File Naming Strategy for Photos

I have experimented with a large number of strategies for file naming, and have finally decided upon one that has been working incredibly well with my collection. In particular, I needed to find some strategy that would accommodate a mixture of digital camera photos, scans of prints & slides, and non-photo files. The strategy should also allow one to add files where no original date is known (especially common with scans of old photos). Lastly, it should not be dependent upon any folder hierarchy -- in other words, if the folder organization was lost, one could still work with the collection or rebuild the hierarchy.

I follow a strict naming convention, which allows me to use automated scripts to perform a number of tasks, including version control, transfering of tags from originals to edited versions, etc. A haphazard methodology will cause significant pains later when one decides to be more organized.

In addition, by using this sort of system, I can also quickly find a roll of film that corresponds to a scan from a print or slide. This is very useful if I want to scan in more photos (where I will need to see what I have already scanned in from that roll), or simply find a roll in my storage (for reprint purposes).

Note that the following naming strategy requires relatively long file names. Most operating systems have no problems accommodating such length, although there are systems (and CD formats) that only allow for an 8+3 format (eight characters plus a three digit extension). It is clear that such systems will seriously hinder any useful naming strategy.

In all places where I have refered to an 8-digit date prefix (eg. 20041031), a 6-digit shortened version (eg. 041031) is also equally as suitable. The advantage of using two less digits for the year is in making the filenames a little more manageable. The only potential downside I see (and it is an extremely minor one!) is in the sort order of having the 1900's photos (eg. 1998 = 98) be listed after the 2000's photos (eg. 2004 = 04).

File Renaming Utilities

I strongly suggest that one use a photo importing utility that provides file renaming (either a standalone utility such as Downloader Pro, or a tool integrated into your image browser software). If you don't use such a program, or you already have files on your drive with inconsistent names, then you may want to consider a batch file renaming utility.

Folder Hierarchy

Please see my section on photo folder organization as it is intended to be used in combination with this file naming scheme.

Naming for Digital Camera Images

The first thing that all new digital photographers should realize is that using the sequential file names created by the digital camera is a bad idea!. Why? Most cameras create a 4-digit sequence number, and it does not take long before 10,000 shots have been taken. Once the sequence numbers roll-over, you no longer have unique file names. Creating non-unique file names is a dangerous thing! Thus, it is imperative that one consider a suitable renaming strategy that helps create some degree of uniquess irrespective of file system folder hierarchy.

1. Prefix. The eight-digit prefix (plus underscore) is typically the EXIF shoot date, not the Windows Last Modified Date. An example is 20041112_. This date should also match the folder name, albeit in a more compressed form.
2. Optional photographer ID. In the occasional situation where I add photos taken from other digital photographers to my collection, I add a two-character ID string (eg. jd_ for John Doe). This helps keep the photos somewhat seperate and reduces the worries about having to ensure that the camera-generated serial numbers don't cross over / collide. Of course, there is no harm in simply renumbering the serial numbers from the camera, either! I also use this to handle multiple cameras. For photos from my main digital camera, I will not use this optional ID, but for photos from one of my other cameras, I may optionally insert an ID.
3. Serial number. For digital camera pictures, I keep the 4-digit number that was automatically generated by the camera (eg. 5112 is extracted from IMG_5112.JPG).
4. Optional suffix. If this file is an original, no suffix is used. For files that are derived from the original (eg. edits, resizing, etc.), I tag on a hyphen character (-) and a single-character type version indicator. The characters used are highly dependent upon your needs as a photographer. I typically use a -e to indicate an edited version and a -s to indicate a resized version (that might also be edited). The -s is often used for versions of my photos that I put on the web.
5. Optional suffix version. For edited versions (ie. non-originals), I can add a single-digit number after the type indicator to specify which version this edit might be. An example of a suffixes for two versions of an edited file is -e and -e3.

Examples of digital camera file names using the above strategies:

