Some people vow to shed weight or drop an undesirable habit when the New Year rolls around. As 2012 approaches, I think this is also a great time to fine tune your photo organization and backup plan. When I recorded my lynda.com title, Organizing and Archiving Digital Photos, I always had the New Year in mind.

The most important concept is "Start where you are." What I mean by that, is build your improved system for 2012, then start using it for the new pictures you take. At first, don't worry about all those other images from previous years. Once you get the new system fine tuned with a manageable amount of photos, you can begin to bring in the old stuff a chunk at a time.

By taking the "start where you are" approach, you won't overwhelm yourself or your new system while you're still working out the kinks. This prevents frustration, and will give you better odds of success.

As for creating the system itself, take a look at Organizing and Archiving Digital Photos for some new ideas. If you start building your plan now, you should be ready to implement it on Jan. 1, 2012.

More on Organizing and Archiving Digital Photos

Organizing and Archiving Overview Movie

Choosing the Right Hard Drive for Your Photo Backup

Roundtripping from Lightroom to Photoshop

"Organizing and Archiving Your Photos" - Digital Photography Podcast 290

Quick Keywording Tips in Lightroom 3

Backing Up Aperture 3 Via My Local Network

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