Organize Pictures

4 time-tested principles to keep your media collection organized…for a long time

vlad — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 20:36:48 +0000

These days, with technology changing rapidly and digital cameras becoming more and more ubiquitous, it becomes very easy to be confused by so many voices when it comes to keeping your growing media collection organized. However, there are few principles that will help you stay on track and be able to grow and organize your media collection without worrying about the next new technology or next new program that claims to do it all for you. Read on to find the principles that will keep your media library insulated from technology changes and help you keep your sanity.

3 simple principles for taking better pictures

vlad — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 22:00:36 +0000

I don't write much about taking better pictures simply because I am not a professional photographer. However, over the last couple of years I have been improving my photography. It is this process of learning that I want to share with you. I have read everything there is regarding what makes a better picture and I have applied what I have learned over the last couple of years. At first, the results started to show very quickly and I was very surprised by how little effort it took to improve my photography. The results were quick at first because my old pictures were just very bad. Once I made the first steps to improve my photography, the next steps were much harder. Read on to find out the principles I have learned to make my photos better.

Understand and manage your hardware devices

vlad — Sun, 18 Nov 2012 05:51:38 +0000

With every complex project planning is essential to success. Organizing your pictures is a complex process, especially if there are lots of pictures and the current structure is chaotic. Therefore a good plan is essential to a good outcome when you embark on starting to organize your pictures. The first step in putting together a great plan is to understand your hardware components and their current purposes. Next you need to assess if some of your hardware devices need to be re-purposed. Read on to find out some easy questions to ask for determining where to start.

How to create a great plan for organizing your pictures

vlad — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 05:59:36 +0000

When I plan for road trip I usually know where I am and I know where I need to go. I also need a way of getting from where I am to where I need to be...I need a map. To get a map these days I look online for directions or I plug the destination in my GPS system which will create a map for me. It's simple! However, when it comes to starting to organize your pictures there is lots of confusion about everything. People don't know how to determine where they are and they don't know where they are supposed to go. In addition there is a lot of confusion about the way to get to the destination as well. Read on to find out how to create an efficient plan for organizing your pictures.

How to use face detection efficiently in Picasa

vlad — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 07:22:34 +0000

Picasa has many practical features but one feature is ahead its time. Google has a very practical purpose for it, but people are divided over using it or not using it. I'm referring to Picasa's face detection feature. It seems cool and futuristic, and it can work well on a small amount of pictures, but for some it is cumbersome to use and can slow down your computer. Read on to see how and when to use the face detection feature from Picasa.

One step required for an awesome image search with Picasa

vlad — Sat, 13 Oct 2012 05:50:16 +0000

One main reason why you would spend the time and effort to create an efficient context for your digital photos is to be able to search for them. Search results and image metadata go hand in hand. In other words, you can't have meaningful image search results if your pictures don't have meaningful image metadata. As I have written before, creating a meaningful image context can be done in layers since not everyone has time to do all three layers. So, even if you create only meaningful folder names for your digital pictures, Picasa can still find your pictures quickly. Searching in Picasa is one of my favorite features. Read on to see how you search for pictures with Picasa.

Simple strategy for making your pictures memorable

vlad — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 18:00:27 +0000

What makes a picture memorable to you? I agree that knowing good photography techniques help photographers make memorable pictures for others...they are simply cool pictures. However, for most of us, photos become memorable because they contain people and places we love. These memorable pictures are surrounded by things that are meaningful to us and mostly meaningless to others. Preserving the circumstances of your pictures is what I call creating a meaningful image context. Read along to understand what it is and how to create meaningful context for all your images.

Easy steps for emailing your favorite pictures with Picasa

vlad — Sun, 23 Sep 2012 16:34:33 +0000

E-mailing your favorite pictures is still a difficult task even today with so many programs that claim to organize your pictures. The reason it is difficult is pretty simple: in order to be able to send pictures by email you have to reduce their size and add them as attachments to the email. This task is somewhat simple if you only want to send one picture. However, if you want to send multiple pictures it gets very tedious and most people just don't do it. Others send multiple emails containing their huge image files. In Picasa, however, it is very easy to send emails with your favorite pictures if you learn how to set it up.

Is Adobe Lightroom the best program for managing your pictures?

vlad — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 13:55:34 +0000

For a good while now, Adobe Lightroom has become the software of choice for professional photographers. It's true, when I read about how professional photographers manage their pictures, they mostly talk about Lightroom as if it's expected that they would use Lightroom. However, I have been using Google's Picasa for a good few years now, ever since Google has added image metadata support in Picasa. Picasa has been great for organizing, editing and sharing my pictures. So why am I talking about Adobe Lightroom? Are you thinking about using Lightroom?

