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PART I1I SHARING YOUR WORK
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FILE NAMING PROTOCOL
Step 1. Before you start, always remember: no blank spaces allowed. When you post image files to the Internet, there can be no spaces or special characters in the label you give them. Right from the beginning you should start using an underline mark to space words.
Step 4. The third element is always a number. The source image (the original one) can be labeled with a 1.0.0. Thereafter you can give numbers
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CHAPTER 6: DISPLAY AND DISTRIBUTION
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Of the many items of general advice this book offers, I have pulled out the one of the most important to detail here: file naming. Read it or weep.
Imagine you are looking for a specific photo you shot years ago. You have a vague memory of when it was taken or the project it was associated with. Of course there would be a mental image, but it could be described in many ways. To make retrieval even more difficult, there could be a num- ber of versions.
Step 2. The first element of a file name should cite the project, subject, or location. This is your keyword, and
it should be something you think you would use in a search of your archive. For the picture above, Wolf was chosen because the shot was taken at a place called Wolf Ranch.
for various changes you make. For example, a cropped version would be 1.1.0. If there are yet other versions, you could number them 1.1.1 or 1.1.2. You get the idea.
A photograph like the one shown is easy to lose unless a good system is in place. Review the different ways—all logical—that could be used to name the JPEG file above.
Step 5. If you share your work with others, you should include your initials next. Hence, the KL for the photo above. This also helps with photo credits.
• IMG.2233.JPG. These are the random numbers assigned by my digital camera.
• fence detail. This phrase is nice and short but too vague to be much use.
How should this photograph be named?
Step 6. The file name always ends with a . (dot), followed by the suffix tag that indicates the file type. Most photo files will be finished off with a .jpg.
• fence close-up w/frost & blue tone. This option is awkwardly long, although it’s very descriptive. There are special typeface characters that won’t work for Web posting.
Step 3. The second element of a file name should be descriptive. CUfence was used for the photo above. CU is short for “close-up” and w is short for “with.”
Using this convention, the photo above would have the file name:
• Colorado_Dec05_#18. This records when and where the shot was taken and would help find it in files.
Wolfr_CUfence_1.0.0_KL.jpg
• wolfr_CUfence_1.0source: This is the protocol I would normally use and is explained below.
Many servers can only read filenames up to 30 charac- ters. But don’t worry, for your computer will warn you if the file name has gotten too long or if it includes forbidden type elements.
• mp3_protocols_filename_01. This is the naming convention required by my publisher—twenty-six characters maximum.
Of course the system you devise must conform to your own needs and personality. You do not need to assign file names until you start to use pictures within a project. Other- wise you can keep them in folders that are labeled by date and also by the keyword (for example, Wolfranch).
What you need is a lock-step, rigid, consistent, compul- sive way of naming image files. Although it will take a few ex- tra moments to apply a file-naming protocol to your pictures, it will save hours and hours and hours in the long run.
Here are recommendations for a trim, dependable system: