Organize Photos in a Flash

Every gadget these days seems to come with a built-in camera and easy access to photo-sharing sites. However, the convenience of technology can sometimes also be a diversion. According to The Association of Professional Photo Organizers, at least 750 million photographs were uploaded to Facebook on New Year’s Day in 2011. We’re so busy posting our pictures to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram which the majority of us do not make time to maintain the lot organized.

And then there are the hard copies of photographs which are in a box (someplace ). Remember when we actually printed photographs? No matter the format, obtaining photographs organized probably has a permanent spot on your mental to-do list. Let’s go from to-do to to-done.

Burnham Design

Start off organizing the photograph format which will provide you the largest reassurance. For almost all of us that is hard copies. Professional organizer Christie Gelsomino indicates to sort by motif (kids, pets, holidays, vacations) or by date. You might even use a combo of the two.

Natalie Myers

After you have sorted all of your pictures into classes, decide on their destination. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Photo boxes: make sure that the boxes are big enough for the photographs you are storing. The Container Store has some great options to stash your stuff. And whatever you do, do not forget to tag.

Albums: that I love these binders from Russel + Hazel. All you’ll need are inserts for organizing the photographs.

Collection cabinet: Serious photograph collectors may think about a collection cabinet for photo storage requirements.

Quick-start tip: Use what you’ve got available to store photos until you find the perfect container — believe shoe boxes.

Integrated

For some, tossing photographs is simple; for others, it is a cardinal sin. In case you’ve got a set of rules to go by, let go of extraneous pics is a breeze.

Toss outside:
• Blurry photos
• Photos where you need to ask yourself,”Who’s that?”
• Doubles

Whimages

You will inevitably have a pile of photographs that you’d like to scan for safekeeping. Before you scan, research the best alternative for keeping them digitally.

A external hard drive or flash drive: Produce folders which mimic the classes you have already established so that the digital pictures remain organized.

A cloud hosting support: Once your set is from the cloud using a service such as iPhoto, Flickr or Shutterfly, it is easy to share memories with loved ones near and far.

CDs: These are great for maintaining a number of copies and handing over a photograph collection to your friend or family member.

Patrick Sutton Associates

In case you keep the negatives? It depends upon if they are the only copies you have of a particular set of photographs. Cross-check negatives against your pics. If you have all the photographs, you can throw the downsides.

You may also wish to scan a few of the negatives. Here’s a tutorial in Popular Photography which uses your flatbed scanner and a little DIY art to handle this job.

Any downsides that you are keeping should be safely stored in an archival photograph box to prevent moisture or moisture damage.

April Force Pardoe Interiors

Once you’ve organized your photos, you’ll have a clearer idea of what you’d like to exhibit (as everything is going to soon be searchable). A wall of your favorite photos exhibited salon style is a superb way to showcase your own collection. Whatever you decide, you can rest easy knowing that your memories are preserved for posterity.

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