Picture Folder Overview

Before you can begin organizing and sharing your pictures, you must specify a picture folder. The picture folder is where all your pictures in the albums are stored. The picture folder can contain sub-folders and pictures can be located anywhere within the picture folder or sub-folders.

Some important rules and guidelines about the picture folder include:

• You should not specify a removable media (drive) for a picture folder. If you want to store your pictures onto a CD, then use the "File->Create FotoAlbum CD" main menu option. Refer to Creating FotoAlbum CD's for details.
• The picture folder should be created for the express purpose of holding your pictures. It should not be a high level folder that contains all sorts of files. For example it should not be "c:\" or "c:\program files".
• Ideally, it should be something like "c:\my pictures" which only contains pictures.
• All album, group and picture information (including captions) is stored in index files within your picture folder (within the ..\Ndx sub folder). You should not modify or remove these file.
• All files within the picture folder are "monitored" for changes whenever FotoAlbum is running. FotoAlbum will detect all changes within your picture folder. There is no need to "refresh" FotoAlbum for changes you make within your picture folder.
• Each account on the FotoTime website is associated with a single Picture Folder. For average users, you will only want to maintain a single picture folder. If you switch picture folders, FotoAlbum will sync to the account associated with a given folder.
• If you wish to switch between picture folders, or create a new one, use the "File->Set Picture Folder" main menu option.
• You can create a shortcut to FotoAlbum specifying a picture folder (if you switch picture folders often). Refer to Command-Line Options.
• If a picture is added to multiple albums, it does not duplicate the image file within the picture folder. It will merely "link" the picture to the additional album or group.

For details on setting your picture folder, refer to Setting the Picture Folder.

For additional information on how FotoAlbum manages your picture files, refer to File Management.