Printed Photos Organizing

June / July 2021
Organizing Printed Photos

Organizing printed photos takes time but it is well worth the effort. Is it ranked low on your priority list? Do you repeatedly say, “someday” when you think about this task?  It helps to have a specific project in mind. What is your reason? Why do you want to organize your photos? Having purpose and goals will help you stay focused on the finish line. For example I have recently accomplished several photo projects including: Christmas photo books for myself, my daughter, and mother-in-law. I also did a High School photo book and a Senior Photo Collage Board for my son, Connor. He just graduated from Oconee County High School and will be attending Georgia Southern in the fall. 
Begin by gathering all of your printed photos. You may have them in Albums or boxes and probably both but pull them all together. Once you have located all of them you can begin sorting your photos into groups chronologically. Decide how you want to sort them: person, family, or birthdays, vacations, holidays or events. There is no right or wrong way to organize them. 
Once you have decided how you want to organize them, start the process. You can always change the order later on, if it is not working well. It is always a good idea to get started. You will never finish and you will never know how easy or difficult the task is, until you get started. Just Do It! Getting started will probably be the hardest part.
I recommend having temporary boxes, containers, or clear plastic storage bags to store your “working” piles in. Also, have a sharpie,  labels and/or post-it-notes  available to label each pile. This will allow you to put your work away and begin where you left off, rather than starting all over again...again and yet again. This can happen, if you don’t organize your progress.
As you go through your piles of photos make sure to discard: 
-Duplicates
-Photos you don’t want anymore
-Blurry photos
When I started sorting my photos I had so many that were not even mine. My sister used to send me duplicates of her vacation photos. That  was back in the day when people sent their film out to be developed, it did not cost extra to have an additional set printed. 
Storing Your Printed Photos
Once you get into a rhythm of sorting and purging photos you will need to decide how to store them long term. 
 Here are some options:
-Store photos and documents flat
-Store in a dark room like an interior closet with stable humidity and temperature
-Photo Box: photos stored standing up or flat
-Archival Photo Box
-Photo Album
-Scrapbook Album
Scanning photos 
To scan or not to scan...that is up to you. I recommend scanning your most precious important photos. They are probably photos you already have in frames. Scan them to preserve them. If you have lots of photos to scan I recommend Modern Image in Atlanta. They are reasonably priced and you can mail or drop off thousands of photos to them. Another company is Pixorium for scanning. Want a Storybook created by a Professional? I highly recommend Pixorium. 
While you sift through your photos you will undoubtedly find some favorites. When you do, pick a few to display now!  This will encourage you to keep going and you can appreciate them everyday. 
Here are some options for displaying your photos:
-Frames
-Photo Tree
-Photo Collage in Frame
-Shutterfly has great products available to display your photos in creative ways.
-Photo Montage wallpaper
Enjoy your Photo Organizing. 

Adele Gross
Daily Money Management, Professional Organizer & Downsizer
Simple Solution Organizing LLC

706-714-1314
www.simplesolutionorganizing.com

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