Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 3: Choose the Right Titles for Art Photos
• Method 2 of 3: Choose the Right Web Photo Titles for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Requirements
• Method 3 of 3: Choose Correct Titles for Archived Photos
• What do you need

The choice of a name for a photograph depends on its future use. For example, the title of a photograph for an art exhibition must be different from the title of a photograph for a website. You need to be careful when choosing a name for your photo, as once it is presented to a wider audience, it can be very difficult to regain control over its name.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Choose the Right Titles for Art Photos

1. 1 Use this method if you intend to print titles on photo brochures or sign photographs in publications. There are many naming styles available today, and each of them is capable of telling the viewer something about you.
2. 2 Name the photo according to the place shown on it. Photos are best titled according to the specific location and chronological time they captured. Consider using a specific address, city, state, and country in the name, with the exact date of the image added.
3. 3 It is better to choose a name for the photo based on the information about the camera. Start with the camera type and move on to film, lens type, filter type, and then on to any other information that is of interest to the photographer.
4. 4 Write down the title. Some photographers write down whole sentences instead of giving short names. If you do not want the photo to speak for itself, then write a full sentence (up to 150 characters).
5. 5 Pick two words and place them together, separating them with “and”. Many photographers use this concept to compose the titles of their photographs. For example: "Light and Shadow" or "Lady and Dog".
6. 6 Leave the image untitled. Use the phrase “Untitled”. Try adding a date to allow the viewer to position the image correctly in time.
7. 7 Use an artistic title. To name their creations, photographers turn to song, reflection or inspiration. For example, the title “Existentialism in Concert” can either enrich or bewilder the viewer.
8. 8 If you want to increase your name recognition in the art market, add your name to the photo title. The more often people see your name, the more likely they will become interested in your other work.
9. 9 Develop your own naming strategy. At first, you can choose some popular naming style, but in the future it is better to pick up a series of words and concepts that will continue to evolve as you name more and more photos. Use a naming style that is as simple or as complex as you want it to be.

Method 2 of 3: Choose the Right Web Photo Titles for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Requirements

1. 1 You need to start with photographs that have medium quality resolution. Search engines do not rank large photographs due to the complexity of the data processing. However, you will need to choose a file size that allows you to get a clear image at a small size.
2. 2 Name the file according to what is shown in the photo. Use multiple words separated by dashes. For example, you can enter sunset-Blue Harbor.webp as the name of a file on an online image of a Blue Harbor sunset.
   • Never use an underscore instead of a dash. Google and other search engines treat dashes as spaces and the underscore as a word connector.
3. 3 Add information about the image. The rest of the information added to the file will increase its popularity in search results. In order to generate interest and gain popularity, your photo must offer more information than just the filename.
4. 4 Start with the alt tag. This is exactly the tag where the keywords are important. Edit the alt tag to describe the photo in terms that people can use to find it.
   • For example, for a photo of sunset-Blue Harbor.webp, you can use the alt tag with the keywords sunset-in-the-ocean or sunset-in-blue-ocean: people often search for photos of a sunset in the ocean using these keywords.
   • The alt tag must not exceed 150 characters (including dashes).
   • Use a dash, not an underscore, to separate keywords.
   • For best results, you need to do a little keyword research (before naming a photo) to make sure you are using a specific but popular set of search words.
5. 5 Give your photo a title. This information will also be available to search engines as a description in the event that other options do not work. Write a sentence or a few words to describe the image.
6. 6 Add a custom url. Linking an image to a URL will help redirect the person who finds your photo in an image search to any website of your choice. This is very important if you want the person to buy a printed version of a photo or see your other work.

Method 3 of 3: Choose Correct Titles for Archived Photos

1. 1 Download original photos from your camera to your computer. If you use photographic film, it will be better if the first word in the name of the photo matches the name of the device with which the shooting was carried out.
   • Archiving of images is mainly of interest to historians. Photo titles are chosen systematically so that later they can be used to compose a chronological story about a person, place or thing.
2. 2 You can use the default values ​​for simple archiving. The camera usually assigns the same prefix to all photos: IMG or DSC. This approach does have the advantage that the name given to the default image can be analyzed later (and can also be associated with the camera type).
3. 3 You can change the default values ​​for filenames. If your camera allows you to choose a prefix, use the three to five characters that the camera assigns to images by default in order to organize all the images it captures.
4. 4 Save serial numbers when copying files from the camera. As you take more photos, the camera will use new dates or numbers in the filenames. This is also an advantage: the photos are named in chronological order as you take them.
5. 5 Do not delete photos after downloading them to your computer, otherwise you risk leaving such gaps in the series that it will be difficult to recover later.
6. 6 Do not rename the photos in the series. Instead of immediately starting to rename something based on the properties or subject matter of the photos, it is better to first copy the images, and only then rename them. You can delete the second copy later, if necessary.
7. 7 Stick to the same naming conventions for your photos until you have a new camera. If possible, continue to use a similar technique, but with a new letter code as a prefix for the new camera model.

What do you need

• Camera
• Photo Brochures