Photos That Survive Software: How to Build a Photo Archive That Stands the Test of Time

Updated: April 2026

🎤 Introduction

In 2013, when I was studying at a film school in Marbella, my editing teacher repeated something so often that it became etched in my memory:

¿Qué somos? ¡Editores ordenados!

What are we? Organised editors! This principle has served me well, not just as a filmmaker, but also as a photographer.

I'm telling you this because your photo archive likely consists of at least three or four digits. Professionals and long-time hobbyists will easily reach five, maybe even six. That's a lot of photos.

Tell me, when was the last time you considered your archive? How is it organised? Why in such a way? Where? Are you paying for it? Since when? More importantly, what would happen to it if your provider were to vanish, or you were to pivot to a different one? Chances are, that internal structure wouldn't survive. What then? With a library of five to six digits, that's one bad day for a photographer.

What if I told you there's a way to bypass this threat? And what if I told you it's based on a rudimentary yet powerful system, accessible to all? Would you listen?

I bring more good news: You don't need to know how to code, nor do you need any fancy this or the latest that. The main thing this solution demands from you is a small mindset shift: photo management can be fun and rewarding.

This essay shows you how to create this system.

📌 Notes

• A human wrote this essay — me, Dazé Nikulásson. Each word journeyed from my big fat noggin to my long, sharp fingers. A pinch of AI was used at the end for proofreading (because, you know, mad piano fingers).
• This essay may seem long, but it is not long-winded. (You have no idea how hard I worked to be able to say that.)
• If I cite a term or statement without explaining it, please don't feel frustrated. It's done strategically, and I will get to it in due time. (I put this here so I don't have to write "more on this later" every time it happens.)
• This essay includes various voices. They are characters I created for some light entertainment. (I'm a screenwriter, so I can't help myself.) They can be found in toggles, which are optional but highly recommended. These characters were written from a place of love for human diversity. If you find yourself in them, please don't feel offended. Instead, praise yourself, because our differences make our world a richer, livelier place. (I'm the first person to make fun of myself, but if you have your doubts, I'm accepting a limited number of mocking via email.)
• Although the system presented in this essay is made for independent photographers (hobbyists and professionals alike), its principles may also apply to other archives in separate fields.
• I don't claim any pompous ownership over this system. As you'll discover, its pillars are well-established concepts. I merely scrutinised them and glued together modicums of potential for photographers. This system is fully open — use it, adapt it, and improve it as you see fit.
• But this essay? It's mine! Don't touch my baby. I mean, you can show it to someone who may find it cute, but that's it!

🎞️ The Story Behind This Essay

Before I begin, let me tell you how I came to discover the system in question, because it explains why I'm so motivated to get this essay published, and why any independent photographer should at least consider its points.

It all starts with …

👱🏻 One Reckless Photographer

That was me, and it may be you now.

I've been allured by the practice of photography for the past 13 years, but only recently started taking it more seriously and building a body of work.

Admittedly, I never cared much for the way my photos were filed. I relied solely — and in a limited manner — on the organisational features (folders, labels, tags) of my photo-editing software of choice. Why? Because it seemed trivial, and certainly wasn't enticing. After a shoot, all I wanted to do was splatter my photos into my software (anywhere, anyhow) and get to editing — yeehaw!

For years, I neglected my ever-growing photo archive, impetuously trusting that I could find any old photo, eventually, within some hidden crevice of my software, forever. I didn't know it at the time, but I was treading on dangerous waters.

Luckily for me, this all changed a few months ago thanks to …

🧔🏻‍♂️ One Prudent Photographer

His name is Lukasz Palka, a seasoned Tokyo-based photographer specialising in street and urban photography.

I had been following Lukasz and his EYExplore project for some time, and had developed a deep respect for his work and his philosophy on life and art. Whenever he had something to say, I listened.

One random Tuesday evening, fresh out of the shower, I came across an unusual behind-the-scenes video in which Lukasz shared his process of organising his photos. This 11-minute-long screen recording whacked my world around.

The first point he made was that he uses Camera Raw to edit his photos. Camera Raw? No … I was struck. Never before had I heard about a photographer who favoured a plugin over a fully fledged photography programme.

Lukasz's second point explained why: he doesn't use Lightroom to manage his photos; he hadn't even touched the thing in years. I was bewildered. This guy relies on Adobe for his editing, but doesn't use their proprietary photo-managing solution? … So, what the heck is he using? Have I been overlooking some superior software? I bet it's pricy … The answer was another slap in the face: he uses his operating system. Read that again.

His reasoning was eye-opening: he doesn't want to be locked-in — dependent — on any given application and its database.

