Tip of the Month :: Organize Your Photos

You probably have already spent lots of money on your family’s memories by purchasing a new digital camera, printing paper, batteries, etc. But is all that expense and effort worth it if your memories aren’t organized?

This article will provide you with some ideas to make organizing your photos easy.

Like any organizing project the first step for organizing photos is to gather and sort them. Make sure you have looked for your photos and memorabilia in all possible hiding places in your home.

The next step is to categorize the items into categories that make sense to you. This part of the process may be tricky. The main thing to decide is how detailed you want your categories to be. It is very important to be very realistic about the amount of time and patience you have for this project. Some people are happy to have photos sorted by year, while others want to sort by date, event or person. They are both good ways to go, just make sure you are really able to follow through with your plan. “Perfection leads to procrastination!”

Once you have categorized photos in whatever format works best for you, start to make notes about the events you are storing. Record dates, names, places and relationships. Imagine what someone looking at these photos 50 years from now would want to know about them.

Now that you have identified and categorized the pictures you want to keep, decide on the best way to store them. Volume is the key here. Do you have space to store lots of albums that have hundreds of photos in them? Is a photo storage box a better way to go? Storage boxes come in many different sizes and can accommodate a lot of pictures without taking up as much space as albums.

Store your memories properly. Purchase archive quality materials to work with. Store them away from light, heat and humidity. Keep them out of basements and attics.

Maintain your system by acting quickly on all the new photos that enter your home. If your system is simple and easy, organizing new photos can be accomplished very quickly.

A word about digital photos: The process for keeping and storing digital photos is the same as for hard copy photos. Sort, categorize and store them on your computer in a way that makes sense to you. Create a good electronic file system and it will be easy to find what you want when you want it. Make sure all file folders are labeled in a way that clearly describes what photos are included in them.

Perform regular backups on your digital photo folders so you don’t risk losing precious memories.

With a little work today your photos will be enjoyed for years to come.

Past Tips:

Spring 2010 - A Step by Step Guide to Paper Management

Fall 2009 - Clearing Clutter

Summer 2009 - Enjoy the Warm Weather & Get Organized Too!

February 2009 - Get Organized in a Bad Economy

January 2009 - January is Get Organized Month

December 2008 - Organize Your Closet