Using Photoshop Elements 5.0 to Organize Your Photos

Organizing photos is often a daunting task and the main reason why so many of us just don’t do it. However, with PhotoShop Elements 5.0, digital image organization is a piece of cake.

The organization process in Elements 5.0 is best started immediately after you import your photos because, even if you have photos already in the organizer, the only ones that will appear in the organizer workspace are those just imported. The benefit of tackling this task from this standpoint is that it makes the organization process a bit more streamlined. Plus, you can organize your photos in manageable size groups rather than all of the photos at one time. But, if you do not have time to organize the photos at the time of import, you can always go back to previously imported photos by selecting “Back to all Photos” and complete the organize later.

When you first get started, you have a couple of choices in terms of how you can view your photos. You can select the Timeline view or Date view. These viewing options are exactly as they sound and allow you to sort and view photos along a timeline or based on a specific date in time.

Photoshop Elements 5.0 offers two main methods for organizing the photos – Tags and Collections. Tags are a great way to sort your photos because they allow you to add a specific word to a photo or to multiple photos. Much like a keywords entered into a browser, tags offer the ability to search based on the applied word. Collections are different from tags in that they are great for organizing around a common theme such as San Francisco Collections are created just as easily as a Tag. Outlined below are the process for creating Tags and Collections using Photoshop Elements 5.0:

To create and apply tags, follow these simple steps:

1. In the organization bin, select Tags.
2. Next, click the New button and choose New Tag from the menu.
3. Select a category from the drop down list such as Family, Friends, Places or Events.
4. Next, enter a name for the Tag in the Name field (such as Sister) and click OK.
5. Then, drag the Sister tag to all of the photos in the Photo Browser that include your sister.

To create a collection, follow these simple steps:

1. In the organization bin, select Collections.
2. Next, click the New button and choose New Collection from the menu.
3. Select a category from the drop down list such as Family, Friends, Places or Events.
4. Next, assign a name to the Collection in the Name field (such as Chicago) and click OK.
5. Then, drag the Chicago tag to all of the photos in the Photo Browser that were taken in Chicago.

With PhotoShop Elements 5.0, it takes such little time to organize photos; you will wonder why you didn’t start sooner. So, get out there and download your photos and start organizing while you can still remember the memories you have captured.

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