My heart sank. I paused the video. How had I not realised this sooner?!, I exclaimed as I put on some pants, my wife glancing over, mystified. From that moment, I was all ears, eager to do better. Open to a new mentality.

My first question was the lingering elephant in the room: How was Lukasz using basic desktop features to manage his photo library of over 35,000 photos? His answer lit up a firework show in me and infused me with enough inspiration to build on this foundation and design an infrastructure around it.

The result of this painstaking, passion-driven endeavour became the thesis of this essay: the Autonomous Photo Archive System (APAS).

🛟 What is APAS?

The purpose of this system is simple: to help the remiss photographer build a safe, organised, and useful photo archive, unthreatened by software.

At its core, APAS is a file naming convention, which is simply a set of rules that determines the structure of a filename. Its function is to inject every photo with a systematic filename, designed by the user, that avoids false duplicates, allows for automatic sorting, and provides search capabilities.

It achieves this through the symbiotic relationship between three components, each comprised of one or several elements known as clauses. These three pillars make up a photo's filename, and they do so in this order:

1. 🧬 PIN (Photo Identification Number)
   It represents the prime clauses of a filename, and is harvested automatically using the camera's metadata.
2. 🔖 Tags (fixed or episodic search words)
   These are optional, but drastically elevate search capacity. There are two types, neither of which can be automated and thus requires manual input.
3. 📦 Extension (file types)
   These are like honey bees: they'll only bother you if you bother them. There are two types, both of which operate automatically.

To give you an idea of the end product of APAS (so you can know where we're headed), I'll show you two examples. These two files represent the same photo, and despite their differences, are both fully functional:

1. 20231204_180258_0332.CR3
   This is the raw file and includes only the mandatory components.
2. 20231204_180258_0332_dn1_c01_japan_kyoto_dusk_taxi.jpg
   This is an edited file and packs all three components.

They may not look pleasing to the eye, but by the end of this essay, you will be enchanted by them. Bold statement, but I believe it.

To see this hidden beauty, you must understand all three components in detail: what they do, which clauses comprise them, and why — together — they form such a powerful filename structure.

*Clears throat* …

Thank you. I promise there's a method to my madness. And if not, I accept defeat and invite you to send all complaints to Mr Lukasz Palka.

🧬 Photo Identification Number

At the top of the filename food chain is the PIN. This is the most important component of APAS, so you won't be surprised to know that it's one of the two mandatory components of a filename.

The clauses of a PIN come in various types and can be divided by a Separator. But the three that serve us best are Date, Time, and Counter, and in that order.

There is one more clause that you may want to include: initials. It's based on a Text clause and can be placed at the front or at the back of the PIN. However, since it serves no real purpose, I can't recommend it.

Unlike the two other components (Tags and Extensions), all the clauses within a PIN are fixed, which means they show up in every filename of every photo in your archive. In contrast, the clauses of the other components are episodic, meaning their inclusion varies between photos and file types.

Another distinctive feature that all PIN clauses share is that they can be automated with an application.

You might be wondering what a PIN really looks like, and I'm here to tell you that you've already seen one, several even. You see, filename conventions exist in all things digital, and camera manufacturers are no exception:

• IMG_7591
• IMG_7592
• IMG_7593

The above is what a typical set of photo files looks like (Extension omitted) straight out of most modern cameras. This one is the default PIN of the Canon EOS R6 Mark II. It's also the PIN of an iPhone.

So, what's so special about it? That's the thing — nada! Worse still, it suffers from two problems:

To be fair, I don't blame camera manufacturers for supplying their devices with such lacklustre PINs. To their credit, some even allow you to customise them in-camera (albeit in a limited way). The truth is, it's not their responsibility to figure out a user's ideal PIN. That duty, among others, belongs to this essay.

Besides, it could be worse:

• GX020604
• GX030603
• GX040603

That's the PIN of the GoPro HERO10 Black. Wish me luck, will you?

• G = GoPro, the brand?
• X = 10, the edition?
• 20604 / 30603 / 40603 = … I need a break.

This begs the question: What makes a good PIN, and how do you create one? The answer is simple: batch rename with Bridge to a custom PIN template.

If you're hearing about Bridge for the first time, you might be eager to download it right away and get cracking — hold your horses! First, you should familiarise yourself with what a good PIN looks like and understand its clauses; otherwise, you might fall … off the bridge (sorry, I had to — a man needs his dad jokes!).

