Organizing the Pics of your computer

Boy am I ever so late on this week's Works for Me Wednesday.  It's an organizing themed week and I'm chuckling inside, because lately I've been anything BUT organized.  So, today's tip is going to be simple, sweet and to the point.

I'm sure that when I go back later to read through everyone's organizing tips there will be a 1/3 of them on this topic, but that's okay... I'm here to share what works for me and this does.

I LOVE to take pictures, and take a ton of them.  When you get home and get them uploaded on the computer and edited and then edited for online and all of that jazz it can get a bit messy... unless, you have an organizing plan set out from the beginning.

I have 2 folders on my computer for each year.  Example: 

1st Folder: 2009 {in this folder I will be breaking down later for you, but it's where my pictures go}

2nd Folder: 2009 Photoshoots {where any photoshoots I do for other people will go}

Now to break it down for you.  Let's start w/my 2009 File I have {this is the 1 w/my pictures}:

Inside of the 2009 File there will be a folder for each month.  Inside of the month's folder there will also be a folder named To Be Edited and a folder named Online. 

Here is what I do:

The first thing I do is when I put my SD card in the computer is I transfer all of the images (mine are usually in RAW format instead of JPEG) to the folder inside the correct month called To Be Edited.  Then once I edit a picture and it's ready to be printed I will save it inside of the month's folder.  THEN I will resize the image, watermark it and place it in the online folder.  

Let's say there was a significant event that took place in the month of September... like my son's b/day.  I would make a folder inside of the September folder called Jayden's Birthday and inside of create an online folder and a To Be Edited folder.  That way that significant event's pictures won't all be mixed in with my regular month's pictures.

Now for photoshoots:  

It's basically the same as above, however I have:

Folder for each month, inside each month will be a folder w/the last name of the people's whose photos I did.  Inside their folder will be RAW Images folder, Online folder, and Digital Release folder, and then final product folder.  

After my shoot I transfer all files from my memory card into the RAW Images folder, then edit and save in the final product folder, resize and watermark for them to use online and save it in the online folder, and then I take my final product folder and pick which ones will be given for the digital release and save them in that folder.

Perfectly organized, and you no longer feel cluttered with pictures!

Hope this helped you out.... if you're trying to organized like I am, then you should DEFINITELY be checking out {We Are THAT Family} this week for the themed week of organizing Works for me Wednesday!!