I like the sound of the one folder method too. Why complicate things? The only reason I can think of is that I want to make it understandable to my non-techie family and likely inheritors. And I also want to be able to easily find batches of specific files.
Windows Explorer is a pretty sad excuse for search though. For instance if I search 'Harris' it will bring up everything keyword tagged Harris but also every folder with the name Harris in it and every location that has Harris in it. No subtlety there at all and it only recognizes a few of the many IPTC fields. And, being Windows, of course names them differently than the accepted standard. For tagging and searching, there's the free GeoSetter (location data and GPS as well as all the range of IPTC tags; keywords, captions, object name (where I put type of records) source, copyright and much more. http://www.geosetter.de/en/ Or XnView. http://www.xnview.com/ Photo Mechanic is also very good but costs about $150. http://www.camerabits.com/site/ Anything that does batch tagging and detailed search (all of the above-mentioned) is a real boon when you're dealing with thousands of files. Adobe does some gawd awful things with metadata which I've mostly forgotten now because I moved away from using it a long time ago. One thing I do remember is that it strips out all maker notes. ----- JL Beeken JLog - simple computer technology for genealogists http://jlog.jgen.ws/ On 3/15/2013 5:40 PM, Paul Gray wrote: > Ron Walter, > > I think your approach (one big folder, use other tools to > organize/find) is actually being touted by some as best practice. I > use Adobe Photoshop to attach tags or keywords to all photos and > documents, and then use its search functions to find them. However, > you don't need a paid program like Photoshop, the free Windows Live > Photo Gallery has similar capabilities. > > One advantage is that one can attach multiple tags/keywords/labels to > photos. For example, I use one keyword 'gravestone' for all > headstones/markers, and then add keywords for each of the surnames on > that marker. Works equally well with group photos. I must admit I am > in the process of doing this tagging, and I haven't yet actually been > brave enough to move everything into one folder, but it is where I'm > heading. > > Paul Gray Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyusers.com/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/legacyusergroup@legacyfamilytree.com/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp Follow Legacy on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/LegacyFamilyTree) and on our blog (http://news.LegacyFamilyTree.com). To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