How to organize your pictures for the future

vlad — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 14:54:36 +0000

A wise reader has asked me a wise question recently. The question went like this: "How do I organize my pictures for the future? What can I do today so that the pictures I leave for may family will be accessible in the future by my children and grandchildren?" This question made me think and realize that leaving memories for those we love is very important. Actually this is one of the main reasons we take pictures I think. Spending some time to understand new technology and future trends is worthwhile for everyone. If we don't then we might embrace some tech fad today that will be obsolete in a few years and then all the work done using this "very cool new thing" will be wasted. So, what do you do to organize your pictures for the future?

How to find the best replacement for your DSLR kit lens

vlad — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:21:35 +0000

When I purchased my Canon T2i two years ago, I assumed that I would have to replace the kit lens that came with it. I just assumed. This article comes from an unexpectedly painful experience in which I have attempted to replace my kit lens for my Canon T2i. I have always assumed that my Canon DSLR kit lens is mediocre at best, if not terrible.

The best way to configure Picasa options and make Picasa work fast and smooth

vlad — Mon, 14 May 2012 05:00:34 +0000

Picasa is pretty fast and easy to use once installed. There are some settings however that will improve your Picasa experience greatly. Picasa has bundled all the settings in one place called Picasa Options. In this article I am explaining my own settings for Picasa Options. Read on to discover how you can improve your Picasa experience with a few clicks of the mouse.

Simple steps for organizing your existing digital photo collection

vlad — Mon, 07 May 2012 05:00:50 +0000

I have written recently about the best hardware setup for your photo storage devices. But what do you do if you have multiple external hard drives full of duplicate pictures and your internal hard drives are also completely unorganized? Well, I have created a simple procedure or checklist that you can go through if you want to organize all your photo storage devices and eliminate all your duplicate images. It's a tedious job with a great feeling of satisfaction at the end. So, read on to get started and organize your digital photo storage.

The best photo storage device configuration

vlad — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:14:04 +0000

When it comes to storing digital photos, people have many different configurations because there are many different purposes for storing digital photos. Most casual photographers have a simple setup for their hardware while professional photographers may have a very complex storage structure. Regardless of the configuration, a very important question should be answered by every photographer: How do you organize your photo storage devices? Read on to find out about my answer to this very important question.

My pictures counter for March 2012

vlad — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 05:45:53 +0000

How many digital pictures do you have? Have you ever counted them? It’s easy! At the end of October 2009 I decided to keep track of how many digital pictures and videos I have on my hard drive. For almost two years now, I have been providing an update at the end of each month showing you how many pictures & videos I have, how much space they take and how much space I have left on my main hard drive. Check out last month's numbers.

7 simple steps for avoiding duplicate pictures

vlad — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 17:11:26 +0000

We take so many pictures these days and we have so many ways to publish our pictures that we are bound to end up with duplicates of our pictures. Modern image editing software programs make it very easy to edit our photos but in the process we can create duplicates of our images. With so many pictures it is very hard to remember what we do and this can bring confusion when we look at our pictures on our computers. We can end up with lots of duplicates. There are some simple things that can be done to avoid having duplicate files. Read on to find out some simple ways to avoid having duplicate images on your computer.

How to create a new folder in Picasa.

vlad — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 01:12:07 +0000

Picasa is becoming more and more popular with home photographers. It's a great program, with great features which also happens to be completely free. However, one question keeps coming from Picasa users. This is by far the most frequent question about Picasa. This question is: "How do I create a new folder in Picasa?" Read on to find out.

My pictures counter for February 2012

vlad — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 00:39:49 +0000

My pictures counter for January 2012

vlad — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 03:59:25 +0000

How does Picasa handle folder changes done outside of Picasa

vlad — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:00:38 +0000

If you have been using Picasa for a while you have probably noticed that it scans your computer every time you add new pictures. Depending on how many pictures you have added, Picasa takes some time until you can access and modify the new pictures in Picasa. I have recently received a question from a reader asking if he has to reinstall Picasa if he changes the entire folder structure of his pictures collection. The answer is very simple, so read on to find out.

Simple way to know if you have a good system for organizing your digital photos

vlad — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:57:37 +0000

I have recently asked my readers (those of you who have subscribed to my blog by e-mail) what is the hardest thing when it comes to organizing their digital photos. The answers were pretty much split in two: those who are overwhelmed by the task and those who have understood and are applying my system. This little survey made me ask a simple question: how do you know when you have a good system for organizing your digital photos?

My pictures counter for December 2011

vlad — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 07:36:31 +0000

My pictures counter for November 2011

vlad — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 05:39:06 +0000

Best way to organize small children pictures

vlad — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 11:58:36 +0000

When our children are small we take lots and lots of pictures. I mean lots and lots and lots of pictures. The older our children get the less pictures we take of them. I think it all has to do with how cute they are...the smaller, the cuter and the more pictures we take of them. This large quantity of pictures can make organizing them pretty challenging. There is however, one simple trick that makes organizing children pictures much easier.

