Photos & Videos – Naming Style Guide

Purpose

This guide defines how filenames and folders are named in the photo/video archive so everything remains consistent, searchable, and understandable for years to come.

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Folder Structure Overview

PhotosLibrary/
├── 01_RawCapture/ → Unedited originals (straight from camera/phone)
├── 02_Highlights/ → Selected “best” shots and lightly edited images
├── 03_Edited/ → Final, fully processed photos and edited videos
└── 04_Exports/ → Reduced-size copies for sharing or cloud

Each folder is organised chronologically by event:

YYYY-MM-DD EventName/

Photos and videos from the same event live together in the same folder.

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File Naming Format

General pattern:

<OriginalID>_<Stage><Version>.<ext>

Examples:

Example	Description
IMG_1234_RAW.CR2	Unedited original
IMG_1234_EDIT.jpg	Primary edit
IMG_1234_EDIT2.jpg	Second edit version
IMG_1234_PS.jpg	Photoshop or advanced edit
IMG_1234_FINAL.jpg	Final export for printing/sharing
VID_0123_CLIP.MP4	Raw video clip
VID_0123_MOV.mp4	Edited or rendered video

Notes:

• Keep the original camera filename or unique ID (e.g. IMG_1234, DSC_5678).
• Don’t include editing details in filenames (e.g. _bcs or _colourfix).
• Use version numbers only when you have multiple exports of the same image (_EDIT2, _PS3).
• For derivative media (e.g. panoramas, composites, timelapses), add a short descriptor:
  • IMG_4567_PANO_FINAL.jpg
  • 2025-06-02_Sunset_Timelapse_FINAL.mp4

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Optional Naming Prefixes

If you ever mix media from multiple events in one folder, you can prefix filenames with the event name:

2025-06-02_Birthday_IMG_1234_EDIT.jpg

However, since each event already has its own folder, this prefix is optional.

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Summary of What Belongs Where

Folder	Contents	Typical suffix
01_RawCapture	Original RAWs and unedited videos	_RAW, _CLIP
02_Highlights	Selected RAWs and basic edits	_EDIT
03_Edited	Final creative outputs	_PS, _FINAL, _MOV
04_Exports	Reduced-size or web versions	_FINAL, _EXPORT

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Preservation Tips

• Always keep originals in 01_RawCapture untouched.
• Use consistent filenames so Lightroom/other tools can reconnect missing files.
• Never rename files inside Lightroom after import; rename before import if needed.
• Store this README in every top-level folder for clarity.

Running the Photo Sorter Tools

🧱 Building the Container

Before first use, build the container image:

make build

💻 Starting an Interactive Shell

To start a container session with your local folders mounted:

make run

This opens a bash shell inside the container. The following directories are mounted:

Host Path	Container Path	Purpose
./ingest	/data/src	Raw import source folder
./01_RawCapture	/data/dest	Sorted destination folder
./db	/data/db	Optional database location for scanner

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📷 Running the Sorter

From inside the container:

python sorter.py /data/src /data/dest --threads 8 --debug

You can also omit --debug for quieter output.

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🔍 Running the Scanner

To scan the imported files and record the latest images from each device:

python scanner.py /data/dest --db /data/db/import_index.db --threads 8

This writes a small SQLite database to /data/db/import_index.db containing summary data for future imports.

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🧹 Cleaning Up

To remove the built Docker image:

make clean