[Shotwell] Import Suggestions

[Peter DO Smith]

On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 9:00 PM, Lu Timdale <lutimdale at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> - Import should be file system based (organize by folder) and this
> should be configurable.
>> Pictures/2010/2010-01-01 New Year's Eve/
>> or
>> Pictures/2010/01/New Year's Eve
>> or whatever format a user wants.
>> I cannot stress how important this is.  This is
> required for archival purposes.  You should not need Shotwell 10 years
> from now to be able to view your organized photos.  I should also be
> able to import my pictures, organize them, and be able to browse them
> intelligently in the file manager.
>>
>
> Completely
> agreed.  This is http://trac.yorba.org/ticket/1597 .  I hope
> we
> can make this happen before too long.
>

>  So, there are several things to consider on import
> - custom folder structure
> - custom renaming of files to be unique across library (however original filenames should be supported too eg. DSC0001.jpg)
> - renaming of files to be descriptive and match folder naming
> - renaming of folders/files from within app
> - app being aware of renaming of folders/files in filesystem (as in watched folders)
> - merging folders from same events, but different cameras that ended up in different folders
>

Yes, the folder structure is important and configurable would be ideal.
Presently the import folder structure  is

year --> month ---> day ---> file_name

I describe the folder structure I use below so that you can appreciate
the differing needs of photographers.

year-month --> year-month-001.jpg
and
year-month --> DNG ---> year-month-001.DNG

i.e. I have one folder for each month containing the jpegs and a
sub-folder containing the RAW files. A sub-folder for each day seems
excessively complex but might be useful for very busy photographers.

The photos are renamed year-month-001.jpg and year-month-001.DNG so
that when I view the photo I can always find the file location by
inspecting the file name.

Note that I keep the RAW files in a subfolder separate from the converted jpegs.

Peter