As a blogger you may be purchasing Stock Photography, and I am sure you have used some in the past, I thought you might like to see how I organize Stock Photography I have purchased or found for free, and keep it all backed up. You want to keep your purchased product especially protected, because you can’t just go download it again!
How do you use your Downloads folder? You know, the one in your computer in which your downloaded digital files magically appear? I know…you just find them and then move them to their rightful place in your computer. You think you are organized because you moved them to your blog folder.
But guess what? That Download folder…it is pretty handy if you use it right. I used to use it as a transfer station as well, until I figured out its real purpose. The Download folder should actually be a file cabinet of ALL your downloads. KEEP them there. Yes, you will want to also copy them to appropriate places on your computer. But keep them all nice and tidy, organized in file folders in the Download folder.
Here is what mine looks like:
Here are my 3 reasons for doing this:
1. You always know where to find them.
I lose stuff. You? Well, I have found that if I keep my Stock Photography in the Downloads folder, I always know where to find them. I am on the email list for istockphoto. Occasionally they send an email letting me know there are new “freebies” available. Do I need anything on that particular day? No. But I go and download everything I am interested in, and dump it in my Stock Photography folder so I know where to look when I DO need it!
2. The licenses and credits are easy to find.
Do you save stock photography to your computer and then forget what kind of license it held? Bad. Bad. Bad. You need to keep track of that for quick reference, so that you can always add proper attribution to your images. I like to separate license types by folder. I like to use Creative Commons, so I have a folder for that. Some stock I have purchased extended licenses for (big money!…don’t want to lose!), so I keep a folder for those. And so on.
Now, to keep track of credit and web link attributions, listen up. On each particular photo, I right-click on the image and choose “Properties”. I then go to the “Details” tab and in the “Comment” section, I type everything I would need for credit and/or attribution. For example, a Creative Commons image needs a credit to the CC with a link to the proper CC license, and a link to the image, which I usually find on Flickr.
3. This system makes backups really easy.
When you move your digital downloads all over your computer, you can’t back them up properly. So keep them all in the Downloads Folder, and backup that folder! It will come in extra handy when you have to upgrade your computer, and then all your Downloads are right there in one tidy folder!
I am big on organization. You cannot be too organized in your business. The 10 minutes you spend doing this organizing task today, will save you hours in the future! So make 10 minutes to do it today!
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