Using file codes to organize your photos
by Chris Nicholson

Every now and then someone emails asking me how I file photos. It's pretty simple, and you can glimpse a portion of my filing system throughout this website (each photo on this site has a number associated with it, such as AU92a; that's the actual file number for that photo in my cabinet).

Masts at sunset, Buzzards Bay. Nikon N90s, Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8. More Ship Pictures.

Slides

About 90 percent of the photo work I've done since beginning in photography in 1991 has been slide work, so that accounts for 90 percent of my files, and therefore 90 percent of my filing system.

Each slide has a file number made up of at least three digits.

The first two digits are letters that correspond to a category. Some examples are AU, for Australia; FL, for Flora; SS, for Sunrises & Sunsets; and TN for Tennis. There's no exact science for what category I assign to an image, as many images could fit into more than one category — for instance, Eucalyptus Sunset could be filed under AU, FL or SS.

After that comes a number, starting with 1 and increasing sequentially throughout the file. So AU1 is the first slide in the Australia file, followed by AU2, etc. Unless ...

If there are multiple frames that have the same composition and exposure, I'll usually indicate that with a lowercase letter at the end of the file number, starting with 'a' and increasing sequentially (i.e. PK41a).

Some of my slide files.

So, on this site, when you see that a file is named 'FL9a,' that means it's the first of at least two frames of slide 9 in my Flora file. The slide then goes into a file in my cabinet accordingly (see above photo).

Negatives

Most of my print work was done when I was photographing college sports from 1995 to 2000. Still, every now and then some negative film will find its way into my Nikon F5.

For my negatives, each roll of film gets a 3- or 4-digit file number, starting with 001 and increasing sequentially. (Every now and then I've inadvertently given two rolls the same file number; when I discover this, I simply mark them, say, 832a and 832b.)

Usually I just leave it at that, as all my clients have proof sheets and can order a print by saying, "Number 24 on sheet 832a." If they don't have the negative number, then they usually have a print, which I can easily match up to a negative.

Red-wheeled wagon in autumn, New England. Nikon F5, Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8. More Rustic Landscape Photos.

I know that's not a full-proof system. In hindsight, when I shot print film and made prints, I should have written a combined code number, such as "832a-24" ("832a" for the roll number, "24" for the print number) on the back of the print. But that would have been much more work, and not doing so has never prevented me from selling a print.

Digital

I haven't shot much digital, so I've been able to get away with being lax about my filing system. In fact, aside from fooling around or testing a camera, I've used digital for only one shoot: tennis' Fed Cup in April 2003.

For those Fed Cup photos, I've kept the file name that the Nikon D1x camera assigned to the photos (i.e., DS_3290). All those photos are on a set of CDs separate from my scans, so I have no worry about not being able to find something.

When I begin shooting digital photography more regularly, I will likely just use the same file-code convention that the camera defaults to. Having to change the file names later is simply too much extra work in an already tedious digital workflow.

(Updated March 2006: I've done more digital work since writing this article. For digital photo files,I have adopted the same filing code system that I use for slides, except I add a "D" to the beginning of the file code. Therefore, digital tennis photos become DTN1, etc.)