Travel Photography - Software Aid to Sort Digital Photos into Good and Bad Categories?

How do you quickly sort your digital photos into good v. bad?

I take photos at conventions and trade shows, and need some Windows software that will help me mark or discard the bad shots so I can quickly gather the (few) good ones to go into a slideshow.

Right now I use IrfanView to review a folder of pictures, writing down the file number of the bad ones and then manually Deleting them. It's pretty fast, since IrfanView loads quickly and clicking the right arrow goes to the next photo.

But, I'm wondering if there is a better system.

I use Lightroom, but that's a fairly robust/expensive solution with many other capabilities. But myfirst step after importing a shoot is to sit down with fingers on p (pick), x (reject) and the arrow key. I get through the photos as quickly as I can recognize and make a decision. Then I filter for only the picks, and go through again with my fingers on 1-5 and the right arrow, rating the picks with 1,2,3,4 or 5 stars. Then potentially another pass with fingers on 6-9, which correspond to colors, if I need another hierarchy. After that I can easily filter, sort, etc., by pick, rating, and category ( in addition to keywording and all the other features).

If LR is overkill, you may look into whether Elements or a similar piece of software has these features.

Edit: Here's a place to start - Photo Software Organizing Review (http://photo-organizing-software-review.toptenreviews.com/) - they all claim to be capable of sorting, organizing, and several have rating capabilities - for $30-60. Ulead, Corel, and ACDSee are all well known/reputable. Read the reviews, and most probably have trial versions.

If you use a Mac, iPhoto is good enough for the hobbyist. If you use a PC, Google Picassa isn't too shabby. Higher up the scale, you have the modern Digital Asset Management packages like Lightroom (PC and Mac) and Aperture (Mac only).

For the less expensive packages, you need to be disciplined about photo storages but (and let the software take care of the cataloguing of your photos). Lightroom and Aperture OTOH are complete control freaks and import your photos into their own "Über Database" (use Aperture myself and have no problem with this approach).

Ha, I thought you meant programs that will automatically decide for you. :p

I also use IrfanView as a first-pass tool to view, rotate, and edit my photos. When you encounter a bad photo, just press the 'delete' key and it goes away. :cool:

If you're looking for better editing software at the same time, I would also recommend Adobe Photoshop Elements. Elements is a more basic and consumer friendly version of Photoshop, but includes most everything you would need for even semi-serious photo editing (layers, levels, brushes, burn/dodge, saturation, etc).

If you also happen to be looking for video editing software, there are bundles out there that include Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements for less than $100 which is a great deal for the amount of editing/processing capabilities you're getting.

If you're JUST looking for basic organization, I'd go with a freeware and/or online option like Picassa or even Flickr, allowing both organization and online sharing/backup.

I actually just use Microsoft Explorer. I copy the files into their own directory, and right arrow through them deleting the ones I don't want, leaving the good ones. It's three keys, right arrow, delete, confirm, and the next picture is there.

It's fast and easy.

I actually just use Microsoft Explorer. I copy the files into their own directory, and right arrow through them deleting the ones I don't want, leaving the good ones. It's three keys, right arrow, delete, confirm, and the next picture is there.

It's fast and easy.
You are looking at the "Extra Large Icons"? That would let me delete those with the most glaring of errors, but not the subtle problems (e.g., slight motion blur). I would like to be able to use your procedure while viewing larger, full-screen versions of the photos.

I think those recommending one program or another should state that whether you're actually deleting the files or just marking them (like with Aperture or Lightroom) for sorting. I don't know if the OP really wants to completely delete those "bad" pictures.

I also use IrfanView as a first-pass tool to view, rotate, and edit my photos. When you encounter a bad photo, just press the 'delete' key and it goes away. :cool:
Thank you, mikew99! This is exactly what I wanted, and I didn't know that my existing software (IrfanView) could already do it. The Deleted photos go to the Recycle bin, so can be recovered if you change your mind.

rkkwan, I would be afraid to use software that could automatically delete all the bad photos...I might wind up with nothing to show :eek:

I'm not in favor of using software that creates a database of your photos, because you are then locked in to using that software forever.

You are looking at the "Extra Large Icons"? That would let me delete those with the most glaring of errors, but not the subtle problems (e.g., slight motion blur). I would like to be able to use your procedure while viewing larger, full-screen versions of the photos.

Thank you, mikew99! This is exactly what I wanted, and I didn't know that my existing software (IrfanView) could already do it. The Deleted photos go to the Recycle bin, so can be recovered if you change your mind.

rkkwan, I would be afraid to use software that could automatically delete all the bad photos...I might wind up with nothing to show :eek:

I'm not in favor of using software that creates a database of your photos, because you are then locked in to using that software forever.

Doesn't using the preview function in Windows do this very thing?:confused:

You are looking at the "Extra Large Icons"? That would let me delete those with the most glaring of errors, but not the subtle problems (e.g., slight motion blur). I would like to be able to use your procedure while viewing larger, full-screen versions of the photos.


Nope, full screen. Double click on the image, and the Windows Picture and Fax viewer opens full screen. It has simple controls on the bottom for next and previous picture (though the right, left, up, down, page up and page down buttons also work), it can do a slide show, you can zoom in or out if you want, and rotate in 90 degrees each way. Delete (the delete key also works), save, print, etc.

Once you open one you can just scroll through all the others.

As to deleting or marking for deletion, I work with a copy of the directory, delete what I don't want, leaving just what I want, so it's a one pass thing, not marked first.

I use Picasa for this functionality. While looking through the collection I can use the space bar to add a star to the ones I like. The viewer has a star filter so I can limit the display to just the good ones if I want to.