How to Organize Photos on Your Computer

 

Shutterbugs of the world, pay attention. If you’ve been dealing with a lack of photo storage space on your computer, there’s hope!

Lack of storage is the number one complaint of digital photography enthusiasts.

Fortunately, your computer can store all of your photos; you just have to organize your files. This guide explains how to organize photos on your computer.

How to Organize Photos by Compressing Them

If your photo files are taking up a lot of storage space, you may want to compress them.

You can do this right when you take your photos by lowering the resolution slightly. Another option is to choose a smaller size, which uses less memory.

If you edit your photos in Photoshop or another professional-grade software, adjust the resolution before saving them back to your computer.

How to Use External Storage

Don’t forget about using external storage for your digital photos. There are two types of external storage: cloud-based, and device-based.

Device-based

Device-based external storage includes flash drives, external hard drives, an extra cell phone, or SD card. The obvious drawback is that you have to store these physical devices somewhere.

One big plus about device-based storage is that they can hold a lot of data, so you can free up your computer quickly. You’ll go from being totally frustrated to a great photo organizer with a proven method that works.

Cloud-based

Cloud-based external storage can be set up on several different platforms, like Microsoft OneDrive, GoogleDocs, and others. It is convenient and accessible from anywhere you can log in with an internet connection.

Cloud storage enables backups so you don’t accidentally lose data. Computer organization is a lot less overwhelming when you make the cloud work for you.

Ways to Organize Digital Albums on Your Computer

If you organize your photos logically, you’ll save space in the process. Here are a few ways you can categorize your photos.

By Date

Select a day, week, or other date range and make corresponding files. Organizing by date is useful if you take photos frequently and are constantly adding to your collection.

It’s also good for storing visuals of multi-step projects, like the stages in building a house, or before-and-after photos. You can also use it for documenting travel and vacations.

By Event

It’s okay if you’re not sure how to create a photo album on your computer. Just organize your pictures by the places you go and your activities.

It’s easy to upload your photos from your digital photo album to an online photobook maker to make customized gifts.

By Person

You can organize your photos by coworkers, family, friends, and other groups of people. It’s especially easy to do this for a new baby, birthday party, graduation photos, retirement celebration, and so forth.

By Topic of Interest

If you’re an avid hobbyist, you can organize your photos according to individual projects. If you’re a crafter and sell your creations online, you can group your photos by product listings.

By Project

Organizing your photos by project makes sense for academic work, small business marketing, event planning, and other activities. Good photo organization will help you impress your peers and clients.

Stay Organized and Keep Reading for More Info

If you’ve enjoyed reading about how to organize photos on your computer, check out our other blog articles. We cover technology and related topics like digital photography.