Organizing Photos

I upload everything to Shutterfly.com and then this past year I created a book with my son's favorite photos. It was very easy and the price was fair. Lots of options for colors and layouts too! I don't think I will go back to photo albums!!

I read a great article recently that said to relieve yourself of the guilt and just buy or decorate a nice "Memory Box" (or in your case boxes) that serves as sort of a treasure chest of memories. That way, it has not only pictures but trinkets and things. Kids will love exploring it and you just have to add to the box and never worry about it again! Hope this helps!

i am not a scrap-booker but i have tons of pictures. i love taking them everywhere we go and have been doing so for like 18 years so i have a lot of pictures. finally a few years ago, i got organized. i bought those picture storage boxes (i got mine at michael's) and just used one for each year or sometimes, 2 years fit into one box. each box is labeled with the year. we regularly go through old pictures ("Remember when we....") so this way, they are easily accessible. The boxes are decorated nicely, too, so they aren't an eyesore when they happen to be sitting on the end table in living room. good luck with your organizing!

T....first of all, do you have them sorted by year? I would begin sorting them into groups. For example, by year, then within the year maybe "baby photos" "family photos" "pets" "school" "vacations" etc. As you sort the pictures, immediately throw away any blurry pictures or pictures where people's eyes or half closed or whatever. Six good pictures will memorialize the event just as well as six good photos and 15 crappy ones. Immediately you will feel better because it won't seem like you're drowing in photos. Give away duplicates or photos that are okay but you have several similar ones.

Are you wanting to put them in an album at all or just keep them loose but organized? I can give you a link to a great pocket page album (fast and easy) and also a great photo box (holds up to $2,500 photos per box) if you're interested.

L.

P.S. I'm a 38 year old sahm of 9 and 5 year old girls. I've been married for 10 years. I love scrapbooking, but it's not for everyone. I'm happy to tell you more about some "non-scrapbooking" methods.

If you have a digital camera, you can take pics of the pics and view them on the computer. Set your screen saver to slideshow from My Pictures, your pics, or you could get a digital pic frame and store them all on there. First, you have to get them on the digital camera.

I work with a company called Photomax! Photomax is a Free online website where you can Preserve, Share, Organize and enjoy ALL your photos for life and WILL them to your children. You can upload and order prints and other gifts from you digital camera, send in your paper photos and have them converted to CD's, DVD's and Movie Magic DVD's. The company will also put your new digitizes paper photos in an album in your account. Convert all your old home movies, VHS, 8mm, etc to DVD as well as upload your videos from your digital camera. Organize all your photos into albums and share them with family and friends. One the best features of Photomax is protecting them from your hard-drive crashing or any other natural disasters. The company backs up all photos daily and preserves them in granite vaults where they are safe. You can also access your photos from any computer anywhere, anytime. The company also offers Photomax as a home base business. You can join as a customer or start your own home business. I joined Photomax 2 years ago and have at least 2800 photos in my account most of these are from my digital camera or my children sending me photos of their children where I can save them over into my own account. There is so many things that Photomax has to offer that it is really hard to explain everything in an email. If you are interested in getting more information about Photomax either as a customer or as a home business you can call me direct at ###-###-#### or toll free at 1-866-487-4679 or email at ____@____.com you can visit my website at www.ijl.myphotomax.com (then call me). Again signing up as a customer if Free for Life and is really fun to use.
Contact information:
I. Lockhart
###-###-####
____@____.com
wwww.ijl.myphotomax.com

I am in the same boat and I decided to get regular photo albums (separate ones by year or special occasion and archive save) and just get them in there with hand-written notes (there are usually slots for them or a space to write)about the occasion and the picture - the meaning and the memory count - not how nice the paper around the picture looks =) When I had my triplets, I had to totally give up scrapbooking and card making - my friends benefitted from my change in focus =)

T. I am an addicted scrapbooker and have been for many years now. I tend to take hundreds of photos so I know very well the complications of storage, organizing and the disappoinment of getting behind in years. I have many tips to offer you and would love to chat. I do better on the phone though if you can give me a call.

