Question Photo management ideas...

[chappyfl]

I am posting this here in hopes of a steer in the proper direction, whether that be software, forum , hardware or strategy.

Our situation is this... we have decades of images on multiple devices and platforms. Old macs, PCs, iOS... old digital cam cards... you name it. There is no universal naming scheme or real order of any kind with the largest pile being in a couple of iPhoto directories.
I have plenty of NAS on my network with a couple of external usb attached with the intention of housing a hopefully organized central depot of images but no real idea on the best way to proceed. If anyone has a suggestion on where to go for advice if this isn’t the place I would be grateful.

 

[USAFRet]

There is no magic for this.
You need to consolidate all that into one place, with a known structure of organization. There are some applications that purport to catalog everything, or put it in a library. I find these more confusing than not. You never really know where the actual files are. Additionally, they are rarely cross platform. Windows only, Apple only, whatever.

So, a folder structure in a method that makes sense to you. Possibly by date, Subfolders for year, month, whatever.
Or by device. PC, phone, camera type, etc.

Once you have all this in one place, then you can proceed to cull the ones you no longer want.


Secondly, and just as important, you MUST have a known good backup of all this. At least 2 copies of everything.
Preferably automated, so you don't accidentally "forget" to do it.

 

[chappyfl]

There is no magic for this.
You need to consolidate all that into one place, with a known structure of organization. There are some applications that purport to catalog everything, or put it in a library. I find these more confusing than not. You never really know where the actual files are. Additionally, they are rarely cross platform. Windows only, Apple only, whatever.

So, a folder structure in a method that makes sense to you. Possibly by date, Subfolders for year, month, whatever.
Or by device. PC, phone, camera type, etc.

Once you have all this in one place, then you can proceed to cull the ones you no longer want.


Secondly, and just as important, you MUST have a known good backup of all this. At least 2 copies of everything.
Preferably automated, so you don't accidentally "forget" to do it.

I really hate hearing something I already know, but I was really hoping there was some secret I was missing out on... that being said, thank you for taking the time to answer the post!

 

[USAFRet]

I really hate hearing something I already know, but I was really hoping there was some secret I was missing out on... that being said, thank you for taking the time to answer the post!

Well, today IS 'National Clean Out Your Computer Day'

https://mrelectric.com/blog/national-clean-out-your-computer-day