To avoid problems with files transferred across computing platforms, request file names that use only the letters of the Latin alphabet (A-Z, a-z), the numerals 0-9, hyphens and underscores. Avoid other punctuation marks, accented letters, non-Latin letters, and other non-standard characters, such as \:/*<> or brackets. On a local network or with rewritable media, limit the file name to 31 characters or less (including the three-letter file extension). Limit file names to 11 characters or less (including the three-letter file extension) when burning to optical media, since some computers don’t support long file names. Use a single period (.) between the file name and extension.
Specify unique file names. Multiple files with the same name will cause problems for computers and people alike, and a newer file might automatically overwrite an older with the same name, or vice-versa. You may want to specify including the numeric date and/or the photographers name as part of the file name as a way to avoid duplicate names.
For a complete guide to file-naming protocol, see the Controlled Vocabulary web site. |
