# Wanted - Easy Photo Organizing software for Computer Illiterates



## Mickey (Mar 20, 2022)

Is there such a thing?  I have a friend who has thousands of pictures scattered all over to the point she can never find what she needs.  My daughter set up a computer screensaver for her and it often shows a photo she wants to find again to print or whatever but she has no idea how to even begin to locate it.  I'd love to use Lightroom or Elements for her but even that might be too much.  Any other suggestions?

Mickey


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## Rob_Cullen (Mar 21, 2022)

Nothing is really "easy". Finding 'digital' images in a system will always involve some understanding of computer storage.
I can only suggest something like _Adobe Bridge_ which has an adaptable UI that can be set (by you!) to show panels for Folders, Keywords, Preview, etc. Then set set it to show all images in sub-folders (ie. all photos within & below the selected folder.)
That will provide a scrolling view of all photos, and a start in key-wording for searches.
_Adobe Bridge _ is 'free' - no subscription to a plan required - just an 'account' with Adobe Creative Cloud.
BRIDGE DOWNLOAD 
*Adobe Bridge 2022 Is Completely Free for Everyone, for Life! | ProDesignTools *


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## PhilBurton (Mar 21, 2022)

Rob_Cullen said:


> Nothing is really "easy". Finding 'digital' images in a system will always involve some understanding of computer storage.
> I can only suggest something like _Adobe Bridge_ which has an adaptable UI that can be set (by you!) to show panels for Folders, Keywords, Preview, etc. Then set set it to show all images in sub-folders (ie. all photos within & below the selected folder.)
> That will provide a scrolling view of all photos, and a start in key-wording for searches.
> _Adobe Bridge _ is 'free' - no subscription to a plan required - just an 'account' with Adobe Creative Cloud.
> ...


I'm not the OP, but I (and probably others) face a similar problem.  Once I finish scanning 40 years of film/slides, I would like to prepare family albums for both of my adult children and eventually my grandchildren.  All the photos will be heavily keyworded but will be organized on disk by YYYY/MM/DD.

Both children are computer literate, but expecting them to use Lightroom, even an expired trial, is simply unrealistic.  Same for Bridge,

Phil Burton


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## Replytoken (Mar 22, 2022)

PhilBurton said:


> I'm not the OP, but I (and probably others) face a similar problem.  Once I finish scanning 40 years of film/slides, I would like to prepare family albums for both of my adult children and eventually my grandchildren.  All the photos will be heavily keyworded but will be organized on disk by YYYY/MM/DD.
> 
> Both children are computer literate, but expecting them to use Lightroom, even an expired trial, is simply unrealistic.  Same for Bridge,
> 
> Phil Burton


I strongly recommend making jpeg copies of the images and putting them on a disc or memory stick.  Place them in folders if you think they need organization.  Add notes if you want to share information.  The alternative could be a Flickr account or something similar, but if folks are not computer savvy, this is potentially asking for trouble.  A drive or stick with jpeg and text files is about as simple as it gets.  And you could store as many images as you need.  People know how to plug in a drive and look at what is in folders.  This is about as basic as you can get short of printing out the images.

Good luck,

--Ken


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## PhilBurton (Mar 22, 2022)

Replytoken said:


> I strongly recommend making jpeg copies of the images and putting them on a disc or memory stick.  Place them in folders if you think they need organization.  Add notes if you want to share information.  The alternative could be a Flickr account or something similar, but if folks are not computer savvy, this is potentially asking for trouble.  A drive or stick with jpeg and text files is about as simple as it gets.  And you could store as many images as you need.  People know how to plug in a drive and look at what is in folders.  This is about as basic as you can get short of printing out the images.
> 
> Good luck,
> 
> --Ken


Ken,

Of course, I will have to place JPGs on an external hard drive.  That's not the issue.  Organizing by yyyyy/mm/dd isn't an issue.  The issue is all the different ways that my kids might wnat to search for photos.  By person, e. g. me or their mother, or each other, or friends and relatives.  Or a subject type, such as in a crib or at the playground, their grandparents, etc., etc.


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## Conrad Chavez (Mar 22, 2022)

PhilBurton said:


> The issue is all the different ways that my kids might wnat to search for photos.  By person, e. g. me or their mother, or each other, or friends and relatives.  Or a subject type, such as in a crib or at the playground, their grandparents, etc., etc.


