File Naming

It's great to be creative while you're designing an annual report or sales brochure. But when it's time to name and save files, control your imagination. Both Windows and Macintosh computers, as well as popular server platforms, are more forgiving than in the days of old eight-dot-three naming conventions (eight-character file name, followed by a three-letter file extension). In those days, a Macintosh user wanting to share with a PC user had to be fairly creative to come up with file names. AnRepCov.eps, AnRepCv2.eps. You get the idea.

Let's Have a Lot of Brevity

The ancient eight-dot-three limitation has long been lifted. Given expanded file-naming freedom, some of us get a little carried away. Here's a file from one of the author's clients, slightly altered to protect the innocent: SSGC holiday wreath photos and logos -- Publisher (10-19-05).pub. Because spaces, periods, and parentheses also count, that's a 64-character file name. Windows and Macintosh OS X platforms both currently allow a total of 255 characters, which is perhaps overly generous. That's an entire paragraph.

While Windows allows file names of 255 characters, it limits a total path designation to 260 characters. Path designation is the literal pathway to the file's location. For example, a file named Test.doc stored at the root level of a PC's C drive would have a path designation of C:\Test.doc, a total of 11 characters. File extensions like .doc or .pdf are included in the total character count for a file name.

If you're a Macintosh OS X user, you may not think of OS 9 as another platform, but in many ways it is. Users of OS 9 are limited to 31 character filenames, so if you're sharing files with colleagues who are still languishing under OS 9, you'll have to take that into consideration, and keep your file names appropriately brief.

Filenames Don't Need Punctuation. Period.

Length is not the only issue affecting proper file naming. There are certain characterseven certain namesthat should be avoided. A good rule of thumb is this: Don't include any characters traditionally used in comic strips to indicate profanity, such as !@#$*% (pardon my language). Stick to solely alphanumeric contentsuppercase and lowercase letters, coupled with numerals, spaces, underscores, and hyphens. There's an urban myth that spaces are forbidden in file names, but this doesn't usually matter in a graphics/print environment. If you embark on Web work, however, omit spaces from file names.

Avoid colons and slashes, since those characters are reserved to mark directory breaks. Although the Macintosh won't prevent you from naming a file with forward or backward slashes, you won't be able to copy it to a Windows drive. PCs prevent the problem by stopping you in your tracks when you press either slash key, displaying an alert listing forbidden characters. And even Macintosh CD-burning applications will convert slashes to underscores during the creation of a data CD.

If you're creating your job on the Mac and sending it to a print service provider who will be handling it on a Mac, why should you care about slashes? Because they'll probably copy your job to a server for storage. If it's a Windows server, they'll have to rename your files to even allow copying, which will then munge all your image links, forcing them to update your images. Ouch. Since you have no control over where your files may land, forestall such problems by getting in the habit of using safe file names.

Both Windows and Macintosh OS X prevent you from typing colons in filenames, and neither operating system allows you to begin a file or folder name with a period. An initial period renders a file invisible under Unix.

Although current operating systems prevent much of this file-naming misbehavior, beware of legacy files created before the Macintosh adopted Unix under the hood. While files whose naming began with a period were not problematic under OS 9, they'll cause problems when you attempt to use them under OS X. They'll disappear.

While some file-naming purists object to using multiple periods as visual separators in file names, such as Smith.Brochure.new.pdf, newer Windows and Macintosh operating systems don't care, although this practice may cause problems with some persnickety applications. Some older server processes may modify the name by substituting underscores for extra periods, or by truncating the file name. Rather than risk this reaction, consider using underscores (Smith_Brochure_new.pdf) or capitalization (SmithBrochureNew.pdf).

Watch Your Language

Although the Macintosh has no objection to using them in file names, some combinations of letters and numbers are reserved by the Windows operating system. Names such as com1, com2, all the way through com9 are reserved for communication ports on the PC. If you were to create a Word file named com1.doc on the Mac, you might successfully copy it to a Windows drive, but you'd be unable to open it under Windows. Other forbidden names include lpt1 through lpt9 (reserved for printer ports), as well as prn, con, and nul.

Include File Extensions

Like two-button mice, file extensions (for example, .txt and .doc) have long been considered by some Macintosh users as symptoms of consorting with the Dark Side. Under previous Macintosh operating systems, file extensions were not required. In those days, files consisted of two forks, a data fork and a resource fork. The data fork held the true guts of the file, while the resource fork told the system which icon to use and how to open the file. Under Unix-based OS X, the Macintosh does not yet require file extensions to determine which application should be used to open a file, and which icon should represent the filethat can be accomplished with the Get Info palette. But file extensions are still helpful for human identification of files, and crucial for cross-platform compatibility. On both Macs and PCs, you can choose to hide those extensions, but they are there nonetheless.

Most file extensions consist of three letters (for example, .rtf, .pdf, .tif), but some applications create four-letter extensions such as .html (Web page), .fh11 (FreeHand MX) and .indd (InDesign). A period always separates the file name from its extension, as in Image.tif or Brochure.indd.

Failure to append the correct file extension on the Macintosh can prevent a Windows user from opening the file by double-clicking it. In addition, lack of a file extension may prevent accessing such a file in other ways, such as attempting to import or place the file in another document. Of course, it's easy to add the extension if you encounter this problem, but it's better to just develop the habit of adding the extensions when you save the file. All Windows applications and most Macintosh OS X applications are smart enough to do this for you. Some applications, such as Photoshop, provide an option in the dialog box you encounter as you save a file.

Whereas even the most ancient Windows file will be sporting a file extension, Macintosh files saved under OS 9 (or earlier) may be extension-free. So as you dig up old files for new jobs you're creating under OS X, either manually add the appropriate extension or open the file in the appropriate application by choosing File > Open from within the program. Then resave the file with a shiny new extension.