<p>You already started the good way. Store the paper drawings in a sorted way - by creation date is good enough. The date can act as an ID of the drawing. Continue scanning the paper drawings. The files should have the IDs of the drawings as names.</p>
<p>Then you attach to each file any number of tags, according to the needs. Types of tags:</p>
<ul>
<li>regarding content: humans, animals, body parts, technical, mechanical, electrical, nature etc.</li>
<li>regarding style: BW, color, shades, sketches, graphite, charcoal...</li>
<li>regarding status: finished, not finished, stored, framed, sold...</li>
<li>regarding location: personal archive, gallery X, gallery Y, friend 1, friend 2...</li>
<li>any other tag according to your needs.</li>
</ul>
<p>How to keep track of tags, and how to find a drawing based on the tags: ideally, some gallery program can do that for you. If not, some basic Excel skills should come in handy.</p>
<hr />
<p>My thinking tells me that simple category-based sorting cannot work, because one drawing can fit in multiple categories - and that is how categories become tags.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-18T18:11:47.847Z
Using tags is indeed the essential insight because there are many dimensions to cover. And I did end up using a spreadsheet.
Martin Ueding
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-18T10:14:59.293Z
2024-09-18T10:14:59.293Z
virolino
<p>In the comments the unanimous suggestion was to use tags to disentangle the multiple dimensions that the images have. Essentially we're in the realm of digital photo sorting where tags are common practice.</p>
<p>Since I want a matrix of metadata, I use a spreadsheet. Another reason for this is that I store the raw scans as PNG and the edited previews as JPEG. They have different metadata formats, therefore it is nice to have this separate. With the spreadsheet I can easily spot gaps.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Tp6aFh7J.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Tp6aFh7J.png" alt="Spreadsheet showing the tags" /></a></p>
<p>Then I've written <a href="https://github.com/martin-ueding/drawings-gallery" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a Python script</a> that reads the spreadsheet and generates HTML from that. I've used Bootstrap CSS and some hacked JavaScript to filter the images based on all the metadata.</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/AJlhnrv8.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/AJlhnrv8.png" alt="Rendered website with the previews" /></a></p>
<p>Now one can select which kind, which paper, which pens, which topic and so on. You can <a href="https://martin-ueding.de/zeichnungen/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">see it live</a>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-19T05:31:30.307Z
It looks very nice. However, I think you do not use the tags at their full potential. Tags = a list of words. Example: in your table, how do you choose _"metal+wood"_ for _"materials"_, additionally to _"metal"_ and _"wood"_? Assuming that you actually have _"metal"_ and _"wood"_ as _"materials"_ :) NOTE: this is not a complaint, just an idea for additional improvement.
virolino
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-19T05:34:33.800Z
How to implement it? Just create a column for each option available for each category you have now. The content of the table will be only YES or NO (or any other encoding you like). In that way, you can choose _"graphite"_, _"charcoal"_ and _"acrylic"_ at the same time, if you choose to experiment with all of them in the same work.
virolino
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-19T13:07:26.970Z
From my experience, you need to build this tag system based on how you want to **find things in the future**, not on how you created or stored things yesterday. Imagine a day where you want to draw a portrait of a person, but you can't get the eyes to look right. Wouldn't it help to filter all your scanned drawings for eyes? Or if you want to draw a still life but can't decide on which perspective to chose, you'll want to filter for all "perspective" studies. I don't see any use case where I'd want to search for all drawings made on "Kopierpapier Recycling"...
Elmy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-20T06:39:48.760Z
You two have a valid points! It would make sense to filter for "eyes", "noses" or "faces". There should also be a column for "content" which would allow arbitrary many tags. — Thinking this from the future also makes sense, I haven't done so. I'll have a look into _real_ tags.
Martin Ueding
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-20T13:32:13.143Z
@Elmy: I've now updated the live page with keywords. In the "Motiv" category there is for instance "Auge" ("eye"). And then I can take a look at all the drawings or sketches that involve eyes. There is also "Gesicht" ("face") and I haven't tagged those with "eye" because that feels redundant and still easy to search for manually.
Martin Ueding
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-18T18:21:13.640Z
2024-09-18T18:21:13.640Z
Martin Ueding
<p>I have been drawing with pencils for a while now and have now created 200 to 300 sketches and drawings. As with paperwork, I scan all my artifacts and store them on my computer. At the moment I have them chronologically ordered in a big directory and have a gallery that just has everything in it:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/BO9g0Taz.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/BO9g0Taz.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>As you can see, it contains various sketches of whole things, studies of details, exercises from drawing books, associative goofing off, and what I consider polished drawings.</p>
<p>I wonder how to organize this. I can see multiple dimensions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Separate sketches, studies and drawings</li>
<li>Separate by kind, say portrait, landscape, still-life</li>
<li>Separate by the book from which I got the exercises and have a big folder for things that I did without a book</li>
<li>Separate personal drawings (people I know) from the ones which can be public</li>
</ul>
<p>Each image seems to accord to several such categories, I could use tags and then filter for one or multiple of such tags. With a bit of programming I could pretty much achieve any sorting system. I am just not sure what will be handy.</p>
<p>As this is a site with definite answers, there might not be a answer that can provide closure. I would still appreciate to hear thoughts on organization systems that you use and are likely consistent within themselves.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-17T14:31:33.443Z
"Each image seems to accord to several such categories" And therein lies the problem. What may seem a logical organization to you may seem chaotic to someone else. Honestly, the "best" organization scheme is the one **you** feel most comfortable with.
agarza
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-18T05:36:49.547Z
From experience in the software industry, a tag-based system seems to be the best. Give each image as many tags as makes sense to you, describing its various properties like: study, landscape, perspective, person, wall, low contrast, ect. That allows you to later search for anything with people in it or anything exploring perspective.
Elmy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-19T06:15:13.060Z
As you've scanned them, you may want to look into how photographers organise their work, with that acting as an index the the physical copies. There are tools to attach and sort by tags, for example
Chris H
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-09-20T06:35:16.523Z
@ChrisH: I think regarding these scans just as photographs is the right frame of mind that will lead to all the tools that are established there.
Martin Ueding
<drawing>
Organization scheme for sketches and drawings
Martin Ueding
# Organization scheme for sketches and drawings