Keep in mind that the desktop search features in both Windows and macOS (and I think iOS too) will find embedded metadata including keywords. This provides a way out that is potentially the simplest of them all.

Whoever in the family is the expert in photography and computers, they should be the one who adds keywords and other metadata to family photos. Then they should set up the family’s permanent photo collection, whether it’s on a web site, flash drive, etc.  If the originals are raw files, they should be exported as easy-to-use JPEG or TIFF files with embedded metadata.

The final step is for all other family users to be able to find any photo in that collection. As long as the photo collection is somewhere on the computer, if they click the computer desktop search feature and type the name, city, event, or other term they are looking for, as long as the OS search feature supports that metadata it will turn up in the search results, right there on the desktop…*no photo software needed*.

The same is true if the photos are uploaded to any website that lets you search on photo metadata. As long as someone in the family can get the right metadata into the photos, anyone else in the family will find the photos they need, without any special photo software.

It’s still necessary to figure out the one way to organize the folders of the collection, and by date is probably the way that works best. So, just as in Lightroom Classic, organize the  family collection of photos in date-organized folders, with metadata embedded in the images, and let the OS desktop search feature bring photos to family members by the name, subject, event, etc. they ask for.


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## Mickey (Mar 22, 2022)

Conrad Chavez said:


> Keep in mind that the desktop search features in both Windows and macOS (and I think iOS too) will find embedded metadata including keywords. This provides a way out that is potentially the simplest of them all.





Conrad Chavez said:


> Whoever in the family is the expert in photography and computers, they should be the one who adds keywords and other metadata to family photos. Then they should set up the family’s permanent photo collection, whether it’s on a web site, flash drive, etc.  If the originals are raw files, they should be exported as easy-to-use JPEG or TIFF files with embedded metadata.
> 
> The final step is for all other family users to be able to find any photo in that collection. As long as the photo collection is somewhere on the computer, if they click the computer desktop search feature and type the name, city, event, or other term they are looking for, as long as the OS search feature supports that metadata it will turn up in the search results, right there on the desktop…*no photo software needed*.
> 
> ...



Everyone, thanks for all these thoughts.  Some I had already thought of but I really needed some other brains on this.  Backup of the photos is already taken care of.    I think Conrad's suggestion of using the OS search feature might be the best one for the older photos that are on the computer, the ones on the phone don't seem to be a problem.

This is all for my daughter's mother-in-law.  She uses a Windows PC and an iPhone.  The photos on her iPhone don't seem to be a problem and she is comfortable with iCloud as well, so I may look into moving all the older photos from the Windows PC into iCloud as well.

Thanks again for all the ideas.

Mickey


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## Replytoken (Mar 22, 2022)

PhilBurton said:


> Ken,
> 
> Of course, I will have to place JPGs on an external hard drive.  That's not the issue.  Organizing by yyyyy/mm/dd isn't an issue.  The issue is all the different ways that my kids might wnat to search for photos.  By person, e. g. me or their mother, or each other, or friends and relatives.  Or a subject type, such as in a crib or at the playground, their grandparents, etc., etc.


While I did figure that you knew the basics, I still believe that even though Windows will search metadata, I am not sure how many casual users will consider that option.  That was why I suggested something like an attached text file.  Ideally, what I think is a reasonable solution is something like Flickr where people can comment on images.  But, Flickr is not free for their pro version, and it will not last much beyond its owner's final days unless it was prepaid and had a caretaker.  I suspect the best way to deal with this issue is to sample the crowd the photos are intended for and see what resonates with them.  I am watching this play out over the past year and a half with one of my best friend's family.  He passed in fall of 2020, and they are still having frustrations with just accessing any files on his desktop or tablet.

--Ken


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## Mickey (Mar 22, 2022)

Ken - good points.  Regardless of what we do for her, I plan to suggest to my daughter that she keep a backup copy of everything for the sole purpose of being able to access the photos if it becomes necessary.  Her mother-in-law has already had her computer "wiped" once accidentally so who knows what might happen.  Another reason to find a way to use the cloud for viewing.