My pictures counter for October 2011

vlad — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 06:27:47 +0000

My pictures counter for September 2011

vlad — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 15:40:20 +0000

My pictures counter for August 2011

vlad — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 08:13:11 +0000

Simple steps for organizing travel photos while traveling

vlad — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 10:33:19 +0000

Traveling is very cool! Taking photos while you travel is a must and it's even cooler because you get to experience your trip over and over again by looking at your pictures. When we travel we take thousands of pictures and if I'm not careful, I'll be lost trying to find them when we get home and remember where they were taken. So, I have devised a simple method to organize my travel photos while I travel so that when I get home I simply transfer the pictures to my desktop computer and that's all I need to do. Read on to find out how I organize my travel pictures while traveling.

My pictures counter for July 2011

vlad — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 22:07:53 +0000

How to export your best pictures with Picasa

vlad — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 01:00:34 +0000

How often do you post images to Facebook? How about sending them by e-mail to your friends? Or maybe you want to publish pictures on the web. Regardless of your purpose, the ability to select your best pictures and export them in different formats for different purposes is crucial to any digital asset management tool. Picasa provides this functionality as well but has kept things simple which makes the whole process very fast. Combined with an intuitive way of selecting your best pictures, the export facility in Picasa makes it very fast and easy to select and send your best pictures. Read on to learn how to export your pictures with Picasa.

Select and group your best pictures in 2 simple steps with Picasa

vlad — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 01:00:44 +0000

Ever since digital photography has replaced film photography, we have too many pictures, and many of them are not great pictures. Therefore, it is very important to be able to select and group the best pictures out of many pictures. Picasa makes it very easy to accomplish this. Read on to learn out how to select and group your best pictures using Picasa.

My pictures counter for June 2011

vlad — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 14:26:05 +0000

My pictures counter for May 2011

vlad — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 17:28:32 +0000

How many digital pictures do you have? Have you ever counted them? It’s easy! At the end of October 2009 I decided to keep track of how many digital pictures and videos I have on my hard drive. Now, more than a year later I have been providing an update at the end of each month showing you how many pictures & videos I have, how much space they take and how much space I have left on my main hard drive.

FastStone Image Viewer provides a simple and efficient way to transfer pictures from your camera

vlad — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 14:20:38 +0000

Transferring your pictures from your camera to your computer is supposed to be a simple task. However, modern photo management software seems to overlook this very much needed function. Most photo management software provide one button that simply scans your camera or memory card and simply downloads the pictures to a folder you choose. Simple right? What else is there to worry about? Well, I believe that there are a few things that could make transferring your pictures a really simple task. Without these features you will find yourself repeating the same tasks over and over, instead of just using your software.

My pictures counter for February 2011

vlad — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 22:44:13 +0000

How many digital pictures do you have? Have you ever counted them? It’s easy! At the end of October 2009 I decided to keep track of how many digital pictures and videos I have on my hard drive. Now, more than a year later I have been providing an update at the end of each month showing you how many pictures & videos I have, how much space they take and how much space I have left on my main hard drive.

Interview with SmugMug.com

vlad — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 22:20:00 +0000

Sharing pictures of my children and special moments with friends and family is one of the great advantages of digital photography. I just love to be able to post some pictures online and have them instantly available to our extended family half way around the world. It's just really cool! But when it comes down to choosing which online service to use, the choices are way too many. How do you pick the right service for you? Today, I'm starting my series of articles that will evaluate some of the popular sharing services available today. The first service available that I would like to talk about today is SmugMug. Recently I had the privilege of having an online interview with Sean Rogan from SmugMug. Read along to see why Sean thinks SmugMug is the coolest service for sharing your pictures online.

How to organize picture folders with Picasa

vlad — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 03:00:44 +0000

In my last article about Picasa I have discussed the most efficient way to transfer your pictures from your camera to your computer using Picasa. If Picasa is setup correctly, transferring your pictures with Picasa can really save you a lot of time.

My pictures counter for December 2010

vlad — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 23:53:17 +0000

How many digital pictures do you have? Have you ever counted them? It's easy! At the end of October 2009 I decided to keep track of how many digital pictures and videos I have on my hard drive. Now, more than a year later I have been proviging an update at the end of each month showing you how many pictures & videos I have, how much space they take and how much space I have left on my main hard drive.

Transfer your pictures with Picasa in 3 simple steps

vlad — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:00:31 +0000

Besides being fast and easy to use, Picasa also can make your life easier when it comes to transferring your pictures from your camera to your computer. When setup correctly, Picasa can place your transferred pictures where you want them and also organize them how you want them. This can be a real time saver on such a repetitive and mundane task as transferring your digital pictures from your camera to computer. Read on to find out how to make transferring your pictures as painless as possible by configuring Picasa to help you.

