Are you tired of having photos and videos scattered across different devices and formats, making it difficult to find the memories you’re looking for? If so, then it’s time to take control and organize your photo collection! In this blog post, we’ll guide you through our process one step at a time to make it easy and manageable.
Step 1: Set Goals
The first step to organizing your photos is to set clear and realistic goals for what you want to achieve. Whether it’s capturing a single year, vacation, or occasion in a photo book or slide show, it’s important to have a starting point. Trying to organize a lifetime of photos and videos from the start can feel overwhelming, so start small and gradually work your way through your collection.
It’s easy to get sidetracked when life gets busy. Schedule specific times each week for photo organizing. This could be a few hours on the weekends or a dedicated evening during the week.
Step 2: Sort Media
Gather all your photos and videos in one place, including printed photos, loose photos, slides, backup drives, tapes, CDs, DVDs, and flash drives. We’re going to focus on photos for now; stay tuned for more on video organization in a separate post!
Once you have everything together, sort in chronological order, by theme, or by occasion. A rough sort, even as broad as by decade, will help you tackle the project strategically.
Helpful hint: Try flipping photos upside down and sort by print size. Photos from different eras are unique sizes by nature so this can simplify the sorting process. Use sticky notes to identify categories and groups to remember where you left off.
Fun fact: A one-inch stack of photos equals about 100 photos
Step 3: Assess and Purge
During the sorting process, you’ll likely find many duplicate images. Set aside photos from the time or occasion you’re targeting and assess each one. Don’t be afraid to toss or delete photos that are blurry or poor quality unless they capture a person or place you don’t have other images of. Pare down to only photos that matter.
Step 4: Contain, Digitize, and Share
Store physical photos in acid-free, photo-safe boxes and containers. Scan physical photos using one of many apps available for your phone or a desktop scanning device. When creating your digital library, use a consistent naming structure for folders and files that includes the date and event in the name. This will make it easier to find specific memories in the future. Keep three versions of each file – one on your personal device, one on a backup drive, and a cloud copy on a secure site like Forever.com.
Now you can easily share your favorite memories with family and friends by creating photo books, slide shows, or gallery walls. We recommend Shutterfly for photo books. Their 100% happiness guarantee and easy-to-use tools are hard to beat. For slide shows, Nixplay has excellent options. Mixtiles is a good choice for gallery walls if you want a turnkey solution.
Step 5: Maintain
Incorporate photo organization into your routine and make it a habit! This will help you stay on track and ensure that your photos are well-organized and preserved for the future. Organizing photos can seem like a daunting task but breaking it down into baby steps helps tackle it with ease. With a little bit of time and effort, you’ll be able to relive and cherish your memories for years to come.
As always, we’re here to help if you get stuck or need an extra set of hands.
