows. It will be labeled image0000001A.jpg
Determine the photo's FAMILY - LOCATION - YEAR (if not immediately recognizable perhaps you can look at the original slide mount or the back of the original paper photo to help you identify the correct subfolder)
Drag (hold down your mouse button) this photo to the appropriate FAMILY - LOCATION - YEAR subfolder in the My Documents window and Drop (release your mouse button)
Repeat the above Drag & Drop process until all My Pictures jpeg slides and photos have been moved to their appropriate subfolder in the My Documents window.
Congratulations! You should now be able to quickly find Grandma Jones 50th wedding anniversary slide or photo in Bismarck!
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