Let's bring back the set of photos as they appear out of the camera:

• IMG_7591
• IMG_7592
• IMG_7593

And here they are after running them through a basic PIN with batch rename:

• 20240325_170511
• 20240325_170854
• 20240325_172102

At first glance, they don't look that dissimilar to the default PIN of the Canon I shared earlier; they may even look more confusing. Just a cluster of random numbers, right? No! This time, every number pays rent!

Let's break it down:

The shocker? This change alone already (almost) fixes both aforementioned problems: it avoids duplicates and allows you to sort a photo by its date and time.

📅 Date & Time

In the PIN kingdom, the Date & Time clauses rule. In fact, they are the dominant clauses of any filename. They helm the string, which means they are the first point of contact when a computer sorts any group of photos chronologically.

These troopers go hand-in-hand, forever in lockstep. Date goes first and (under the hood) is represented as YYYYMMDD (Year-Month-Day). A Separator (_) connects it to Time, which reads HHMMSS (Hour-Minute-Second).

Are there any other petty aesthetic questions about Date & Time before I proceed?

Can I proceed now? Yes? Thank you.

I said the Date & Time clauses alone "almost" fix both problems. That's because, although it may seem like it, these clauses aren't the ones responsible for completely avoiding duplicate filenames, at least not in the world of photography. That's because the Time clause has an Achilles' heel.

What if you're a sports or wildlife photographer who relies on the camera's burst mode? Odds are you'll often end up with multiple photos taken in the same second. When you batch rename photos like these, this happens:

• 20240325_173917
• 20240325_173917(1)
• 20240325_173917(2)

Photos taken on the same YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS will read as duplicates, so Bridge adds parentheses to keep them as separate files.

It works, but I don't like it for two reasons:

• It's inconsistent; some files have parentheses, and some don't
• I'm not a fan of using parentheses in filenames

Of course, this wouldn't be an issue if camera manufacturers included milliseconds in the metadata: YYYYMMDD_HHMMSSmm.

🎰 Photo Counter

A Counter is another type of clause within a PIN, and it does what its name implies: it counts files and assigns each one a unique number using one or several digits.

The best function we can give a Counter is as a Photo Counter. Various factors can be selected to determine the order of a Counter. For us, it's the file's creation date, which the software fetches using the YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS metadata, similar to how the Date & Time clauses work.

Let's batch rename the same set of photos from before, but this time using a three-digit Photo Counter:

• 20240325_173917_001
• 20240325_173917_002
• 20240325_173917_003

And if the next photo is taken seven minutes later:

• 20240325_174622_004

Much nicer, no? Go on, say it — say it!

First, let me explain how the Photo Counter works. The lowest and highest number that the Photo Counter assigns to your photos is determined by the number of photos selected during any given batch rename. If you go on a hike and take 47 photos, and run them all through a four-digit counter, your first photo (the earliest) will be 0001, while the last one will be 0047.

As for how often the counter resets, that depends on how often you batch rename. For example, if you want to reset the Photo Counter for every project, the first photo from day 1 will be 0001, while the first photo from day 2 might be 0185, as the last photo of day 1 was 0184.

I, however, restart my Photo Counter every day. Firstly, because the hierarchical structure of a PIN (Date > Time > Photo Counter) is essentially saying that a Photo Counter is meant to represent a unit within its "parent" clauses: This is the 12th photo taken on March 28th 2024. Secondly, it allows me to quickly see how many photos I took within a given day.

Now, to answer the question about the ideal number of digits, one approach is to take the maximum number of units per digit, and figure out how many photos you'd have to take per hour within the same day before filling the Counter:

• One-digit: 9 photos / 24 hours = 0.4 photos per hour
• Two-digit: 99 photos / 24 hours = 4 photos per hour
• Three-digit: 999 photos / 24 hours = 42 photos per hour
• Four-digit: 9,999 photos / 24 hours = 417 photos per hour
• Five-digit: 99,999 photos / 24 hours = 4,167 photos per hour
• Six-digit: 999,999 photos / 24 hours = 41,667 photos per hour
• Seven-digit: 9,999,999 photos / 24 hours = 416,667 photos per hour

Another important factor to consider is whether you intend to keep every photo you take or only a selection.

With these two indicators in mind, ask yourself:

What's the maximum number of photos I would ever take in a single day?

In my case, I photograph when I go on walks and when I travel. My usual photo count per walk is around 120. Out of this total, I end up keeping about 30 (25%). If I'm travelling with a busy agenda, I might take more than one walk within a day. Let's say that I take four: 120 x 4 = 480 photos in a day. After applying my percentage of deletes (75%), I end up with 120 keepers.

