Your digital camera automatically assigns names to your photos. Temporary at best, they refer to the numerical sequence in which you took them. Clearly, renaming each photo will help you find them later.

Make your operating system work for you by using folders to sort your photos. Renaming the photos isn't necessary in this method as long as you label the folders and use the "thumbnail view" to see the contents of each folder. For example:

2005
01 January
Charley's Birthday
Orlando Trip
02 February
Dog Show
Kitchen Remodel

For even more precision, add the date of the event to the folder names:

2005
01 January
2005_01_08_Charley's Birthday
2005_01_22_Orlando Trip
02 February
2005_02_15_Dog Show
2005_02_23_Kitchen Remodel

Another method of organization is to re-label the file names of your photos. With this systematic method, your photos will automatically be sorted in order. Here's one way to rename photos:

YEAR_MONTH_DATE _BRIEFEXPLANATION See 'Manage Photos' for description ideas. For example:

• 2005_04_07_Noah + Mark_Puerto Rico.jpg
• 2005_06_09_Mastersons Family Reunion.jpg
• 2005_06_09_Jake + Emily Family Reunion.jpg
• 2006_01_20_Big Snow Front Yard.jpg

Alternatively, some photo management software will sort and organize your photos for you, based on the key words linked to the photo by dates, people, events and the like. Keep in mind, however, that your software may not exist permanently into the future, and the software program typically relies on fragile linkages between the files and the associated metadata - the extra information you may have entered about your photos - stored in a separate database.

Be sure to organize and label photos you print out as well. Typically, organizing by date is a good way to go, yet be sure to document the back of the photograph with "who, where and when" in photo-safe pencil. Many online services will automatically do this for you when you order prints from them, provided that you have entered this information on the website (usually in captions). .