Tag your photos for easy organizing

Introduction

What is photo tagging?

• If you were a nature enthusiast, you might create tags such as "Wildlife," "Oregon hiking," "Mt. Landscape," and "Plant life."
  


• More than one tag can be added to a photo or photos. For instance, a picture of a deer that you saw on a hike in Oregon could be tagged with both "Wildlife" and "Oregon hiking." The photo will then appear when you search for either tag.
  
  
• Keep in mind that tagging is not the same as naming your files with descriptive phrases or words. For instance, you may name a file "Paris_2008.jpg," but the tags for that image could include "Paris," "Vacation," "2008," and "Landmarks."
  
  
• Tagging is also valuable if you upload your pictures to photo-sharing sites such as Flickr. When friends, family, or anyone visiting the sites look for specific images, your photos will turn up in the results if your tags match their search words.
  

How to tag your photos

• People tags—Tag groups or individuals to make it easier to find photos of friends and family and for others to identify the people in your pictures if you publish or share them online.
  


• Descriptive tags—Use descriptive tags to help describe what is happening in the photo. Descriptive tags could include: "Winter sledding," "County Fair," or "Hawaii '07."
  
  

1. Double-click on a picture in your photo gallery and it will appear in a new viewing and editing window.
   
   
2. Click on Info in the toolbar at the top of the screen.
   
   
3. A side bar, or info pane, will appear on the right side of the screen with data about your photo.
   
   
4. Select Tag someone.
   
   
5. Click near the head of the person you want to tag, and drag your cursor to create a frame around their face.
   
   
6. Type your tag in the box or select a tag from the list of existing tags.
   
   

1. Double-click on a picture in your photo gallery and it will appear in a new viewing and editing window.
   
   
2. Click on Info in the toolbar at the top of the screen.
   
   
3. A side bar, or info pane, will appear on the right side of the screen with data about your photo.
   
   
4. Select Add descriptive tag, type your tag, and hit Enter.
   

Your tags will now be listed, along with any other tags, under People tags or Descriptive tags in the main info pane on the left side of your gallery home screen.

Additional ways to tag photos

1. In the info pane on the Windows Live Photo Gallery home screen, click Add new tag under the option People tags or Descriptive Tags.
   
   
2. Enter a name or description in the box.
   

Your tag will now be listed under People tags or Descriptive tags (depending on which one you chose) in the main info pane on the left side of your gallery home screen. Read on to learn how to add a tag you’ve created to one or more photos.

1. Select one or more photos that you’d like to assign an existing tag:
   
   
2. Hold your cursor over a photo and click the small box that appears in the upper-left corner. A check mark will appear to indicate that the photo has been selected.
   
   
3. Drag the photo or photos you’ve selected onto the tag, whether it’s under People tags or Descriptive tags.
   

You can assign a tag to all of your selected photos just by dragging and dropping one of them onto a particular tag.

Identify and tag people in new photos

This feature is especially helpful when you plan on sharing your photos online, on sites such as Facebook. It saves you the trouble of manually labeling the photos you plan to upload.

1. Click Info in the toolbar at the top of the screen.
   
   
2. Click People found in the info pane on the right side of the screen.
   
   
3. Click Identify to add a tag to a person. (The white frame will only appear around one recognized face at a time.)
   
   
4. If it's you in the photo, select the option, That's me!.
   
   

Search your tagged photos

• Click on an existing tag from People tags or Descriptive tags in the info pane on the left side of the home screen. Every photo with that tag will appear on the gallery screen.
  


• In the search box at the top of the screen, enter a tag. Every photo with that tag will appear on the gallery screen.

Tips for tagging

• Tell a story with tags
  Tag your photos using words or phrases that describe the people, events, places, and seasons within the image.
  
  
• Add multiple, specific tags
  Using only one, generic tag such as "College" won't be as helpful when searching your photos as having additional tags like "Winter Formal 2009".
  
  
• Add captions
  Creating captions for your photos, in addition to tags, can add to the story of the people or events in the picture.
  
  
• Review tags before sharing
  Remember that tags and captions are included with your photos when you publish them. Because of this, choose tags that you are comfortable sharing—or delete the tags before uploading your photos.
  

Learn more

• Tagging is only a small part of keeping your digital photos in order—find more tips and ideas for organizing photos on your computer.
• Explore this introduction to archiving your digital photos, and then find additional information on these different methods for storing your photos.