That solves it, right? Clearly, my case demands a three-digit Photo Counter because it would be very hard for me to exceed 999 photos in a single day, let alone surpass 999 keepers. And yet, I went with four digits. Why? Because …

What if one day NASA invites me to spend 24 hours on the ISS?

Given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, I might easily surpass my usual rate and transcend the limits of my Photo Counter. It's also possible that I may want to keep all the photos, or end up with a selection that exceeds 999. For this reason, four digits. Despite the odds, it remains possible … -ish (NASA — please!):

I'll give you two more examples to help you decide:

1. Every other Spring day, you use your lunch break to visit a nearby park for 20 minutes and capture the odd flower. (Also, you couldn't care less about going to the ISS.) Four digits is overkill.
2. You're a sports photographer shooting multiple matches per day and relying heavily on the camera's burst mode. (Also, you might consider NASA's offer.) Four digits might not be enough.

Go on, play with some hypotheticals — have some fun!

📟 Batch Rename

Good things come to those who wait: You're now ready to cross the magical bridge made of adobe and create your custom PIN template.

In case you forgot: Batch or bulk rename is a utility that allows you to rename photos automatically using a particular combination of clauses and separators. As we've learned, the ideal combination is: Date_Time_Counter.

Other software exists, but since Bridge has been the talk of the town in this essay, let's go with that. After all, it's free and works well.

The first step is to download it. Once installed, crank up your attention span and follow these steps:

1. Open Bridge.
2. Locate the photos you wish to rename with the Folder window.
3. Select the photos, right-click, and select Batch rename …
4. A dialogue box opens. Time to configure your custom PIN template.
   1. Ignore Presets for now.
   2. Make sure Rename in Same Folder is selected.
   3. Take a good look at the New Filenames section. This is where the magic happens. Each row represents a clause and/or a Separator within your PIN.
      1. To add initials (optional; not really recommended), select Text. In the box beside it, enter your initials, followed by an underscore. This is crucial; otherwise, the initials will fuse with your Date clause.
      2. To add Date, select Date Time. In the box beside it, select Date Created. In the third, select YYYYMMDD.
      3. To add a Separator, select Text. In the box beside it, enter an underscore. Repeat this each time you need to add a new Separator within your PIN by using the + button in the far right.
      4. To add Time, select Date Time. In the box beside it, select Date Created. In the third, select HHMMSS.
      5. Add another Separator (see step iii).
      6. To add a Counter, select Sequence Number. Type "1" in the second box to ensure it counts the first photo correctly. In the third box, select the number of digits you've chosen.
1. Observe how your current and new filenames are looking by going to the last section of the dialogue box titled Preview.
2. By the way, leave Options (in the section above) as is.
5. Once you've configured your template and checked that it's looking OK in Preview, head left of the Rename button and click on the icon with the arrow pointing down onto an oversimplified hard drive.
6. Another dialogue box opens. This is where you save your PIN as a preset. Give it a sparkly name like "My Dazzling PIN" and press OK.
7. You should be back in the Batch rename box. It's time to show Presets some love; click it and select the preset you created.
8. All that's left is to hit Rename.

Voilà! From now on, all you have to do is perform steps 1-3, make sure that the correct preset is selected, confirm that the starting number of the Photo Counter is what you want, and press Rename.

🚦 PIN Recap

This is what you should understand and be able to do so far (33% of APAS):

1. IMG_7591
   A useless default PIN begging to be transformed.
2. Date_Time_Counter
   A delicious custom PIN recipe made in Bridge.
3. Batch rename
   A button in Bridge that renames photos, giving them a unique PIN.
4. 20171014_224356_0071
   A filename with a dazzling PIN.

If you're only after a basic yet reliable filename, you can skip Tags and continue to Extensions. However, if you seek greater search functionality, keep reading.

🔖 Tags

Unlike the two other components, Tags are technically optional. But emotionally, they are probably the most exciting component of APAS.

If you're anything like me, sometimes you don't want to filter a photo by its date, time, or file type. Instead, you might be looking for photos based on their content: I need photos with blue in them, express the theme of isolation, and include reflections — but out of those, only photos taken with my Nikon Zf, which I code-named c04. Tags unlock such potential.

I see some hands up in the air. Go on, fire away.

As I stated earlier, PIN clauses are fixed and appear consistently in each filename. Tags are episodic, and thus their appearance depends on the photo. Because of this, unlike PIN clauses, Tags don't have to respect any hierarchy or order consistency; they can be placed anywhere in the filename (as long as it's after the PIN). This means that in one filename, you can place day after s02, but in another one, you can have s02 before day.

