File Naming Conventions

ImageDirector

File naming conventions are a concern for many users of Digital Asset Management Systems. Most systems do not pay any attention to the issues that may be caused by the lack of a naming convention. In particular, files can not be readily identified after having been downloaded to local systems and the recipient is not impressed.

The purpose of this article is to address concerns about file naming conventions in Digital Asset Management Systems. However, within the ImageDirector Digital Asset Management System, the filename bears little meaning since files are organized through categorization and accessible metadata. Still, the following is a file naming convention proposition for use in events when files are extracted from the ImageDirector Digital Asset Management System. For example, when a business affiliate downloads an image.

Consider file names such as:

DSCN0619.jpg
C-1956.jpg
IMG0006.png
819.eps

These file names convey very little information about the images within and thus make them difficult to categorize. The impression made with the above example can be compared with this example:

070329_YVR_boardmeeting_onison_BW.jpg

This example demonstrates the standard practice naming convention used by Onison. It allows for ready identification of the source and content of a file even if it is utilised outside of a Digital Asset Management System. It contains six components which are described below:

Date Stamp

This component states the date of when the photograph was taken. It is encoded in the format: YY-MM-DD . It is placed in the most significant position in order for file sorting algorithms to easily place them in chronological order.

In the case that dates before 2000 will also be handled, the date format YYYY-MM-DD needs to be chosen consistently for all files, including those after 2000.

Place Stamp

This component states the location in which the photograph was taken.

Description

This component contains a brief description of the main focus of the image. It should be accurate and short.

Company Stamp

This component states the name of the owner of the image.

BW Stamp

This optional component states the image is in greyscale.

File Extention

This is the standard file type extension utilised by many operating systems and other software.

With a structured naming convention it is possible to agorithmically extract information without looking at the file contents. In this sense it makes it easier for machinery and logic to quickly categorize the files. Image dimensions are not included in the filename since the image can be resized.

These technical specifications are put in place in order to improve compatibility with most systems:

File name must not be longer than 64 characters.
Only letters, numbers, dashes (-), and underscores (_) are used.
Lowercase letters must be used for file extentions. (Some web applications have compatability problems with uppercase extensions.)

A file naming convention is mandatory, where image files are being used to merge with a metadata import. The information contained within the file name aids the system to apply the correct data.