S. ###-###-####)

I just bought an external harddrive..Scanned all of mine in and put the originals up

there are patterns for quilts(easy to make) that you can use your photos on. then you can store the originals in air tight containers while you enjoy your pics. you can do this on any material.while not dealing with the pics, like me, all over the place.

I am a mother of five and a Creative Memories Consultant. I started the digital part of Creative Memories cause it only takes a little bit of my time rather than doing it traditional. I also bought some of the Organizing boxes that Creative Memories sales and sorted all my pictures. So now they are sorted by dividers and that way when I have a 30 minute break I pull about four to eight pictures and put them on a page or in a PicFolio Album which already has slots for individual pictures and put the paper behind the picture. Just an idea!!!

Hi T.,

I have the same dilemna - boxes of photos from the past and little time to organize. I went to a scrapbooking party and the hostess advise was to start with the photos you are taking now and work backwards. This way you can get started now while you are organizing older photos. The books they make now are great since you can insert pages anywhere, in case they get out of order. Also keep your pages simple - it will be quicker and not look so cluttered.

You might want to check before storing photos in any kind of plastic container, especially if it might be for a long period of time. Boxes might be better.

Good luck!

D. C.

T.,

I have heard people suggest to get them put on disks, and Lablel them. Then you could just keep the coppies that you really like and you would not be feeling guilty for throwing away photos because you have them on a disc and can always make more copies.(just make sure you have a spot to keep the discs) Hope this helps.

N.

I think I would be best for you at this point to just get them into the photo slot albums, you know where you just stick them into their individual slots, so people can see the wonderful photos you've taken. Or if that is too much, then there are photo storage boxes at any craft store, and you can separate them however you want, and label the box according to the pictures.

I too have gotten behind on organizing my kids' pictures! Some things I've read about are scanning some of them then making cds or getting one of those digital photo frames. That way you don't have to keep all the actual prints. Maybe send some of them to grandparents, that way they will be enjoyed until you get them back one day when you might have more time. If you find a way to organize them that doesn't take years like you mentioned, let me know, I need help with this too!

Unlike most of my friends, I am not a scrapbooker by heart. And when I faced the huge boxes filled with everything from my baby pictures to all the stuff of my children, I was lost!

But I decided to take it slow. I first separated my photos into large envelopes: my childhood, my husband's, us dating, us married, vacations, etc. Each child has an envelope or two, and all the kids together have one, etc. Then I am tackline ONE scrapbook at a time. I'm not really worrying about getting it perfect or creating a theme for each page...I don't have time. But I'm grouping related photos together, marking dates and putting anything else in that pertains. Some kid photos are going into their baby books, which I have kept pretty current.

I hope that helps! I know how daunting it must be!

I was good at putting photos in photo albums for years and then, after I had my daughter and was a single parent for over the first year, I fell out of the habit. I've tried to work on them at various occations but it's been a few years. I have boxes and boxes of photos to put in albums but one thing I started (which has cut back hugely on the # of boxes) is I bought a digital camera. I can take as many digital pictures as I want and, especially during a trip, I will download them off of my camera every night. I save them in folders (pictures, year, month and/or trip). I bought a photosmart all in one printer, fax, copier, scanner so that I could scan pictures into my computer. At least once a year I save a back up of my pictures and put them in various safe places. I try to make it my Christmas present to people every year. I take the photos from the past year and put them to music on a DVD so that my family that doesn't have computers can watch pictures of my daughter. She's the first grandkid and great grandchild on both sides of her family. I'm also able to print off pictures with my printer which was great when I lived in Cali after the fires went through last year.

Have you scanned the photos to put on a disc, for storage so (Heaven forbid) something bad doesn't happen to them? I know that when people ask me to create a photo slideshow on dvd for them, I scan and save the photos on a cd for them of the photos before and after I touch them up. I started doing this shortly after my aunts house burned up. They lost all of their memories. they had to rely on all their family members to come up with all the photos they had given out, few that they were. My aunt was VERY greatful for what little people gave them back.
Keep a spare disc at another family members house or in a safe deposit box so you know you don't lose it all.

As to your dilemma, I do video scrapbooks with mine. Good luck!

