best way to reorganize photos?

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Member Since: Jan 18, 2003

i have a ton of photos on my old machine, and they're all over the place. any ideas for the best way to get all folders containing pics into one folder? is there an automated way to do it? anyone ever had to do this?

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Mans reach exceeds his grasp
Member
Since: Oct 23, 2007


Jan 12, 2008 10:59 pm

Do a search for your photos file types, like JPEG, bitmap, GIF, etc. Then right click and drag all those to a file and select "move here." It may take a few minutes for them to move, but once they do, they'll all be in one places and you can sort through them from there and place them all in sub-files or what have you if you want to further organize them.

IMPORTANT: Make sure the files you move to the new folder don't correspond to program files. if they do, the programs may not work properly.

Czar of Midi
Administrator
Since: Apr 04, 2002


Jan 12, 2008 11:30 pm

There is no automated way to do it that I know of either. You simply have to drag and drop entire folders as Keith suggested above. I use the shift drag to move if you don't want to leave a copy behind in the other area.

Mans reach exceeds his grasp
Member
Since: Oct 23, 2007


Jan 12, 2008 11:40 pm

Yeah, Noize has a point. Shift drag is just as easy as the right click move, but it does take the original file out of the picture either way.

Using the right click/drag/copy here will work just the same, and it's probably better that you use 'copy here' if you're not experienced with this kind of thing, as it will leave the pictures in their respective locations.

Eat Spam before it eats YOU!!!
Member
Since: May 11, 2002


Jan 12, 2008 11:40 pm

...uh... it's not pretty...

something like

FOR /R "c:\" %%a in ("*.jpg") DO copy "%%a" "d:\output_folder"

will apparently scan every directory on the c: and copy all jpgs to d:\output_folder ...so you can see where to set the target like c:\image_folder so you arn't scanning all the jpegs associated with programs and the internet cache...which can cause all sorts of problems :)

but

I use Linux so windows scripting isn't too clear to me :) ...your mileage may vary, consult a physician before starting treatment, do not operate under the influence of alcohol, may cause cancer, etc.

Mans reach exceeds his grasp
Member
Since: Oct 23, 2007


Jan 12, 2008 11:47 pm

lmao zek. The disclaimer is awesome.

Easiest way to do it in windows is the search option though forty. I can see what zek is getting at, but it's too complicated for me to follow, so I assume you're of the same knowledge that I am. If you feel frisky though, you can try the run prompt.

Ne'er ate 'er
Member
Since: Apr 05, 2006


Jan 12, 2008 11:55 pm

The penguin is now serving martinis!

Mans reach exceeds his grasp
Member
Since: Oct 23, 2007


Jan 12, 2008 11:56 pm

lmao!!!

Member
Since: Jan 18, 2003


Jan 13, 2008 01:05 am

eh i dont want to move all pics to one folder. that'll create huge thumbnail slowdowns. i wanna move the folders. besides, the folders are ranked by date in picasa. i guess i'll have to manually move them folders.

Mans reach exceeds his grasp
Member
Since: Oct 23, 2007


Jan 13, 2008 01:11 am

If you use the right click/drag/copy here it wont slow down your thumbnails and it will consolidate your photos to one file. Only downside is drive space, depending on how may pictures you're talking about.

Member
Since: Jan 18, 2003


Jan 13, 2008 01:29 am

no thumbnails take a long time to load when there are thousands of pics in one folder

Mans reach exceeds his grasp
Member
Since: Oct 23, 2007


Jan 13, 2008 01:32 am

oh, well if you're talking about THOUSANDS of photos, thats a much different story. But you can still use the search function and click/drag them to different folders if you can put up with the slow down once or twice.

www.TheLondonProject.ca
Member
Since: Feb 07, 2005


Jan 13, 2008 02:05 am

Take a look over at download.com
There are quite a few that will probably help. I searched for "picure manager". I think one comes with Microsoft Office as well. Here is one that I found that looked pretty good.

www.download.com/Picture-...58.html?tag=pub

Member
Since: Jan 18, 2003


Jan 13, 2008 02:42 am

ah that looks great. too bad it's not freeware!

Eat Spam before it eats YOU!!!
Member
Since: May 11, 2002


Jan 13, 2008 09:22 am

you need something like Gnomes f-spot ...or maybe Vistas Picture Gallery... I'll look more when I get back home this afternoon.

Eat Spam before it eats YOU!!!
Member
Since: May 11, 2002


Jan 13, 2008 03:36 pm

closest thing I can find...
get.live.com/photogallery/overview

Czar of Turd Polish
Member
Since: Jun 20, 2006


Jan 15, 2008 12:16 pm

ACDSee is a great photo management app. It's not free but it works great, is clean and does batch rename&resize.

Member
Since: Jan 18, 2003


Jan 15, 2008 03:38 pm

oh yeah! i forgot about that. i used to have the free version. it was a good viewer.

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