3 simple settings for improving your Picasa experience

vlad — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 06:00:19 +0000

Picasa is a powerful program that provides lots of ways to customize your experience making it suitable for your specific needs. By learning how to change working parameters for your Picasa installation, you can use Picasa the way you want to. You can not only make Picasa work faster, but you can also learn how to configure it so that Picasa provides greater convenience on the most common tasks. Today's article will focus on three simple Picasa settings that will help you see your image folders, import your pictures more conveniently and identify your pictures easier.

My pictures counter for November 2010

vlad — Sun, 05 Dec 2010 00:50:17 +0000

3 simple ways to speed up Picasa

vlad — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 06:00:37 +0000

Picasa is a great digital asset management software. If you have been reading my blog, you know that I have struggled with Picasa over the years. I have installed it many times only to uninstall it days later. This has all changed recently when they have released version 3.8, when Picasa started supporting the XMP standard regarding image metadata. XMP coupled with the correct integration of IPTC image tags in addition to beautiful support for EXIF geotagging, determined me to start using Picasa again. And this time I have not uninstalled it. Now that I am a dedicated Picasa user, I will start sharing a few tips for making Picasa do what you want. In this article I will be sharing a few simple tips for making Picasa run faster.

How many pictures do you take in a year?

vlad — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 16:42:18 +0000

Have you every thought about how many pictures you take each month? How about each year? I have started in October 2009 to keep track of how many pictures and videos I was having on my computer. Now, it's been a year since I started this simple exercise and it's time to draw some conclusions. Read on to find out who many pictures and videos we took over last year.

My pictures counter for October 2010

vlad — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 05:59:27 +0000

How many digital pictures do you have? Have you ever counted them? It's easy! At the end of October 2009 I decided to keep track of how many digital pictures and videos I have on my hard drive. So, I hope to be able to provide an update at the end of each month and show you how many pictures & videos I have, how much space they take and how much space I have left on my main hard drive.

How to choose the right software for organizing your pictures

vlad — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 22:42:23 +0000

I get asked pretty often what is the right software for organizing pictures. I usually answer with: it depends. It truly does depend. It depends on what you are are hoping to achieve. I tend to recommend free software first, depending how far the person has gone on the picture organization path. If specific commercial goals are in mind, then I recommend powerful commercial software that go beyond what a home user needs. So, what is the right software for organizing your pictures? Read on to find out how I think about this issue.

My pictures counter for September 2010

vlad — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 05:54:28 +0000

How many digital pictures do you have? Have you ever counted them? It's easy! At the end of October 2009 I decided to keep track of how many digital pictures and videos I have on my hard drive. So, I hope to be able to provide an update at the end of each month and show you how many pictures & videos I have, how much space they take and how much space I have left on my main hard drive.

Picasa is making small but steady steps to becoming an excellent photo management software system

vlad — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 23:36:02 +0000

My experience with Picasa has been very inconsistent over the years. I believe I have installed and uninstalled Picasa at least five or six times that I remember. Most of the times, I have uninstalled Picasa because I hated how it handled my physical file folder...it was just frustrating to not be able to directly see my file folders the way they were laid out on my hard drive. Recently however, Picasa has made several steps the pretty much removed all my frustrations with the product. Lately I have installed Picasa again and this time it seem like it will stay...at least for a while. Read on to find out what I like about the new version of Picasa.

My pictures counter for August 2010

vlad — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 17:40:38 +0000

How many digital pictures do you have? Have you ever counted them? It's easy! At the end of October 2009 I decided to keep track of how many digital pictures and videos I have on my hard drive. So, I hope to be able to provide an update at the end of each month and show you how many pictures & videos I have, how much space they take and how much space I have left on my main hard drive.

How to setup your computer for easy data backup

vlad — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 22:26:31 +0000

I have been always writing about backing up your pictures as part of your picture organization strategy. You have to do it, period. That being said, how do you set up an automatic backing up procedure that will save you lots of headache? In addition, what if you have to upgrade your storage for more space and keep backing up everything? There are some simple things that can be done in order to simplify your backup strategy.

How fast does computer technology advance?

vlad — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 18:10:10 +0000

We all know that computer technology is advancing very fast. It's hard to determine however sometimes just how fast this technology is advancing. Yes, there are pictures online that will show you old computers and if you really look for it you will be able to find the major advances in computer technology. But when you upgrade your own computer you get the best picture of just how much is computer technology is really advancing. I am in the process of upgrading my computer and backup system and therefore I can provide a clear picture of this computer technology advancement. Just read on to see.