Dealing with a great number of images can be daunting, especially if you are simply looking for a single image. If you are having a hard time with cluttered images on your computer, it is best to know how to set up a picture library. This way, you won’t get upset whenever you are looking for photos that you want to print or share with others. With a picture library, all of the images stored on your hard drive or memory card will be organized.
•Use the My Pictures folder. Computers that run Microsoft Windows have a dedicated folder for storing pictures under My Documents and My Pictures. Other operating systems such as Mac OS X also have a Pictures folder. When transferring images from your camera or memory card, it’s usually best to use the Pictures folder. When photo organizing applications search for pictures on your computer, the first folder they look for is the My Pictures folder, unless otherwise specified.
•Create a temporary storage folder. In the Picture folder, create a sub-folder where you can temporarily store images that you are going to include in the picture library. Get as many images that you need to organize. This folder will be the reference folder for the library.
•Create a folder for the Picture Library. Create another folder with a file name “Picture Library” inside your My Pictures or Pictures folder. This is where you will create sub-folders for storing the images you have organized.
•Categorize your images. Refer to the temporary storage folder and decide on how you can categorize your images. You might want to have the images arranged according to the subject of the picture. If this is the case, you might have multiple copies of some images that have many people in it, for example. Set up as many sub-folders as you want to house all of the images of a specific subject. You might also want to arrange your images according to the place where they were taken, or the date when they were taken. Feel free to create the necessary categories.
•Create sub-folders according to the categories. List down all of the categories that must be created within the Picture Library folder. Create new sub-folders and rename them according to the categories you have listed.
•Transfer the images. The best way to have easy access on both folders is to divide your screen in half, with one window on both sides. Display the temporary storage folder on the left side of the screen and the Picture Library folder on the right side. This way, you will see both folders and all you need to do is to drag from left to right. Transfer the images and do not be afraid to add more categories whenever you find it necessary.
If you feel you will have multiple copies of images, use shortcuts instead of copying the image file itself. This way, only the shortcut files are actually copied inside the category folders, but the actual photo is stored in your reference folder.
Feel free to create folders subfolders if there is a need to divide the categories into several sub-categories. Once you are through with your Picture Library, you will no longer find it difficult to look for images in your hard drive.