To reiterate: Tags should always be episodic. That's what makes them useful. Using that logic, any Tag that becomes fixed becomes redundant. If you are an astrophotographer obsessed with the moon, and only ever take photos around that topic, you better not be tagging your photos with moon or a code-name that represents it like cb02, because it will serve you worse than a wet sock.

Another big distinction between a PIN and Tags is that clauses within a PIN are generated automatically (via batch rename). Tags, on the other hand, aren't part of a camera's metadata, and thus can't be added to a PIN. Because of this, Tags require manual input per photo and rely entirely on your supervision.

As for the purpose of Tags, they describe aspects of a photo so you can easily find it later via search. These aspects can be visible (the sun's out; this is clearly paris because of the eiffeltower; there's a woman with a dog) or invisible (I know the [photographer] who took that photo and even the [camera] they used).

Most of the Tag examples I've given you so far belong to the first Tag type, the …

👁️ Plain Tags

These are specific, mostly unambiguous, and don't really have subcategories: hail, ruleofthirds, eagle, symmetry, jealousy, mountain …

Plain Tags mainly describe visible contents of a photo (this photo shows a bird in flight), but can also reference the invisible (this photo shows a room without windows, but I know it's in albania because I took it).

Here's a non-comprehensive list of Plain Tags examples inside umbrella terms (none are sacred; if you prefer rainy to rain, and bugs to bug, go for it):

• Time: dawn, noon, day, dusk, night …
• Weather: overcast, tornado, fog, storm, snow …
• Colour: red, yellow, cyan, brown, black, gold, rainbow …
• Composition: symmetry, negativespace, leadinglines …
• Planets: mercury, venus, mars, saturn, jupiter …
• Light: contrast, lightpainting, goldenhour …
• Perspective: nadir, low, eyelevel, high, zenith …
• Continent: asia, africa, southamerica, antarctica … 
• Country: iceland, spain, france, japan, ethiopia …
• City: seol, newdelhi, mexicocity, reykjavik, athens …
• People: child, boy, girl, man, elderly …
• Loved: mum, yoko, mycousinsven, uncledan, grandmasonia …
• Form: tall, short, fat, thin, round, square …
• Animal: cat, bird, spider, butterfly, mole, whale …
• Nature: forest, lake, river, sun, moon, water, clouds …
• Genre: street, architecture, sports, astro, underwater …
• Style: olgalkarlovac, saulleiter, alexwebb, lukaszpalka …
• Theme: old, new, chaos, order, minimalism, rebirth …
• Emotion: nostalgia, disgust, surprise, anger, fear …

I could go on, but you get the scope. The sky's your limit.

You may have noticed some bizarre-looking Tags in the above example, specifically dn1 and c02. This is the work of the second type of Tags, the …

👁️‍🗨️ Encoded Tags

As Tags, they also describe; the nuance is that the description is codified.

Remember the umbrella terms from before? Time, Weather, Colour, Planets … In theory, each one can become an Encoded Tag. But don't get too excited. One rule of thumb is: the more Tags, the better for your APAS (in terms of search capacity). An equally important rule is: the fewer Tags — especially Encoded Tags — the better for you (in terms of time and effort). You see, Plain Tags are the happy-go-lucky sibling that requires little maintenance. Encoded Tags, on the other hand, are the emos. They're sensitive. They got 9–9999+ problems (depending on the digit), and they need your unwavering help with each one.

Having said that, the main Encoded Tags that I believe make the most sense for a photographer are [version] (almost mandatory), [software], [photographer], and [camera]. After those come [lens] and [filter] (as in filters for lenses). Ideally, you wouldn't use all six, because that's a lot of Encoded Tags to keep track of for every photo.

Let's continue exploring Encoded Tags and decipher their enigma. But first …

💭 Do You Need Encoded Tags?

Remember, every decision regarding your filename must be justified. It has to serve you in some way. There's no point in cluttering your filename with clauses that you'll spend time adding, but never using.

[version]

I'll start with this one because, compared to the others, it's a bit of a black sheep. You see, unlike any other Tag, this one isn't intended as a search tool. You never really think: Shoot! I need to find the sepia edit of the portrait of grandpa I took some years ago; I remember it was version 3 (followed by you looking up the version number in your archive). Instead, you would locate the portrait through other means (Date & Time, Plain Tags), and automatically reach the versions.

The real function of [version] is as a duplication prevention for edited files. Consequently (unless you have the self-imposed rule of exporting only one version of any photo), you can't really decide whether you use this Encoded Tag or not. It's essential.

[software]

I also separate this one, as unlike the ones to come, you won't find this information anywhere, not even in the metadata. [software] represents the photo editing application you used to edit a photo. It indicates where the edit is, with its modified sliders, generated gradients, and applied LUTs.

