If you’re like most computer users these days, you have a
digital camera and save your image files to your hard disk on a regular basis.
Most digital cameras save image files with a short cryptic name and a
sequential number which makes sense from a digital standpoint. However, if at a
later date you want to find the pictures of the kids at the park, a filename
like DSCN0040.jpg really isn’t much help.

To make it easier to track down specific pictures you can
assign keywords to your image files via the file’s Properties dialog box. Then,
you could easily find the pictures of the kids at the park by searching on your Windows XP machine for the
keywords you assigned to the image files.

While on the surface, this sounds like a great idea, the
prospect of adding keywords to all your image files one by one is a daunting
notion. Fortunately, you can add common keywords to a group of files in one
fell swoop.

Here’s how:

  1. Launch
    Windows Explorer, hold down the [Ctrl] key, and select all the files to which
    you want to assign common keywords.
  2. Right-click
    any file in the selection and choose the Properties command.
  3. When
    you see the Properties dialog box, select the Summary tab. (If all fields are
    grayed out, click the Advanced button to display the file’s properties.)
  4. In
    the Property column locate and select the Keywords Property.
  5. Click
    the selected area adjacent to the Keyword Property in the Value column.
  6. You
    will now see a text box appear with a blinking cursor, and you can type in the
    keywords that you want to assign to the group of files. (If the value column
    reads multiple values, this indicates
    that at least one file in your selection already has keyword assigned to it.
    You can still change that Keyword Value, but doing so will overwrite all of the
    existing keywords.)
  7. To
    complete the operation, press [Enter] and click OK.

To search for image files by keywords, launch the Search
Companion, type *.jpg in the All Or
Part Of The File Name text box, and type your keywords in the A Word Or
Phrase In The File text box.

Note: This tip
applies to both Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional.

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