One box at a time Tayna:> One box at a time!! I'm a scrapper so of course my answer will involve a little of that, but I want to share a great way to minimize the stress of boxes of photos (we all have them:>)
Close To My Heart is a company that ecourages preserving your memories faster, simpler, easier! As a mama of an almost 3 year old little boy and just four little girl, if I can't start a new project that is faster simpler easier, I don't even bother anymore:>
Anyway, CTMH of course sell albums and all you need to stuff them full with pretty paper and embellishments galore, but my favorite product is called PHOTO STORAGE PAGES. They come in two styles and are basically a slide in photo album page that will fit your scrapbook. Why it is so great is you can fit say 12 4x6 pix in one page or you can "scrap" a 4x6 Title to describe the pix on that page or slip in a 4x6 Journal about what the pix are about or better yet, use CTMH's Level 1 packets and scrap one page of an event with the really great photos and follow it with these photo storage pages so you don't have to get rid of any or be overwhelmed with the daunting task of scrapping them all. It really is the best of both worlds to me:> And even if your boxes are out of order, you can fill the pages and then put them in order as they are easily rearranged in the albums!
I wish you luck and fun on your journey through the past, it is my favorite part of my hobby, usually why it takes me so long, I LOVE to look and remember and talk and share about all those pix, luckily, there are a lot of poor quality, blurry scenery pix or other pix that can just be let go of in my boxes so getting to the great ones and not so great but tell the story important ones is easier than I thought once I got started:>
I would be glad to help you if you are interested. You can view my website at www.scrapwithrobyn.myctmh.com or find a consultant near you at www.closetomyheart.com.
Have fun, R.

My husband is an avid photographer and thanks to Photoshop, digital technology and DVDs, he has made it a common practice to scan all our photos or download them from his camera, and then store them on the computer. It makes for great gifts when he puts them on a DVD, set to music, complete with a custom designed DVD case. Once they're all on your hard drive, you can pick out select ones to make cards and gifts (provided you have a good priter). If you're not the sharpest pixel on the screen (that would be me!), check out his website for some ideas: artoffthewall.com. There are also many websites which will offer to scan and compile your photos for you which makes for a great, safe way to protect your photos.

Go digital! My new home business was a result of my having hundreds of photos and not enough time to put them in scrapbooks/albums. Scan the photos onto a CD (easily done at places like WalMart). Then you can watch them on your TV or computer ANY time you'd like. I take it up a notch in my home business by creating edited photo DVD presentations - titling, chapters, individualized captions, background music, fancy transitions between photos. I have so much fun that it doesn't seem like work! And the results are stunning! And copies make great presents!

I have mine in ziplock baggies labled by year. My goal is to work on it slowly. I am working on my kids highschool years even though they haven't had their births scrapbooked as well as my mothers photos for some heritage while she is still hear to explain them. I don't get much time but the goal is to eventually have them all in books. Good luck.

C.

If you still have lots of negatives there is a great website that will high quality scan your negatives and make them digital for you (www.scancafe.com)- then you can use scrapbooking software or an online site to create books. If you have the time that is. I'm also have this goal and keep thinking maybe I need to start a club. I'm not a "scrapbooker" in the traditional sense, I just want to get some images blown up and on my walls and in some albums, etc. So I know how overwhelming all of the serious scrapbook stuff out there can be.

The best way is expensive, but might be worth it to you. You can send them off to a service to have them all turned digital. Then you can electronically organize them into files. I prefer this because they get looked at more often. You can set them up as slideshows, screen savers, set them to music and make a video, or even digitally scrapbook them over time (it takes WAY less time than actual scrapbooking). I think there are even programs to help you organize the digital photos.

If you choose to keep them all hard copies, then you can have a party where a bunch or friends or family members come and help get them into albums.

T. I am an avid scrapbooker and couldn't have done it without Creative Memories. They have the best storage boxes and organizers I have seen. Their powersort box can hold up to 2,400 5x7 photos or smaller and has a pocket in the lid for the 8x10's. The cost is $35. Private message me and I will get you the number to my consultant.

Wow this has been a popular question! Stacy Julian has a great book that just came out for those of us with too many photos. It's called Photo Freedom. She also has an online class called Library of Memories that is very good.

Most importantly, enjoy yourself. :)

L.

