Help Centre

Why Proper File Naming is Important

Your album spreads are printed and bound in sequential order, so naming your files correctly is crucial to ensure that everything appears as intended. By following our file naming guidelines, you can avoid errors that may lead to pages being printed out of sequence or other issues.

Consistent Naming for Seamless Design

To maintain consistency with our Free Album Design Service and ensure smooth processing of your files, we recommend using a three-digit sequence number at the beginning of each filename. For example:

001_abcphotography_smithwedding.jpg
002_abcphotography_smithwedding.jpg
003_abcphotography_smithwedding.jpg
...
010_abcphotography_smithwedding.jpg
011_abcphotography_smithwedding.jpg

Using three digits, such as 001 instead of 1, helps maintain the proper numerical order of files, particularly when dealing with more than nine or ten images. This prevents issues where files might be sorted incorrectly due to inconsistent file naming conventions.

Including Design Names for Multiple Layouts

If you are uploading multiple designs for a single order, it can be helpful, but not mandatory, to include the design name within each filename. This allows us to easily differentiate between the various layouts you provide. For example:

001_abcphotography_smithwedding_album.jpg
002_abcphotography_smithwedding_album.jpg

001_abcphotography_joneswedding_album.jpg
002_abcphotography_joneswedding_album.jpg

This small step helps us manage multiple designs efficiently and ensures each one is printed and assembled correctly.

Avoiding Special Characters in File Names

When naming your files, it is important to avoid using special characters such as . (dots not used for file extensions), /(forward slashes), \ (backslashes), : (colons), and other symbols like *, ?, <, >, or |. These characters can cause issues with file handling during upload or processing, potentially leading to errors or incorrect sequencing.

To ensure that your files are processed without any issues, stick to letters, numbers, and underscores (_). This approach ensures compatibility with our system and prevents any potential errors.

Keeping File Names Short

When naming your files, please try to avoid making filenames too long. Long filenames can cause issues during the upload or processing stages, as some systems may have character limits (typically around 50-70 characters) or may not properly handle excessively long file names. Additionally, longer filenames increase the chance of truncation, which can make it difficult to distinguish between files or may result in lost data.

To prevent these issues, keep your filenames concise while still being descriptive enough to identify the content. We recommend keeping filenames under 50 characters whenever possible. A good practice is to include only the essential details, such as the client name, event type, and sequence number.