diff --git a/.vscode/settings.json b/.vscode/settings.json
index 7ce3345f..e25b8baa 100644
--- a/.vscode/settings.json
+++ b/.vscode/settings.json
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
     "exif",
     "hgetall",
     "hset",
+    "nanoids",
     "nextjs",
     "qaub",
     "skippable",
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 45805db0..8a9320dc 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
     "eslint": "8.49.0",
     "eslint-config-next": "13.4.19",
     "framer-motion": "^10.16.4",
+    "nanoid": "^5.0.1",
     "next": "^13.4.19",
     "next-auth": "0.0.0-manual.ffd05533",
     "next-themes": "^0.2.1",
@@ -30,7 +31,6 @@
     "react": "18.2.0",
     "react-dom": "18.2.0",
     "react-icons": "^4.11.0",
-    "short-uuid": "^4.2.2",
     "sonner": "^0.7.4",
     "tailwindcss": "3.3.3",
     "ts-exif-parser": "^0.2.2",
diff --git a/pnpm-lock.yaml b/pnpm-lock.yaml
index dcfe3104..a0f37f45 100644
--- a/pnpm-lock.yaml
+++ b/pnpm-lock.yaml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ specifiers:
   eslint: 8.49.0
   eslint-config-next: 13.4.19
   framer-motion: ^10.16.4
+  nanoid: ^5.0.1
   next: ^13.4.19
   next-auth: 0.0.0-manual.ffd05533
   next-themes: ^0.2.1
@@ -24,7 +25,6 @@ specifiers:
   react: 18.2.0
   react-dom: 18.2.0
   react-icons: ^4.11.0
-  short-uuid: ^4.2.2
   sonner: ^0.7.4
   tailwindcss: 3.3.3
   ts-exif-parser: ^0.2.2
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ dependencies:
   eslint: 8.49.0
   eslint-config-next: 13.4.19_rngtr6f3b25lvetpihwplgecf4
   framer-motion: 10.16.4_biqbaboplfbrettd7655fr4n2y
+  nanoid: 5.0.1
   next: 13.4.19_biqbaboplfbrettd7655fr4n2y
   next-auth: 0.0.0-manual.ffd05533_next@13.4.19+react@18.2.0
   next-themes: 0.2.1_m2l4knchnqa6bzxbbtfxlzoxdy
@@ -54,7 +55,6 @@ dependencies:
   react: 18.2.0
   react-dom: 18.2.0_react@18.2.0
   react-icons: 4.11.0_react@18.2.0
-  short-uuid: 4.2.2
   sonner: 0.7.4_biqbaboplfbrettd7655fr4n2y
   tailwindcss: 3.3.3
   ts-exif-parser: 0.2.2
@@ -761,10 +761,6 @@ packages:
     engines: {node: '>=10'}
     dev: false
 
-  /any-base/1.1.0:
-    resolution: {integrity: sha512-uMgjozySS8adZZYePpaWs8cxB9/kdzmpX6SgJZ+wbz1K5eYk5QMYDVJaZKhxyIHUdnnJkfR7SVgStgH7LkGUyg==}
-    dev: false
-
   /any-promise/1.3.0:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-7UvmKalWRt1wgjL1RrGxoSJW/0QZFIegpeGvZG9kjp8vrRu55XTHbwnqq2GpXm9uLbcuhxm3IqX9OB4MZR1b2A==}
     dev: false
@@ -2524,6 +2520,12 @@ packages:
     hasBin: true
     dev: false
 
+  /nanoid/5.0.1:
+    resolution: {integrity: sha512-vWeVtV5Cw68aML/QaZvqN/3QQXc6fBfIieAlu05m7FZW2Dgb+3f0xc0TTxuJW+7u30t7iSDTV/j3kVI0oJqIfQ==}
+    engines: {node: ^18 || >=20}
+    hasBin: true
+    dev: false
+
   /natural-compare/1.4.0:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-OWND8ei3VtNC9h7V60qff3SVobHr996CTwgxubgyQYEpg290h9J0buyECNNJexkFm5sOajh5G116RYA1c8ZMSw==}
     dev: false
@@ -3184,14 +3186,6 @@ packages:
     engines: {node: '>=8'}
     dev: false
 
