Hey guys I'm reworking my filing system for my next site. I have about 3000 to 4000 pictures of different consoles. I'm trying to figure out the best folder/file naming system right now and it's causing me some frustration. Is there any rule of thumb for images? For example I have: images/consoles/sega/saturn/hst-0001/(random name) The problem is that each of the random names are different for each console. Maybe for the above (random name) is SS_HST0001_Console or HST0001 or whatever I happened to choose the particular moment it was made. That causes problems where I have to check the name of each file. I wanted to have more of a uniform system like: images/consoles/sega/saturn/hst-0001/console_1 images/consoles/nintendo/n64/red/console_1 images/consoles/epoch/cassette_vision/console_1 That will create problems in other areas like if I ever want to drap and drop images to my desktop and instert them into an email. They'll all have the same file names since no folder information is attached. Basically, one system is creating problems online and the other is creating problems offline. Again, any rules of thumb? I wanted my website to mirror my hard drive file system as closely as possible, but there will be a lot of pictures on my HDD that won't necessarily make it into the site. If I make things too different then I'm forced to duplicate my work for each area, online and offline. I also have a problem with needing different sizes of the same picture for different pages. For one console I made the file names SkeletonSaturn_600 to give the console name and with width. I also have Skeleton_Saturn_500, _400, _300, _200, _150, _125, _100. Bad idea? Any problems you can see? Or should I just stick to changing the display size in the code instead? I keep trying different methods then run into problems later on....
Sometime trying to sort everything just give headache, If I was you it will sort my picture only by system acronym like this: img/n64/ (any n64/64DD related picture) img/dc/ (any dreamcast related pic) img/fc/ (any famicom/FDS pic) and so on... With this way your img folde will not be a big junk and at the same time you don't have to much folder, with a good naming schem (add unique number to each pic)you should easyly found yourself in each system folder. Also for picture width you sould live that in your code not in picture name. Did you ever think about storing your picture in a database intead? Way easyer to admin..
One scheme that you might want to consider is prefixing (or postfixing) an ID tag to each image name. Something like 050_console_1 for the Saturn image, and 087_console_1 for the N64 image. Subsequent Saturn images would be 050_something; likewise for the N64 images being 087_something. Easy to do a batch program to change existing names, never any duplicates between system, and it is clear how the naming convention works.
I just downloaded FastStone and I'm playing around with it. I'll see about batch converting the names of the originals into a system. Right now I use a 3-letter system for my software. NIN_ is for Nintendo, BAN_ is Bandai, etc. That's just for sales, tho. After they're sold I delete the file on the server but keep the original on my PC. The original has the file name that was given to it with the digital camera. I'd probably start a batch conversion of those original files. What I'm trying to do mostly is eliminate the massive tree that I have. It can go like this: Master Pictures -> Systems -> Nintendo -> Super Famicom -> Accessories -> Satellaview -> Shop Version -> Adobe Edit. It's starting to drive me over the edge, and quickly. I have FileMaker Pro. Is it about time to start learning how to use it?
Well, as you say you want a system that allows for files to be used both offline and online without conflicts. So yes, you need to come up with a standardization, implement it as soon as the pictures come into your PC, and stick with it! Personally, I would still use system folders, at least on my hard drive. That way, things are organized and easy to find. For offline at least, I would probably personally use a system something like..... BRAND -> CONSOLE -> CATEGORY ...and leave it like that. Use file names to distinguish different sizes etc. For example..... Nintendo folder would contain a folder for each console. Let's "go into" the NES folder. That now has other subfolders, say CONSOLES, ACCESSORIES, GAMES. (Remembering here the golden rule - KISS! (keep it simple stupid)) In case that is confusing, let's use a picture..... Then, you adopt a file naming system that is used both online and offline. This way you can keep the files together, and easily identify them. I like your 3 lettering system, so let's keep that. Personally, I'd rather have a system whereby things are alphabetized (especially for games), but if you want to go with purely numbers that's up to you. We could even keep the 3 letter system, to identify the start of the game.... e.g...... Radiant Silvergun on Saturn SAT_RAD001 Then we apply suffixes to identify picture sizes/edits. Leave the master file name as above. You should decide a standard for your picture sizes, preferably. Are they all going to be a certain ratio, or will you be editing them, e.g. make them wider? If you leave them default, you could use a number to identify the resolution, e.g. _800x600 or just _800 Personally, I think I'd just decide which picture sizes I want on the site, and how many sizes there will be. Let's say we have 2 sizes - the big pics will be 640x480, and the thumbnails will be 160x120 (as an example). I'd name those _lg and _sm OK, so we're going to Photoshop the Radiant Silvergun picture, save it, then make two sizes for the website. We end up with..... SAT_RAD001.jpg SAT_RAD001_edit.jpg SAT_RAD001_lg.jpg SAT_RAD001_sm.jpg Again, let's have a pic.... Hopefully, you can see that I made some (extreme!) brightness changes for the purpose of this exercise - you should notice the difference from the original in the thumbnails. Also, I included two games that begin vir, to demonstrate that it shouldn't be too much of a problem. Anyway, this is just a suggestion. Do with it what you will - ignore it, if you like! Of course, you could also switch things around. The way I show them above is all well and good, but you may want quick access to a picture, let's say Virtua Fighter. Your folder, whilst alphabetized, has hundreds of games. Were you to name it the other way round (e.g. VIR001_SAT), then you could simply press V and it would jump to that letter of the alphabet. I think I'd stick with the method I illustrated personally if everything is to go in one images folder for the web, though.