Mickey


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## Jimmsp (Mar 22, 2022)

If you are going to use iCloud, be sure your are aware of a few possible issues.
https://petapixel.com/2022/03/12/dont-use-icloud-for-long-term-photo-backup/

I live in a retirement community, and am active in both our Photo Club and in our Computer Club. On the helper side of life, we deal with questions like this a lot. I have learned that their is no easy "one size fits all" answer. As Ken has suggested, most of the time you need to work with one or two family members and tailor a solution to them.  I am finding that relying on Google Photos fits a lot of people, but certainly not all. While GP is not a perfect solution, it is often a good place to start from when they need more help - and they will.


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## Mickey (Mar 22, 2022)

Jim - There's a reason why my daughter was against using Google Photos though I'm not sure why.  Maybe because other photos are in iCloud and she didn't want to confuse things for her m-i-l with another web application.  I'll look into it though.


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## Conrad Chavez (Mar 22, 2022)

Replytoken said:


> While I did figure that you knew the basics, I still believe that even though Windows wills search metadata, I am not sure how many casual users will consider that option.


A text file can help, but I think telling them what their computer’s search can do should still be part of the handoff to family members, because it is so potentially powerful and can save so many headaches. Like the text file getting separated from the photo collection. Also, if all the potential metadata is jammed into a text file (names, places, events, subjects, dates...) that could be just as intimidating to look through to any non-computer person. (And to find anything in a text file documenting hundreds of images, they are going to have to use a search feature anyway.) The search feature is so easy, so capable, and on every modern device.



Replytoken said:


> ...one of my best friend's family.  He passed in fall of 2020, and they are still having frustrations with just accessing any files on his desktop or tablet.


Some great advice I have seen for this situation was given I think by Peter Krogh, who wrote the DAM Book and advocates for Lightroom Classic as the tool to use. He has a lot of institutional clients, and said that when they looked historically at the best way to ensure survivability of important works long into the future, the answer was not the most archival materials, the most capable file formats, etc. It was not a technical solution.

He said that when they looked at which works survived the longest, very often the answer was that many copies has been distributed of it. This allows some copies to become lost or destroyed, but there are enough that some families or institutions end up taking care of theirs.

And that is the advice he gives to families and institutions now: Put it into a form that is easy to distribute, and get as many copies into as many hands as you can. If you make a family archive, the worst thing to do is to make just one archive that is locked behind a password. Send a copy of the archive to as many family members as you can, expecting that some will lose it, and others will be mindful enough to pass it down another generation.


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## Replytoken (Mar 22, 2022)

Conrad Chavez said:


> A text file can help, but I think telling them what their computer’s search can do should still be part of the handoff to family members, because it is so potentially powerful and can save so many headaches. Like the text file getting separated from the photo collection. Also, if all the potential metadata is jammed into a text file (names, places, events, subjects, dates...) that could be just as intimidating to look through to any non-computer person. (And to find anything in a text file documenting hundreds of images, they are going to have to use a search feature anyway.) The search feature is so easy, so capable, and on every modern device.
> 
> 
> Some great advice I have seen for this situation was given I think by Peter Krogh, who wrote the DAM Book and advocates for Lightroom Classic as the tool to use. He has a lot of institutional clients, and said that when they looked historically at the best way to ensure survivability of important works long into the future, the answer was not the most archival materials, the most capable file formats, etc. It was not a technical solution.
> ...


Yes, multiple copies does guarantee some higher rate of survival.  And while I do not have issues with metadata, because there are some folks that will be savvy enough to take advantage of it, I think that some text or PDF file should also be included if possible (a belt and suspenders approach).  It can be printed, and that can also help information survive.  

--Ken


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## Mickey (Mar 22, 2022)

I've read Peter's book.  Great stuff in there.


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## Jimmsp (Mar 22, 2022)

Conrad Chavez said:


> .......
> 
> He said that when they looked at which works survived the longest, very often the answer was that many copies has been distributed of it. This allows some copies to become lost or destroyed, but there are enough that some families or institutions end up taking care of theirs.
> 
> And that is the advice he gives to families and institutions now: Put it into a form that is easy to distribute, and get as many copies into as many hands as you can. ...


What excellent advice.
I had not thought specifically of that. I was intending to publish annotated books - but printing 20 instead of two didn't cross my mind.


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