Organization
Two opposite mistakes
There are two ways to get file naming wrong. The first: keeping raw camera names, DSC_4827.NEF, IMG_2032.CR3, handy for the machine, meaningless to humans, and repeating as soon as the camera counter loops. The second, by overcorrection: building names so rich (2026-07-24_Paris_Smith_Wedding_Ceremony_v3_SELECT_final.NEF) that they become fragile, unreadable, and painful to maintain. Between the two lies a simple idea: a file name should not carry, on its own, the identity of a photograph.
Technical name vs. documentary identity
A file name is a technical convenience: it helps locate a file in a folder. A photograph’s documentary identity, what makes it findable and understandable, lives elsewhere: in its metadata and in a stable identifier. Conflating the two means entrusting durable information to the most volatile object: a name gets renamed, truncated on export, collides with others, and doesn’t always survive transfers.
The persistent inventory number
The archivists’ answer is an old one: assign a stable, unique, permanent inventory number that never changes, whatever the file’s name or location. This number becomes the anchor point: it links an image to its documentation, its derivatives, and its versions, even when everything else moves.
Linking original, derivatives, and versions
A single shot quickly spawns a family: the original RAW, a retouched TIFF, JPEG exports, a print. If each depends only on its name, the family scatters at the first rename. A persistent identifier lets you tie these files together: you know which export came from which original, which version derives from which. The link survives the moves.
A sensible scheme
If you want a readable name, keep it plain: a scheme like PREFIX_YEAR_SEQUENCE (for example STUDIO_2026_004512) is enough. Short, sortable, no spaces or accents, no information that will “expire” (avoid baking a status or a selection into the name, that changes). All the rich context goes in the metadata, not the name.
In practice
- Store no critical information in the file name alone.
- Adopt a persistent identifier as a photo’s real key.
- Keep a short naming scheme, without accents or spaces, stable over time.
- Let metadata carry context, and links carry versions.
Obscura Flow assigns each image a persistent inventory number and keeps the links between original, derivatives, and versions. Your files can be renamed, moved, migrated: their identity no longer depends on their name.