Visual Arts Copyright and Digital Documentation

Good file names provide:

• Searchability: Find files without opening them
• Organization: Group related works automatically
• Professionalism: Meet gallery and institution standards
• Preservation: Keep files identifiable when separated from folders

Core Elements for Art File Names

• Artist Name: lastname or lastname_firstinitial
• Artwork Title: Brief version in lowercase
• Year: Creation date (YYYY format)
• Medium: Abbreviated code
• Dimensions: Height × Width (in/cm)
• Type: Original or derivative indicator (orig, web, detail)

The examples below are for demonstration purposes. You can choose whatever works best for your practice.

For Single Artwork:
lastname_title_year_medium_dimensions_filetype.ext

Example: smith_horizon_2023_oil_24x36in_orig.tif

For Series:
lastname_seriesname_number_year_medium_dimensions_filetype.ext

Example: smith_landscapes_03_2023_oil_24x36in_orig.tif

Special Cases

• Collaborative work: artist1-artist2_title_year
• Multimedia work: smith_horizon_2023_mixed_24x36in
• Editions: smith_horizon_2023_print_ed3of10
• Detail shots: smith_horizon_2023_oil_detail1
• Installations: smith_horizon_2023_install_gallery

Try to avoid these specific elements listed below. Without doing so will learn to file naming issues and challenges for how your computer will interpret them.

• Spaces in filenames (use underscores)
• Special characters (%, $, &, #, @)
• Overly long filenames (aim for under 50 characters)
• Ambiguous dates (01-02-23 could be Jan 2 or Feb 1)
• Version confusion (use v1, v2 or dates yyyy-mm-dd)
• "Final" in filenames (nothing is ever final!)
• Uppercase letters (always use lowercase)