-  /short-uuid/4.2.2:
-    resolution: {integrity: sha512-IE7hDSGV2U/VZoCsjctKX6l5t5ak2jE0+aeGJi3KtvjIUNuZVmHVYUjNBhmo369FIWGDtaieRaO8A83Lvwfpqw==}
-    engines: {node: '>=8'}
-    dependencies:
-      any-base: 1.1.0
-      uuid: 8.3.2
-    dev: false
-
   /side-channel/1.0.4:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-q5XPytqFEIKHkGdiMIrY10mvLRvnQh42/+GoBlFW3b2LXLE2xxJpZFdm94we0BaoV3RwJyGqg5wS7epxTv0Zvw==}
     dependencies:
@@ -3596,11 +3590,6 @@ packages:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-EPD5q1uXyFxJpCrLnCc1nHnq3gOa6DZBocAIiI2TaSCA7VCJ1UJDMagCzIkXNsUYfD1daK//LTEQ8xiIbrHtcw==}
     dev: false
 
-  /uuid/8.3.2:
-    resolution: {integrity: sha512-+NYs2QeMWy+GWFOEm9xnn6HCDp0l7QBD7ml8zLUmJ+93Q5NF0NocErnwkTkXVFNiX3/fpC6afS8Dhb/gz7R7eg==}
-    hasBin: true
-    dev: false
-
   /w3c-xmlserializer/4.0.0:
     resolution: {integrity: sha512-d+BFHzbiCx6zGfz0HyQ6Rg69w9k19nviJspaj4yNscGjrHu94sVP+aRm75yEbCh+r2/yR+7q6hux9LVtbuTGBw==}
     engines: {node: '>=14'}
diff --git a/src/photo/PhotoOGTile.tsx b/src/photo/PhotoOGTile.tsx
index a1b68ecc..20c39525 100644
--- a/src/photo/PhotoOGTile.tsx
+++ b/src/photo/PhotoOGTile.tsx
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ export default function PhotoOGTile({
           </div>}
         {(loadingState === 'loading' || loadingState === 'loaded') &&
           <img
-            alt={`OG Image: ${photo.idShort}`}
+            alt={titleForPhoto(photo)}
             className={cc(
               'absolute top-0 left-0 right-0 bottom-0 z-0',
               'w-full',
diff --git a/src/photo/form.ts b/src/photo/form.ts
index ca4bc056..39ca6c7b 100644
--- a/src/photo/form.ts
+++ b/src/photo/form.ts
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ import {
 import { getOffsetFromExif } from '@/utility/exif';
 import { toFixedNumber } from '@/utility/number';
 import { convertStringToArray } from '@/utility/string';
+import { generateNanoid } from '@/utility/nanoid';
 
 export type PhotoFormData = Record<keyof PhotoDbInsert, string>;
 
@@ -19,21 +20,10 @@ type FormMeta = {
   hideTemporarily?: boolean
 };
 
-const FORM_METADATA: Record<
-  // Display short ids as a convenience
-  // even though they're not part of form data
-  keyof PhotoFormData & { idShort?: string },
-  FormMeta
-> = {
+const FORM_METADATA: Record<keyof PhotoFormData, FormMeta> = {
   title: { label: 'title' },
   tags: { label: 'tags', note: 'comma-separated values' },
   id: { label: 'id', readOnly: true, hideIfEmpty: true },
-  idShort: {
-    label: 'short id',
-    readOnly: true,
-    hideIfEmpty: true,
-    note: 'Auto-generated by id',
-  },
   url: { label: 'url', readOnly: true },
   extension: { label: 'extension', readOnly: true },
   aspectRatio: { label: 'aspect ratio', readOnly: true },
@@ -122,7 +112,7 @@ export const convertFormDataToPhoto = (
 
   return {
     ...photoForm,
-    ...(generateId && !photoForm.id) && { id: crypto.randomUUID() },
+    ...(generateId && !photoForm.id) && { id: generateNanoid() },
     // convert form strings to arrays
     tags: convertStringToArray(photoForm.tags),
     // Convert form strings to numbers
diff --git a/src/photo/index.ts b/src/photo/index.ts
index 2798ba1e..e1d86e49 100644
--- a/src/photo/index.ts
+++ b/src/photo/index.ts
@@ -12,9 +12,6 @@ import {
 } from '@/utility/exif';
 import camelcaseKeys from 'camelcase-keys';
 import { Metadata } from 'next';
-import short from 'short-uuid';
-
-const translator = short();
 
 export const GRID_THUMBNAILS_TO_SHOW_MAX = 12;
 
@@ -58,7 +55,6 @@ export interface PhotoDb extends Omit<PhotoDbInsert, 'takenAt' | 'tags'> {
 