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-09-17)

I have been drawing with pencils for a while now and have now created 200 to 300 sketches and drawings. As with paperwork, I scan all my artifacts and store them on my computer. At the moment I have them chronologically ordered in a big directory and have a gallery that just has everything in it:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/BO9g0Taz.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/BO9g0Taz.png)

As you can see, it contains various sketches of whole things, studies of details, exercises from drawing books, associative goofing off, and what I consider polished drawings.

I wonder how to organize this. I can see multiple dimensions:

* Separate sketches, studies and drawings
* Separate by kind, say portrait, landscape, still-life
* Separate by the book from which I got the exercises and have a big folder for things that I did without a book
* Separate personal drawings (people I know) from the ones which can be public

Each image seems to accord to several such categories, I could use tags and then filter for one or multiple of such tags. With a bit of programming I could pretty much achieve any sorting system. I am just not sure what will be handy.

As this is a site with definite answers, there might not be a answer that can provide closure. I would still appreciate to hear thoughts on organization systems that you use and are likely consistent within themselves.

**Tags:** drawing

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: "Each image seems to accord to several such categories" And therein lies the problem. What may seem a logical organization to you may seem chaotic to someone else. Honestly, the "best" organization scheme is the one **you** feel most comfortable with.  
> **username_2**: From experience in the software industry, a tag-based system seems to be the best. Give each image as many tags as makes sense to you, describing its various properties like: study, landscape, perspective, person, wall, low contrast, ect. That allows you to later search for anything with people in it or anything exploring perspective.  
> **username_3**: As you've scanned them, you may want to look into how photographers organise their work, with that acting as an index the the physical copies. There are tools to attach and sort by tags, for example  
> **username_0**: @username_3: I think regarding these scans just as photographs is the right frame of mind that will lead to all the tools that are established there.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2024-09-18. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

You already started the good way. Store the paper drawings in a sorted way - by creation date is good enough. The date can act as an ID of the drawing. Continue scanning the paper drawings. The files should have the IDs of the drawings as names.

