Organize those Photos!

We all adore strolling down memory lane by looking at photographs we have accumulated over the years. What we don't adore so much is the rearranging , organizing and sorting. Here I will give you some simple steps to follow so that you can begin systematically protecting those beloved memories.

Prints:

1. Gather all the photgraphs you have littered in your house, from the ones in the bookshelves to the ones wedged in the back of your sock drawer (unless their not meant for family-viewing *hint hint*). You will end up with a large stack of photographs and photo packets. Find a place you can get sorting! Make sure you are comfortable-you can do it in your bedroom, at the kitchen table or sit in front of your television while you watch your favourite sitcom.

2. We'll start with the packet photos since most of them are sort of organised as it is. Flip through each one, note the year and event-use a marker pen on the cover to write. Put the batch of photos in a large envelope, we'll get on top of those later.

3. Now, get some pretty boxes to store all your photo packets in. They can be simple shoe boxes wrapped with recycled wrapping paper or fancy ones you can find in ikea or the local bookstore. Categories them according to the year or the events-for example, they can be vacations,birthdays,parties,day out,family,etc OR 2001,2002,2003,etc OR whatever you feel is convenient but I find these the easiest ways to categorize.

4. Now lets tackle those loose photos. Go through them slowly, this are memories we want to preserve not a race to finish fastest! First, get several smaller envelopes and as you sort through the photos-again, note the year and event of each photo- place them into seperate envelopes which should also be marked so you know which is which.

5. Once that is done you can go and buy some photo packets or fancy albums to put them in. If you like, buy some picture frames for your favourite shots to display in your living room or bedroom.

6. Place those packets, or albums, into the boxes with your other photos according to categories. Dont worry about scrapbooking. All the fancy stuff can come later-the important thing is that now your photos are all preserved nicely and are organized so that if you ever want to have look see you wont need to scramble through a dozen albums before finding what your looking for!

*Make a habit of putting your photos into packets or albums which are marked and put them into the boxes which you have stored. This way you wont have a tonne of photos to organize every few years and they remain as pristine as when you developed them*

Digital Photos:

1. First you need to know what you want to do with your digital photos. Do you want to email them and upload them onto online photo site or personal blogs? Or do you want to print them out and make albums? If you dont intend to print any, save each of the photos into smaller, more managable sizes-I suggest 72dpi. This way you save LOADS of hard disk space. If you think you would like to print them, save the full resolution photos into a CD and save whichever thumbnails you want on your computer so you can upload them or email them when you please. If you dont need to have them on your computer, you can delete them.

2. Remember to back up your files! You never know when your hard drive may give you trouble or a pesky virus may ruin your digital photo files! After you have sorted which to keep and which to save, burn the files onto your CD or DVD. Label each one by year and event so you know which is which. Now you can store them on a spindle, in a jewelry case or a CD book. Just remember to keep them dust-free to maintain the longevity of the CDs!

3. Store your photos on your computer systematically or stash them into an external hard drive so your computer isn't overloaded.

4. When you store photos in folders, do so in a similar manner which you store physical photographs! Sort them by Year and then in subfolders which contain the photos-sort them by events. For very large events, make use of more subfolders. For example 2005>Becky's Wedding>Reception; Church; Dinner; etc. See? Simple and effective.

5. Use the technology at your disposal! Use management software to quickly and effectively organize and catalouge your digital photos. Mac users can use iPhoto while Windows users can use Picasa, Adobe Photoshop Album, Paint Shop Photo Album, Cumulus and many more! Alterntively, you can always sign up with photobucket or Shutterfly or Ofoto or numerous other online photo storage site which allows you to share your photos with your loved ones anywhere (Anywhere there is internet connection anyway) with practically unlimited storage space at your disposal!

Hope this little guide will spur you on to organizing those lovely little memories! Good Luck and remember the most important thing - Have FUN! *grins*