If you're someone who only ever edits using one software, and plan on staying forever loyal to it, you don't need this Encoded Tag. If, however, you're a professional and edit using several software depending on the office, project, or client, an Encoded Tag might prove immensely useful. This way, you don't have to remember in which software any old edit resides.

[photographer], [camera], [lens], and [filter]

Since the same answers apply to all of them equally, I'll guide you using some fill-in-the-blank questions.

First and foremost, ask yourself (be honest!):

Do I really need the ability to search my photos by [________]?

• If not, don't include this Encoded Tag.
• If you're unsure, keep asking.

Do I plan to include numerous variables within [________] in my archive?

• If not, don't include this Encoded Tag.
• If you're unsure, keep asking:

Do I plan to include numerous variables within [________] in my archive on a regular and perhaps ever-growing basis?

• If not, don't include this Encoded Tag.
• If you're unsure … What can I say? It doesn't sound like you know what kind of archive you're building yet. Perhaps you should figure that out first.
• If so, include this Encoded Tag.

If you concluded that a particular Encoded Tag isn't worth it, and yet feel unresolved, consider using Plain Tags for those rare instances you want that Tag:

• Software: lightroomclassic, lightroomcc, captureone …
• Photographer: bywife, byunclejohn, byhenricartierbresson …
• Camera: nikonz8, sonyalpha7iv, fujifilmx100vi …
• Lens: 14mm, 24x70mm ("x" because you can't use hyphens), 500mm …
• Filter: uvfilter, nd16filter, diffusionfilter …

Time to uncover another — perhaps the biggest — mystery of Encoded Tags:

🎨 How to Design Encoded Tags

Ironically, it's quite simple: you create a unique code system by combining letters and numbers. The only pitfall to watch out for is accidentally recycling codes between Encoded Tags (and even Plain Tags: this photo shows my wife at a u2 concert in 1987; it was taken by me, u2, which stands for "User 2"; this other photo shows my dad fixing a v8 engine; I made a lot of separate edits of it, but this particular one is v8). The key is to diversify the codes.

[version]

The most intuitive way to design it is with a single letter ("v" for "version" or "e" for "edit"), followed by an embedded counter. If you're a photographer who hardly does more than a couple of edits for a given photo, you likely just need one digit. But if you're a photo editing teacher and want to collect all your students' edits of the same photo for decades to come, you may need three or four.

• v1 / v01 / v001 … → colour edit
• v2 / v02 / v002 … → black-and-white edit
• v3 / v03 / v003 … → overpriced-LUT-I-bought-from-a-YouTuber edit

Another, less minimalist, approach is to elect three or four letters:

• ver1 / ver01 / ver001 … → high contrast edit
• ver2 / ver02 / ver002 … → low saturation edit
• ver3 / ver03 / ver003 … → HDR-atrocity edit

[software]

You could do like with [version], just make sure you use a different letter:

• s1 / s01 / s001 … → Capture One
• s2 / s02 / s002 … → Skylum
• s3 / s03 / s003 … → Photomator

Or choose a three or four-letter approach.

The reason I didn't suggest two letters so far is because of …

[photographer]

For this one, initials are the most intuitive solution.

Now, if two or more photographers within your archive happen to share the same initials, you'd better design this Encoded Tag with an embedded counter. And if your archive collects the works of lots of people, you will need multiple digits:

• dn / dn1 / dn01 … → Dazé Nikulásson — hey, that's me!
• lp / lp1 / lp01 … → Lukasz Palka — hey, that's my saviour!

If filename privacy is important, or you use robots to take, say, surveillance photos, instead of initials, you could use a code system similar to [version] and [software]: "p" for "photographer", "a" for "agent", or "r" for "robot".

• p1 / p01 / p001 … → me
• p2 / p02 / p002 … → spouse
• p3 / p03 / p003 … → my best friend Guillermo

[camera]

Here, a single letter could work, like "c" for "camera":

• c1 / c01 / c001 … → Nikon Zf
• c2 / c02 / c002 … → Canon EOS R1
• c3 / c03 / c003 … → Ricoh GR IIIx

Evidently, don't use two letters if you're already using two for [photographer]; otherwise, your Nikon Zf (zf1) might one day clash with your spouse's brother, Zander Fitzgerald (zf1), who regularly contributes to your archive with family photos. To prevent this, go with three or four letters.

[lens] and [filter]

You get the gist of it.