Then you attach to each file any number of tags, according to the needs. Types of tags:

* regarding content: humans, animals, body parts, technical, mechanical, electrical, nature etc.
* regarding style: BW, color, shades, sketches, graphite, charcoal...
* regarding status: finished, not finished, stored, framed, sold...
* regarding location: personal archive, gallery X, gallery Y, friend 1, friend 2...
* any other tag according to your needs.

How to keep track of tags, and how to find a drawing based on the tags: ideally, some gallery program can do that for you. If not, some basic Excel skills should come in handy.

---

My thinking tells me that simple category-based sorting cannot work, because one drawing can fit in multiple categories - and that is how categories become tags.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Using tags is indeed the essential insight because there are many dimensions to cover. And I did end up using a spreadsheet.  

---

### Answer by username_0 on 2024-09-18. Score: 0

In the comments the unanimous suggestion was to use tags to disentangle the multiple dimensions that the images have. Essentially we're in the realm of digital photo sorting where tags are common practice.

Since I want a matrix of metadata, I use a spreadsheet. Another reason for this is that I store the raw scans as PNG and the edited previews as JPEG. They have different metadata formats, therefore it is nice to have this separate. With the spreadsheet I can easily spot gaps.

[![Spreadsheet showing the tags](https://i.sstatic.net/Tp6aFh7J.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/Tp6aFh7J.png)

Then I've written [a Python script](https://github.com/username_0/drawings-gallery) that reads the spreadsheet and generates HTML from that. I've used Bootstrap CSS and some hacked JavaScript to filter the images based on all the metadata.

[![Rendered website with the previews](https://i.sstatic.net/AJlhnrv8.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/AJlhnrv8.png)

Now one can select which kind, which paper, which pens, which topic and so on. You can [see it live](https://username_0.de/zeichnungen/).

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: It looks very nice. However, I think you do not use the tags at their full potential. Tags = a list of words. Example: in your table, how do you choose _"metal+wood"_ for _"materials"_, additionally to _"metal"_ and _"wood"_? Assuming that you actually have _"metal"_ and _"wood"_ as _"materials"_ :) NOTE: this is not a complaint, just an idea for additional improvement.  
> **username_4**: How to implement it? Just create a column for each option available for each category you have now. The content of the table will be only YES or NO (or any other encoding you like). In that way, you can choose _"graphite"_, _"charcoal"_ and _"acrylic"_ at the same time, if you choose to experiment with all of them in the same work.  
> **username_2**: From my experience, you need to build this tag system based on how you want to **find things in the future**, not on how you created or stored things yesterday. Imagine a day where you want to draw a portrait of a person, but you can't get the eyes to look right. Wouldn't it help to filter all your scanned drawings for eyes? Or if you want to draw a still life but can't decide on which perspective to chose, you'll want to filter for all "perspective" studies. I don't see any use case where I'd want to search for all drawings made on "Kopierpapier Recycling"...  
> **username_0**: You two have a valid points! It would make sense to filter for "eyes", "noses" or "faces". There should also be a column for "content" which would allow arbitrary many tags. — Thinking this from the future also makes sense, I haven't done so. I'll have a look into _real_ tags.  
> **username_0**: @username_2: I've now updated the live page with keywords. In the "Motiv" category there is for instance "Auge" ("eye"). And then I can take a look at all the drawings or sketches that involve eyes. There is also "Gesicht" ("face") and I haven't tagged those with "eye" because that feels redundant and still easy to search for manually.  

---