Hi. I accomplished this daunting task a years back after a surgery and I was in bed for 3 weeks. I organized my photos chronologically and put them in cardboard photo boxes. Now Creative Memories has created a large and small square box - the large one holds A LOT of photos. I essentially am transferring about 10 cardboard boxes to 2 of the Creative Memory large photo sort boxes. I wrote in pencil on each tab so that after I was done essentially sorting them I could relabel each section if needed.

As I put pictures in each slot, I was also able to throw many away that were out of focus, shots of people who I didn't remember, etc.

Once I had most organized, I started my albums. I kept mine simple meaning I didn't go for over documenting (one gal had 1 or 2 FULL albumns and her son was only 9 months old), others enjoy doing a lot of embelishments, which are nice, but not me. The one piece of advice I give you is to Journal under each picture or on the page stating maybe the date, event, and a little bit about it, also names of people.

I have albumns that are "mine" for my house that are in chronological order and simple. I do have a separate Xmas one with Santa pictures and a family picture each year. I also created an album for each child to take with them when they leave home. It's birth through graduation and I limited it to one large Creative Memory album, thus limiting each school year to 3-4 pages. Their school picture, class picture, maybe one picture of each holiday, important events or activities that they did, but kept it simple.

Thus, my job of going through now and separating pictures into piles now to give each child when they leave home so that they can do their own books the way they want. I make sure that I label photos I pick up with the date, event and people as soon as I can, as it's easy to forget "friends" that they had that were in pictures, etc.

Creative Memories has consultants and many do workshops and their products are great. I have also found many scrapbooking stores who have table space for you to go and work on your project. But this gives you an idea of where to start.

Good luck. It's amazing once you have them organized, you can then just take a section at a time out of the box and work on those pages. For me it doesn't feel so overwhelming anymore.

I too love lots of photos of my family. Early on I realized albums wouldn't do. Therefore I purchased some specific tupperware boxes just for 5X7 photos so most would fit in upright. They even had dividers so I would organize the pic by date and use the dividers for years and a plain post card between months. I'm sure if Tupperware doesn't have the containers there should be some you could find in a department store. You can store quite a few and just go to the year you want to go over memories. Works great. Enjoy.

I am a Creative Memories Consultant and would love to help you learn to organize, crop, add to album and journal pictures for now and future generations. Please send email or address. You can also do on computer with our memory manager. You can go online and order the supplies and keep in touch to share ideas via email or mail. With my ID# I'd get credit even. If we live anywhere near, I'd love to have you come to my house or I can come to yours. I am in Vancouver, WA, ###-###-####, ____@____.com can order on line and have come directly to your house also. M. Mathews

The first thing to do is back all the photos up online. It sound like a lot.. maybe just your VERY favorites. That way if something happens - like a how my kids rip them up - you can print them again.. and again whenever you need to. Also for all of those in the boxes catagorize them how you remember them and put them in regular Albums. Scrapbook as many as you like by catagory as well. Make Photo Gifts out of them for family - out of duplicate prints.. that's all I got right now.. my mind is tired.. lol. I'm going to go watch a movie now.. my baby girl is getting sleepy too - yeah!!

Digital Memories-Let us help you organize and scrapbook your cherished memories.

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Hi T.,
I had encountered the same delema about a year ago. I have a few suggestions for you.
At a dept. Store, I purchased a picture organizer. It looks like a small filing cabinet yet holds over 500 pictures. I labeled each drawer by year. Each drawer has I think 6 small double sided hanging albums that hang with the binding facing up so you can label each one.
When I am scrapbooking a subject, say Easter or Christmas, that has alot of photos I will chose two or three of my favorites photos to display on the page. Behind the photos you have chose to display, make a pocket for the other photos.
Hope this helps!!

Hi T.,
I recently became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, so I've been watching crafts shows for tips and techniques.
I just saw the cutest idea on "Scrapbook Memories". They took a larger recipe box and used each "letter" tab as "theme" tabs. Then they wrote a little descrption about the collective pictures behind each divider tab. Does that make sense? I'd be happy to explain better if you want to give me a call. Have fun however you decide to tackle the project. :)###-###-#### ~S.