Think communication.

If you’re uploading or posting your files online (this is any file – PDF, image based files, etc.) then you have chosen to communicate with your files. Using a secret or personal language to describe your file only slows your development process and confuses your coworkers.

Think about the coding and decoding process that we use in verbal communication. I would never truncate verbal words in half for the sake of efficiency; if I did, you would think I was either mentally ill or a 12-year-old trying to be trendy (whatEV!). Contrary to popular belief, short filenames do not save hard drive space or increase readability.

In short: make your file names understandable and consistent, using a rich, descriptive, alphanumeric character base.

The readability checklist for file names:

( ) Name files with complete words (or commonly understood abbreviations*)
( ) Keep it simple (Are you adding unnecessary complication?)
( ) All letters should be in lowercase (some rare exceptions apply)
( ) Separate words using underscores and hyphens
( ) Use alphanumeric characters, underscores and hyphens (Conversely, avoid adding the following characters (including periods): !@#$%^&=*()+”|~`’;:<>? / \ {} [] .)
( ) Think about usability patterns (i.e. by date: 2010-05-01_smith-family-vacation.jpg)
( ) Optional: Save variations and drafts by adding revision detail (i.e. apple_v3.pdf or apple_sm.png)
( ) Optional: Use a program like Adobe Bridge to rename files in large batches.
( ) Avoid redundancy (i.e. apple_img.jpg)

*One way to check if an abbreviation is common: Do some soft usability testing. Get 5 other people to be your “second set of eyes” and see if they understand the abbreviation out of its context. If all 5 people can decode your intended message then you are safe to use the abbreviation! (i.e. “sm” is a safe abbreviation for small.)

What you will gain:

SEO! Search engines will search your filenames and drive traffic to your site.
TIME! You will save time locating files on your hard drive and on your remote server.
UNDERSTANDING! Your coworkers can follow your train of thought in a project.
MORE TIME! Your web designer can take a prototype to an actual product quickly.
MORE FRIENDS! Separating your words with underscores and/or hyphens increases readability—and when your friends can finally read your filenames, they generally become much more pleasant and enjoyable!

All the best in your file naming!