 // Parsed db response
 export interface Photo extends PhotoDb {
-  idShort?: string
   focalLengthFormatted?: string
   focalLengthIn35MmFormatFormatted?: string
   fNumberFormatted?: string
@@ -75,8 +71,6 @@ export const parsePhotoFromDb = (photoDbRaw: PhotoDb): Photo => {
   ) as unknown as PhotoDb;
   return {
     ...photoDb,
-    idShort:
-      translator.fromUUID(photoDb.id),
     tags: photoDb.tags ?? [],
     focalLengthFormatted:
       formatFocalLength(photoDb.focalLength),
@@ -173,10 +167,8 @@ const PHOTO_ID_FORWARDING_TABLE: Record<string, string> = JSON.parse(
   process.env.PHOTO_ID_FORWARDING_TABLE || '{}'
 );
 
-export const translatePhotoId = (shortId: string) => {
-  const id = PHOTO_ID_FORWARDING_TABLE[shortId] || shortId;
-  return id.length === 22 ? translator.toUUID(id) : id;
-};
+export const translatePhotoId = (id: string) =>
+  PHOTO_ID_FORWARDING_TABLE[id] || id;
 
 export const titleForPhoto = (photo: Photo) =>
   photo.title || 'Untitled';
diff --git a/src/services/postgres.ts b/src/services/postgres.ts
index 09f19f7b..edb0117c 100644
--- a/src/services/postgres.ts
+++ b/src/services/postgres.ts
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ import {
   parsePhotoFromDb,
   Photo,
 } from '@/photo';
-import { isValidUUID } from '@/utility/string';
 
 const PHOTO_DEFAULT_LIMIT = 100;
 
@@ -17,7 +16,7 @@ export const convertArrayToPostgresString = (array?: string[]) => array
 const sqlCreatePhotosTable = () =>
   sql`
     CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS photos (
-      id UUID PRIMARY KEY DEFAULT gen_random_uuid(),
+      id VARCHAR(8) PRIMARY KEY,
       url VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
       extension VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
       aspect_ratio REAL DEFAULT 1.5,
@@ -44,6 +43,7 @@ const sqlCreatePhotosTable = () =>
     )
   `;
 
+// Must provide id as 8-character nanoid
 export const sqlInsertPhotoIntoDb = (photo: PhotoDbInsert) => {
   return sql`
     INSERT INTO photos (
@@ -256,8 +256,6 @@ export const getPhoto = async (id: string): Promise<Photo | undefined> => {
   // Check for photo id forwarding
   // and convert short ids to uuids
   const photoId = translatePhotoId(id);
-  return isValidUUID(photoId)
-    ? sqlGetPhotoFromDb(photoId)
-      .then(photos => photos.length > 0 ? photos[0] : undefined)
-    : Promise.resolve(undefined);
+  return sqlGetPhotoFromDb(photoId)
+    .then(photos => photos.length > 0 ? photos[0] : undefined);
 };
diff --git a/src/site/paths.ts b/src/site/paths.ts
index a264aa65..9d5a69ee 100644
--- a/src/site/paths.ts
+++ b/src/site/paths.ts
@@ -13,14 +13,14 @@ export const ABSOLUTE_PATH_FOR_HOME_IMAGE = `${BASE_URL}/home-image`;
 
 export const pathForPhoto = (photo: Photo, tag?: string) =>
   tag
-    ? `${pathForTag(tag)}/${photo.idShort}`
-    : `${PREFIX_PHOTO}/${photo.idShort}`;
+    ? `${pathForTag(tag)}/${photo.id}`
+    : `${PREFIX_PHOTO}/${photo.id}`;
 
 export const pathForPhotoShare = (photo: Photo, tag?: string) =>
   `${pathForPhoto(photo, tag)}/share`;
 
 export const pathForPhotoEdit = (photo: Photo) =>
-  `${PATH_ADMIN_PHOTOS}/${photo.idShort}/edit`;
+  `${PATH_ADMIN_PHOTOS}/${photo.id}/edit`;
 
 export const pathForTag = (tag: string) => `${PREFIX_TAG}/${tag}`;
 
diff --git a/src/utility/nanoid.ts b/src/utility/nanoid.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cb4e73cc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/utility/nanoid.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+import { customAlphabet } from 'nanoid';
+
+const NANOID_LENGTH = 8;
+
+const NANOID_ALPHABET =
+  '0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ';
+
+export const generateNanoid =
+  customAlphabet(NANOID_ALPHABET, NANOID_LENGTH);
diff --git a/src/utility/string.ts b/src/utility/string.ts
index e5fbfb91..ed8e8ab3 100644
--- a/src/utility/string.ts
+++ b/src/utility/string.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,3 @@
-export const isValidUUID = (id: string): boolean =>
-  /^[a-z0-9]{8}-[a-z0-9]{4}-[a-z0-9]{4}-[a-z0-9]{4}-[a-z0-9]{12}$/i.test(id);
-
 export const convertStringToArray = (
   string?: string,
   parameterize = true,