🚦 Tags Recap

This is what you should understand and be able to generate so far (67% of APAS):

1. 20171014_224356_0071_iceland_reykjavik_snow
   A filename with a dazzling PIN and sparkling Tags (Plain only).
2. 20171014_224356_0071_iceland_reykjavik_dn1_c03_snow_v2
   A filename with a dazzling PIN and sparkling Tags (Plain and Encoded).

Although the resulting filename is worth a toast, it's still missing a component.

📦 Extensions

They are the simplest of all three components, and yet are mandatory.

Extensions indicate the file type of a filename and appear at the very end of the filename (beyond Tags). Unlike any other clause, these are preceded by a period (.). This component also expands search capacity, albeit not much.

In the world of photography, Extensions come in two types. The first is …

🦐 Uncompressed

These are known as raw files. They contain a lot of information and allow for extensive editing without degrading image quality. For this reason, they're usually much heavier than the other type.

This is what the raw files of select camera manufacturers look like:

• .ARW (Sony)
• .NEF (Nikon)
• .RW2 (Panasonic)
• .CR3 (Canon)
• .DNG (Ricoh)

🍤 Compressed

These concern edited files and only contain the necessary amount of information, making them lighter and shareable.

Examples include:

• .jpg or .jpeg (most popular for photography)
• .png (ideal for web images; supports transparency)
• .gif (used for simple animations; not recommended for our sake)

Although I favour lowercases in filenames (personal choice), I leave Extensions as is. Why? Changing an Extension's case type can lead to readability problems with proprietary software. It's not always the case, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Leave Extensions alone, and they won't bug you.

Now, early in the essay, I shared two examples of the same photo, one raw, the other edited:

• 20231204_180258_0332.CR3
• 20231204_180258_0332_dn1_c01_japan_kyoto_dusk_taxi.jpg

They didn't risk duplication, because the raw only contained the PIN, while the edited also incorporated Tags. However, both can still hold the same PIN and Tags without causing duplication, as the Extension distinguishes their filenames:

• 20231204_180258_0332_dn1_c01_japan_kyoto_dusk_taxi.CR3
• 20231204_180258_0332_dn1_c01_japan_kyoto_dusk_taxi.jpg

Pretty cool, no? The only exception is if you export an edit in several versions, in which case the [version] Encoded Tag is needed:

• 20231204_180258_0332_dn1_c01_japan_kyoto_dusk_taxi_v1.jpg
• 20231204_180258_0332_dn1_c01_japan_kyoto_dusk_taxi_v2.jpg
• 20231204_180258_0332_dn1_c01_japan_kyoto_dusk_taxi_v3.jpg

🚦 Extensions Recap

This is what you should understand and be able to generate so far (99% of APAS):

1. 20171014_224356_0071_iceland_reykjavik_dn1_c03_snow.NEF
   A filename with a dazzling PIN, and sparkling Tags (Plain and Encoded), and a glimmering uncompressed Extension.
2. 20171014_224356_0071_iceland_reykjavik_dn1_c03_snow_v2.jpg
   A filename with a dazzling PIN, and sparkling Tags (Plain and Encoded), and a glimmering compressed Extension.

You can now create a filename with all three components — high-five! But while your magnificent ship floats, as the captain, you should also know how to steer it.

🛟 How to Use APAS

Consider this 3-step sequence:

1. Batch rename photos to your custom PIN template
2. Add Tags to each one
3. Copy those Tags over to both file types (raw and edits)

If you build this routine, you will be able to reap all of the following benefits:

👀 Skim

Sometimes, all you need is to skim through a list of photos to find what you're looking for, whether its using the Date & Time clauses, Tags, or the [version]:

• 20240416_123159_020_c02_garden_flower_ladybug_v1.jpg
• 20230325_191822_007_kitchen_dinner_pasta_c01_mum_v2.jpg
• 20220719_201503_006_c01_indoor_portrait_warmlight_v1.jpg
• 20201108_093427_014_c02_forest_path_morning_v4.jpg
• 20180502_145918_021_c03_city_street_motion_v1.jpg

🧮 Sort

Othertimes, you may want to automatically sort all the photos within a location. You can do this in two main ways.