Naming for Scanned Photo / Slides

1. Prefix. The eight-digit prefix (plus underscore) is entered manually from the estimated date of the original photo. An example is 20041112_. For situations where I do not know the exact date, I still provide what information I can, and zero out the rest. In other words, if I was pretty sure that the photo was from March of 1997, I would set a prefix of 19970300_. Similarly, if I have a scan from a completely unknown date, I will use a prefix of 00000000_.
2. Image Type. Single character indicates whether it is based on a print or a slide. A r indicates a roll of negative film / print, while a s indicates a transparency / slide.
3. Roll number. Four-digit roll number that [ideally] was assigned at the photolab. Generally this number is kept with the negatives, or placed on a sticker on the outside of the work order. Of course these are not always unique, but the eight-digit date prefix should generally take care of that. Following the roll number is another underscore character _. An example roll number string is then 8441_. If I no longer have a roll number associated with the photo (eg. I lost the negatives), I temporarily give it 0000_, but eventually I will create an arbitary four-digit number (eg. 8001_) to be used for all photos from that roll. Sometimes, the 4-digit roll number also appears on the back of the print, but this has not always been the case.
4. Photo number. Two-digit number from the negative or slide. The photo index is zero-padded to two digits. For example, if this photo is number 7 on the roll, the photo number string is 07. If the photo is marked as 7A, then I simply ignore the additional letter (giving a photo number string of 07). Occasionally, one will find photos starting on image 00, then 0, followed by 1 through 24 (or 36). For photos at 00, I renumber it to 39. If I don't currently know the photo number (ie. I haven't bothered to look up the negative yet), I give it an arbitrary two-digit number greater than 40. Since almost no rolls of film have more than about 37 exposures, this should help identification later.
5. Optional suffix. If this file is an original, no suffix is used. For files that are derived from the original (eg. edits, resizing, etc.), I tag on a hyphen character (-) and a single-character type version indicator. The characters used are highly dependent upon your needs as a photographer. I typically use a -e to indicate an edited version and a -s to indicate a resized version (that might also be edited). The -s is often used for versions of my photos that I put on the web.
6. Optional suffix version. For edited versions (ie. non-originals), I can add a single-digit number after the type indicator to specify which version this edit might be. An example of a suffixes for two versions of an edited file is -e and -e3.

Examples of scanned image file names using the above strategies:

Missing Roll Numbers

When trying to digitize a large number of prints from my days of film photography, I often ran into the situation where I could not find the roll number from the set of prints or transparencies. In these situations, I usually elected to arbitrarily assign a 4-digit ID (eg. r4000), and then attempt to transcribe this number back to the page or folder that contains the negatives, prints or slides. Other times, I will simply use the sequence 0000 to indicate a roll that seems to be missing the roll number. In these situations, I am relying more on the shoot date to preserve filename uniqueness.

Multiple versions — Print, Email, Web, etc.

As shown above, I use an optional suffix version to indicate multiple edited versions of the same file. I don't currently place any restrictions on how I create these version numbers besides the fact that I always use -e# for edited versions that have not changed in size and -s# for versions that have changed in size and possibly edited. As you can see, I prefer the ability to determine that a file has been resized over the fact that it has been edited. This is intuitive since resizing is simply a subset of edit functionality.

It is also possible to take a different approach whereby suffix versions are assigned to indicate the purpose or destination medium. For example, one could use -sw / -ew to indicate web, -sm / -em to indicate email, -sp / -ep for printing, etc. As before, one can still add on a digit to indicate multiple edited variants (eg. -ep1 and -ep2 for two different edit attempts on the same photo, destined for printing).

The reason for distinguishing the files on the basis of destination is that different settings are often used depending on the final destination. For example, the level of sharpening (Unsharp Mask / USM) applied and the level of compression will vary depending on how the image will be output. Obviously, a saved version of a photo that is destined for email will require much greater compression for practicality than a version designed for printing.

Please see the related section on when to copy files for editing.

Uncontrolled file naming - Non-photos & Files from others

For files that are not photos that I want to control under my naming system, I simply name it however I like, but I ensure that the file name does not start with an 8-digit prefix followed by an underscore. This way, I can make sure that all of my scripts only process files that have a proper prefix, and leave all of the others alone.

2004/
      2004-01-10/
                  20040110_1435.jpg
                  20040110_1436.jpg
                  peru_map.jpg        (uncontrolled)
                  jokes_chicken.jpg   (uncontrolled)

Sample of Overall Naming Scheme

A sample of digital camera photos imported with the above naming:

2004/
      2004-01-10/
                  20040110_1435.jpg
                  20040110_1436.jpg
                  20040110_1437.jpg
                  20040110_1438.jpg
                  20040110_1439.jpg

To help ensure uniqueness, I try to preserve the 4-digit serial number that was in the original file name on the memory card. The downloading software (Downloader Pro, in this case), is set to concatenate the EXIF date with the original file's serial number and extension. Note that it is important to use the EXIF date, not the "last modified date" or "import/current date". The latter choices will cause a lot of confusion down the road!

To see the options within Downloader Pro that produce this arrangement, please see the Downloader Pro page.