Where I Get the Codes
My family tree database is resident on my computer, not the internet. I use it to store all my data about each person. 
Every individual who is entered in the database gets a unique number, called a Record Identification Number, or RIN.  I am R2, Hannah is R3, and John is R4, simply because that was the order in which they were entered in the database.  Hannah’s husband, Nate, is R8404 and their son, Roland, is R8625.

Each marriage/union/partnership also receives a Marriage Record Identification Number. This MRIN is assigned in the order entered. My parent’s MRIN is M3. Hannah and Nate’s number is M1164.
 
How I Apply the Codes
If the photo is of just one individual, I use their RIN and full name plus some description.
If the photo is of a couple, I use their MRIN first, and add their RINs and names as well.
If the photo is of a couple and their children, I use the MRIN first and include everyone’s RINs with their names.
If the photo is multigenerational, I use the MRIN of the oldest parent represented followed by everyone’s RIN and name. For example, a photo of two sisters goes under their parents’ MRIN.

I enter the date after the first M or R number. Four-digit year, space, two-digit month, space, two-digit day.  For example, the Fourth of July photos would be dated 2021 07 04.
I use L2R to signify “left to right” along with bk and fr for back and front.
 
Examples
R2 1960 12 16 Julie Stillwell in bassinet day of birth
R2 1960 12 Julie Stillwell home in crib
M3 1960 12 16 R7 Larry and R8 Donna Stillwell R2 Julie Stillwell born
M3 1970 12 24  Stillwells L2R bk R7 Larry R8 Donna fr R429 Jay R430 Scott R2 Julie R431Dave R432 Lisa after opening gifts
M8 1970 12 25 R15 Gerhart R16 Emma Busch with R8 Donna at table
 
The name of every single image or photo in your hard drive folder must be different, or the computer will volunteer to overwrite the old one. Adding identifying verbiage like “lace collar,” “cowboy hat” or “on bike” will help make these photo names unique.

I also tack on a, b, or c to photos to designate a) a friend of someone in the database, b) a belonging of someone in the database or c) a location relevant to someone in the datatbase.  Example:
R2a grad picture of Julies friend Hidee
R2b 1979 Julie Stillwell first car
M3c Larry Stillwell landscaping at Little Pelican Lake home

Practice naming photos with imaginary numbers, incorporating names and dates or other facts if you have room. Only once have I run out of space when naming a photo or document using this system.

OK, let’s imagine your cousin emails you and remarks that their new baby has red hair “Just like Great-Aunt Winny.” The cousin wants to know if you have any photos of Aunt Winny to see if there is a resemblance. You smile because this is going to be fast and easy.

First you fire up your computer, launch your Legacy software and search the index to find her in the database. Her Record Identification Number or RIN is 266.  So on a piece of paper, you write her name and R266. All photos coded with R266 at the start should have only Winny in them.

Then you see that Winny was married twice.  There are likely photos of her listed under the marriage numbers if the pictures were of her and others, such as husband or children. Her marriage to Ralph was Marriage Record Identification Number or MRIN 57, so you write down M57. Her second marriage to Jonas was M58 and you write that down, too.

You know that Winny might have been included in photos with her parents or grandparents, so you write those MRINs down, too.  Let’s say they are M123, M145 and M244.

Where did these numbers come from? They were assigned chronologically by the Legacy program as you entered individuals and documented unions.

Now you navigate to your hard drive, go to the Pictures folder and create a new folder called “Share R266 Winny.” You search your entire photo collection for R266. You find photos to copy to your share file. Then you search your photo folder for each of the MRIN numbers, looking for photos of Winny and others, copying them to the share file. 

Next you look over the contents of the Share file and delete duplicates. (These are only copies of the original scans on your hard drive.)  Then you email the contents of the Share file to your cousin.

Without an identification number system, you might have spent hours searching for photos. Instead, it took only minutes.
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And your coffee isn’t even cold yet!

There’s nothing sadder than an interesting old photo of people who are unidentified and lost to history. Maybe there’s “Grandpa” scrawled on back.  Not helpful.

Ever go through a stack of old photos, fearful that you’ve labeled one as your second cousin’s daughter, but it’s really just a school picture of an acquaintance of one of your children?

What about when kids are named after older relatives?  How do you keep track of which “Jim Johnson” is which?
Sadly, most photos are never properly identified, much less dated. When my Mom (Donna Busch Stillwell) sparked my interest in genealogy with her family tree efforts, I started scanning photos.  I debated quite a while before deciding on my strategy for naming and dating photos and document images.

Once you start dabbling in family history, you’ll find your work area filling up fast with paper and photos.  You might try organizing papers in binders and file folders and file cabinets.  If you’re starting fresh with genealogy and you own the technology, you might as well go “full-digital” from the start and save and store everything electronically. Future generations will thank you.
 
My Solution

I decided to use the file name of the scanned image or photo to store as much identifying info as possible, including identification numbers from my Legacy software database.  Now, instead of clicking through a fat folder of files to find an image, I can search the photo folder by name, individual and marriage codes, year, city name, spouse name or whatever terms might be helpful.
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Let’s make a deal: Be sure you understand the system before you discount or reject it. Down the road you might be thrilled that you adopted the system and can find documents and photos so easily.  

I feel a bit like a parent hovering over a child as he or she learns to ride a bike.  Pedal! Steer! Balance! And all at the same time.
I guess it’s because in helping others to get started on the genealogy trail, it’s like a do-over for myself.  What would be the optimal way of doing it?  Which comes first, the source documents or the family tree?  Here’s my plan.

1. If you want to try the free version of Legacy to see how the program works, generally, that’s fine. You can download the free version and play around with it to see how it handles. Don’t enter too much, because I recommend you just delete the whole program off your computer when you’ve decided you like it. The free version does not include Source Writer, an amazingly valuable tool for recording your sources. It also lacks many great features found only in the deluxe version.
2. Investing in the deluxe version of Legacy is under $35 right now. If you can afford it, I suggest you start with the deluxe version and save yourself the hassle of potential upgrade problems.
3. If it gives you a special protocol for getting started, go ahead and use that.
4. Look for instructions on using the Source Writer. Look at the long list of types of sources and scroll down to “Personal Knowledge.”  Follow the prompts, listing yourself as the source of this personal knowledge.
5. Start with yourself on the database. Put in what you know by heart. Before leaving your panel, use Source Writer to attribute the information to “Personal Knowledge of (Your Name).”
6. Now add spouse, parents, siblings, children, all from what you know off the top of your head. You don’t have to fill in every blank.  Just record what you know. After you add info for each person, be sure to click one of the buttons under the Source to “apply” the source to that fields you just filled.
7. Have you finished listing all the family you can think of off the top of your head?  Did you remember to apply a Source button to each person? Great!  Well done! Now you’ve got the beginning of your family tree with a source for every person.

As you build your tree, you will use sources other than what you remember in your own head. You will have hundreds and hundreds of copies of census records, marriage licenses, school records, obituaries, and many other things.   You can’t just label each image “John’s report card,” “Margaret’s wedding license” or “Grandpa’s obituary.” You need an identification number system to definitively identify each piece of documentation you save on your hard drive, and for every photo. I created a system that works wonders for me, and I’ll be sharing it with you in the next blogs.