Ask The Readers: How Do You Organize Your Photographs?
Oh how I love digital cameras. I love the immediate feedback you get. You can tell right away if a picture was spoiled by a sneeze, closed eyes or a yawn. Secondly, there is far less physical clutter. Yay! You can limit the pictures you print to those that are great, composed well and that you will actually do something with.
But what about all of those photos from the pre-digital era? You know, the ones that have been cast aside, the ones that are sitting in the bottom of a closet somewhere or tucked into a box that you now need to sit on to close.
Recently reader Kristen asked:
I am super organized and live clutter free, but the one thing I have issues with is photos. Not recent ones from the digital age that I can store on the computer or external hard drive, but older prints.
Do you find books best or do they take up too much room? How about photo boxes? Would love to hear your solutions.
I have a giant basket full and they are just piled up, so it isn’t like I am looking at them and enjoying them in their current state.
I was so happy that Kristen asked me this question because it made me think about facing the massive box of photos I have stored in the closet. I’ve been putting this off for years, literally. I have several photo albums but don’t particularly like the look of them. I’ve never really been a fan of the smaller photo boxes, to me they don’t really solve the problem they just increase the number of boxes you have deal with.
Since I am just as guilty as Kristen for not knowing what to do with my photos I thought I would put it out to you, my wonderful, thoughtful and organized readers. What are your tips for Kristen … (and me) for organizing printed photographs?
See also:
Shoe Organizer: 10 Unconventional Uses
Purge Just 7 Things – A Weekend Challenge
Photo courtesy of: RedButtons
14 Responses to “Ask The Readers: How Do You Organize Your Photographs?”
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I used to be great at this — labeling and keeping them all in albums — but I’ve been slacking on this over the past few years. I’m actually really thinking about getting into digital scrapbooking so I can organize them all online!
Positively Present´s last blog ..light up your life: 5 ways to make your path brighter
Hello Sherri.
I keep any of those photographs that I have, that are in physical form, inside of a storage bag. They’re not really organized but there aren’t too many so it is well-suited.
If I were to organize them, I would probably order them by year, based on time estimates. Frankly, I forgot I had them until you posted this.
I keep a few in a photo album, but I don’t really have that many. I usually don’t keep physical prints.
I scan all of my old photos and keep digital copies on my hard drive and backed up on photo CDs.
If keeping the actual prints is important, I suggest keeping them in a storage bag, as Armen suggested, but also keeping the bags inside a fireproof safe.
Jay Schryer´s last blog ..These Dreams
My fab husband has been brilliant at being very selective about which photos are kept and we have them in placed with holders (not stuck in) to scrap book albums. The children love being able to pull them out and look through our past with us and they only take up one shelf of our bookcase.
Jane D´s last blog ..Why I blog.
What a great question! I used to fill binders with plastic pocket pages of prints in chronological order. I probably have three binders of photos like this. I only put the ones I like in the binders. For some reason I have kept all of the other ones in photo boxes. It’s like I can’t bear to erase an image once it is created. Digital certainly makes that easier. Scanning photo prints, as Jay suggested, is a great option. I also like the creative look of sticking a print or two in the edge of a hanging mirror or framed art. Good luck with the project!
Daphne´s last blog ..Breathe
In terms of storage of physical photos, the photo box is probably the most space-effective. I think I would be tempted to scan them all, and note the filename/number (and date, time, location, etc if known) on the back of the picture, and order them by filename/number.
Something to consider with regards to scanning – and something that will always remain an issue – is that film has far more resolution than any scanner can currently deal with. If you ’scan and turf’ the prints, the additional detail – that will eventually be available, given how technology is progressing – will be gone forever.
I have a ton of photos from a long voyage when I was 10 that I will eventually scan, but I will also put them in a photo box.
Thank you all for your fabulous ideas!
For those of you playing along at home we have:
Labeled photo albums
Digital scrap booking
Storage bags
Scan to CD/DVD
Scrap books
Binders with plastic inserts
Photo boxes
I agree with Jonathan that the image quality certainly goes down with scanning. All of the photos I have in print are certainly not award winning so luckily that’s not an issue.
I really like your photographs by the way Jonathan. The Yellow Wood Door is my personal fave
Thanks for all the great suggestions please keep them coming!
I am “that Kristen” and I appreciate Sherri posting my question and all the great answers. I am thinking that I will probably pick my absolute favorites and put them in small albums, nothing too space consuming…then will scan the rest on to my computer so I at least have a record of them.
A favorite site I have for nice photo albums and photo related products is:
http://www.exposuresonline.com/ExposuresOnline
They have some beautiful albums and other fun stuff!
Thanks everyone and thanks Sherri!
I have a ton of old photos from my childhood and on up. I organized them by “era” and placed them in plastic baggies for safe keeping. I have them all in a tote in my closet.
My baggies include photos from my childhood, one from my Mary Kay days, one for each of my children, one with photos from my sister and other extended family.
I am with Daphne, once an image is caught in history, I can’t bear to throw it away. Even if the photos aren’t so good, they still bring back some memories of that moment and often that’s the only photo I have, especially the really old ones.
Mary Lutz´s last blog ..Tackle it Tuesday: Diet and Exercise
@ “That Kristen”
You know what? I am a pretty all or nothing kind of person, but your suggestion about keeping the *really* good pics and scanning and tossing the rest is a great idea. It doesn’t have to be keep everything or scan and throw away everything. I like the idea of having a mix. Thank you!
@ Mary – Baggies are a good idea for photo storage. They don’t take up a lot of room and they keep the pics safe. I like the idea of keeping them in a fire proof safe as well, like Jay said.
Thanks for all of these great ideas you guys and I hope everyone was able to help you out a bit Kristen. Good luck!
Hi Sherri. Like you, I am very much a fan of digital cameras. It was less than a decade ago that I thought 1 hour photo was the coolest thing in the world, and now I get the impression that within a generation there will practically be none of them left! As for what I do with my old photographs, I’ve been meaning to set up a massive digital photo album on my computer, which would organize the photos by year. I’d have to scan all of the photos from my youth and touch them up with photoshop, so this will be a big project. After that, I’ll probably put the photos in a box or something and into storage.
Trey – Swollen Thumb Entertainment´s last blog ..Treat Your Blog Like A Living Thing
Please- photo safe or archival storage- baggies will sweat and your photos can be ruined!
Scan and save to a CD then share them with friends, etc. Upload/Back up to Mozy a harddrive, photobucket, etc just in case!
A safe deposit box is safer than a fire proof box!
Donna´s last blog ..Renaissance Festival
I myself am facing a similar problem with old photos lying in a drawer all higgeldy piggeldy. I took some really good ones and made a album which everyone likes to see, but the rest… I need to sort them!
Nice blog BTW.
Oct 7, 2009 Once upon a time my living room was covered with piles of photos for a few weeks. For me, organizing them was a multi-step process. I have my parent’s collection (“ancient ancestors”), 40+ years of married life, vacations, my childhood, my husband’s childhood – you get the idea.
The goals:
1) be able to find any photo within one minute
2) save for future generations
3) be able to share with whomever
I started with archive-safe envelopes in archive-safe photo boxes (initially a pricey investment but worth it). Envelopes were labeled by year/event/or person depending upon the numbers of photos. Large photos (8 X 10’s) were filed in file folders. I began seeing trends that shouted “scrapbook me!” or “frame me.” I have scanned all the pre-digital photos and backed up in multiple locations. As a result I have a complex but workable file system for both physical and digital images. It meets my goals.