Best way to organise your photos?

to organise your originals, edits and watermarked pictures.
First mistake i done was editing the pictures then putting a watermark on them, now i have to reedit the originals do i can print them out without the water mark for my portfolio.

Do you lot keep 3 copies of your photos? since this is what its coming down too.... and then i dont know what do to with them.

Usually we'll have the original file, then a PSD file - which is the file that contains the original image in a layer, then edits/watermarks etc on separate layers - so you can turn them on off as needed. Then you just save whichever one's you need as and when you need them.

you have just made my life so much easier! but you cant view them thumbnail when browsing files? any solutions

Get a Mac?

(It shows you thumbnails on a Mac, you can even 'quick view' by pressing the spacebar - this is where it shows you it bigger without even having to open photoshop)

If that doesn't convince you (lol) then I think you might be able to find a psd thumbnail viewer on somewhere like tucows.com ?

i was thinking about putting mac on my laptop to be honest

I have them as originals out of the camera, and the ones i like to share as PSD files with a layer for my watermark

In aperture (on the mac) you can apply a watermark when the files are exported to the desktop before publishing so no real need for photoshop or any other editing if you are just publishing out of camera shots and you can do a lot of adjustment in aperture so you only need one file and not multiples. If that makes sense

i put my water marks on with fireworks as i find it to be alot more quailty with the wording

I have 3 of each image.
* The original.
* The PSD file - often with various edits stacked in there. This is the most important file for keeping. I edit as non destructively as possible so anything I do I can go back and tweak at anytime. I also never never crop this image so I can go back anytime and crop as needed.
* The edited jpg edited one. I ony keep this one for purposes of browsing through my folders, otherwise I wouln't keep it.

When I want to upload a picture I'll crop, resize, sharpen, add a watermark, upload and then delete. I have no reason to store those.
It is the same if I am printing, I'll prepare for print, upload for printing, then delete.

You should be shooting in RAW because this format hold 256 times more information than a compressed jpeg. Having said that your Photoshop should have come with Bridge, a utility for viewing, rating & organizing your work.

As far as storage there are lots of free storage sites online such as Picassa, Snapfish & too many more to list. Most are limited to 2 gig's worth of space without adding more for a fee. I use SmugMug because of their secure backup that stores your uploads to different servers in different locations. Until you decide on a storage site backup your RAW or master files to DVD ROMs that give you more than 4 gig of storage.

thanks bob i was just gunna ask about raw, i have only just started shooting in it.