The first is by filename. This sorts the photos in chronological order by reading the first clauses in the string (the PIN):

• 20240416_123159_020_c02_garden_flower_ladybug_v1.jpg
• 20230325_191822_007_kitchen_dinner_pasta_c01_mum_v2.jpg
• 20220719_201503_006_c01_indoor_portrait_warmlight.jpg
• 20201108_093427_014_c02_forest_path_morning_v4.jpg
• 20180502_145918_021_c03_city_street_motion_v1.jpg

If you keep your raw files and edited files in the same location, sorting them by the filename unites them:

• 20220719_201503_006_c01_indoor_portrait_warmlight.jpg
• 20220719_201503_006_c01_indoor_portrait_warmlight.CR3

The second most useful way of sorting your photos is by file type:

• 20240416_123159_020_c02_garden_flower_ladybug_v1.jpg
• 20230325_191822_007_kitchen_dinner_pasta_c01_mum_v2.jpg
• 20240416_123159_020_c02_garden_flower_ladybug.NEF
• 20230325_191822_007_kitchen_dinner_pasta_c01_mum.NEF

In both approaches, you can toggle the directionality and invert the order, from ascending to descending (and vice versa).

🔎 Search

However, more often than not, the two previous options won't cut it. That's where search comes in handy. Here, Tags play a big role.

A search can be performed by typing in any clause inside any component. You can even stack-search clauses from different components by separating them with a space. Best of all? These clauses can be typed in any order.

Let's say you remember a photo from a trip you took a few years ago and want to show it to your friend. Let's say this is the filename in question:

• 20231204_180258_0332_dn1_c01_japan_kyoto_dusk_taxi.jpg

To find it, input any clause into the search bar of your window. Evidently, the more clauses you can remember, the quicker the file will show up:

• 🔴 japan
• 🟠 20231204 + dn1
• 🟡 c01 + kyoto + taxi + japan
• 🟢 dn1 + c01 + japan + kyoto + dusk + taxi

Let's say your friend persuades you to make a black-and-white edit of this photo, but you keep your raw files in a separate location and don't quite remember where this one is. No problem! Just copy the PIN of the edit and paste it into the master folder or drive that contains all your photos (or at least this raw):

• 20231204_180258_0332

And voilà:

• 20231204_180258_0332_dn1_c01_japan_kyoto_dusk_taxi.NEF

… Tell me, how do you view the filename now? (It's the same one from the start.) Can you see the hidden beauty I talked about? Can you sense the power of APAS? (Please nod your head; otherwise, I'll feel like a wet sock!)

⚠️ One Last Thing

This is the remaining 1% of APAS.

Before we pop a bottle and go nuts, there's one crucial bit of information that I intentionally left out, only so it would hit as hard as it could now.

All this work won't mean a thing if you don't …

‼️ STAY CONSISTENT ‼️

I cannot stress this enough. If you don't respect the system you've designed — especially the PIN — it completely loses its functionality.

If one day you batch rename to:
😇 20240216_150511_0001_france_paris_street_hp01_c01_v3.jpg

And the next day you feel for something different:
😈 240216_150511_0001_france_paris_street_hp01_c01_v3.jpg
😈 france_20240216_150511_0001_paris_street_hp01_c01_v3.jpg
😈 2024_02_16_150511_0001_france_paris_street_hp01_c01_v3.jpg
😈 150511_20240216_0001_france_paris_street_hp01_c01_v3.jpg
😈 20240216150511_0001_france_paris_street_hp01_c01_v3.jpg
😈 20240216_150511_01_france_paris_street_hp01_c01_v3.jpg
😈 20240216_150511_0001_france_paris_street_hp1_c01_v3.jpg
😈 20240216_150511_0001_france_paris_street_hp01_c001_v3.jpg
😈 20240216_150511_0001_france_paris_street_hp01_c01_e3.jpg

You might as well stick with:
🤡 IMG_7591.jpg

To exemplify Lukasz one last time: In his video, he mentioned that he regrets not having chosen his own initials instead of Nikon's default signature DSC ("Digital Still Camera"). He can't change this now. Well, he could, but it would require an enormous amount of time and labour. And so, he's stuck with it, like a tattoo.

But you, you can avoid this snag — and many others. So please, take your time designing your APAS. You've gone without one for years, so you can go without one for a little longer. After you've assembled a candidate, test it for days, a week, or even two weeks. Evaluate. Was it useful? Are you missing anything? Did you find some parts unnecessary? Iterate. Test again. Learn. You will get there.

🏁 Finishing Line

Congratulations! You did it. You went all the way!

This means you recognised the potential in this system, and care enough about your photo archive to give it the safeguarding it deserves.

Although today is one good day for a photographer, the reality is that most other photographers are unfamiliar with APAS. So, why not spread the word by sharing this essay with a fellow snapper? Maybe even two? Who knows, it could one day earn you the title of saviour — like Lukasz did for me.

And on that note … Lukasz Palka, my dear fellow, if you're reading, thank you for blowing my mind on that random Tuesday evening. Thank you for continuing to inspire me with your work. I owe you a drink the next time I visit Tokyo. いいよね？

This doesn't have to be goodbye