Original publication · 2026-09-19

Folders Are Good for Delivery. Finding Photos Is a Different Job.

Folders have long been useful delivery tools. They give files a clear home, retain existing permissions, can support downloading a whole collection, and fit into an organisation’s established cloud-storage and backup routines.

So the question is not whether folders are outdated. The distinction worth making is this:

Delivering a complete collection and finding one image within it are different tasks.

The first asks whether all the files have arrived. The second asks how someone can start with their own clues and reach the image they need.

The organiser knows the programme. The person searching may not.

When a photographer or event liaison organises photos, it is natural to follow the event’s structure:

  • 01_Registration and Venue
  • 02_Opening Remarks
  • 03_Panel Discussions
  • 04_Awards
  • 05_Networking and Group Photos

That structure works well for archiving because it puts the event back into its chronological order and programme segments.

Someone searching the collection may have a very different set of clues.

They remember “the one of me and the chairperson in front of the booth,” “the speaker holding an award,” or “that landscape image for the presentation cover.” Their clues concern people, intended use, places or objects—not necessarily a programme heading.

The same folder structure that seems obvious to the organiser may ask the user to guess: “Which category would someone else have put this in?”

Neither person has necessarily made a mistake. They are organising the information differently.

A photo-search problem is often an information-architecture problem

There is no universally correct way to categorise information. Nielsen Norman Group describes tree testing as a task-based way to test a hierarchy: give people something to find and see whether the category structure leads them to the right place. Even sensible design principles do not remove the need to check whether labels and categories make sense to users. Source: NN/g, Tree Testing

The connection to event photos is straightforward.

A liaison who works from the run of show may immediately understand “Panel Discussions → Panel 2 → Q&A.” A guest seeing the photos for the first time may know only that they posed with someone that afternoon. Those two people do not necessarily need the same navigation path.

The useful test is not whether the folders look tidy. It is whether the intended user can reach the right photo using the clues they actually have.

There is no need to set folders and search up as opposites.

Google Drive, for example, provides a search field and filters for file type, people associated with a file, modification date and Drive location. Here, “people” refers to file ownership or sharing—not recognition of faces in a photo. Source: Google Drive Help

Delivering photos in folders does not mean that the only option is to click through every level. Nor does it automatically mean another tool is needed.

If users already understand the shared drive, know useful keywords, or work within an established records-management system, the existing folders may serve them well.

The better question is: How do people usually look for images in this collection, and do the current entry points support those clues?

Try the lower-cost improvements first

If people only occasionally struggle to find a photo, I would first adjust the delivery rather than introduce another system.

Frequently used images might go into a highlights subfolder. Top-level labels could reflect practical needs—speakers, awards, branding and group photos. Keep thumbnails easy to browse, and use descriptive filenames or a simple index where they help people understand what is where.

This follows the same reasoning as “Image Strategy 06: Organising an Image Package Without Burdening the Liaison” (Chinese): organisation should support the next person’s work, not only storage.

Then check what problems remain. Every additional entry point has a cost: someone must maintain it, users must know where to go, permissions need checking, and the liaison may have one more thing to explain.

A polished new interface is not proof of efficiency. It is valuable only when it removes a real difficulty in the existing work.

When does a different way to find photos become worth considering?

The balance may change when the task shifts from “one liaison receives the whole collection” to “many people each look for different images.” What makes a folder useful for delivery may not be what makes it useful to those people.

A dedicated browsing or search interface becomes worth evaluating when the same conditions recur: users do not know the programme; the collection serves many purposes; the liaison repeatedly searches and forwards images for others; or each person begins with a different kind of clue.

Worth evaluating does not mean automatically necessary.

For complete archiving, a designated recipient, established access policies, or transferring the whole collection into an organisation’s own storage, folders may still be the more direct option with less maintenance.

Let the task choose the tool

The previous article, “600 Photos Delivered. The Next Problem Is Finding Them.”, separated files existing from people being able to find them. This article takes the distinction further: the same files can be organised in different ways, and the right arrangement depends on whether it is serving delivery, archiving or retrieval.

A folder is a useful delivery container. Its structure is not necessarily every user’s route through the photos.

If the folder already does the job, there is no reason to build another system. If finding photos is the actual bottleneck, begin with the clues people bring—not with whichever tool looks newer.

This article offers general guidance on planning photography and using images. Practical arrangements vary with the event, venue, timetable and individual needs. It does not define a service scope, quotation, delivery specification or commitment. Actual services are governed by the proposal, quotation or contract agreed by both parties.