Picture Perfect
Don’t let your Kodak moments turn into clutter—after all, boxes of old photos stored around the house are no way to preserve your precious memories. Proper organization can help you easily access and enjoy your photos any time you want to take a trip down memory lane. Not sure where to start? No need to worry… with the right tips and tools, getting things in order is a snap!
Allison’s In-Focus Tips
Get savvy with storage. The art of printing photos may be nearing extinction, but that doesn’t mean your accumulation of treasured photos has to be. Preserve your prints with acid-free storage boxes and/or albums—it’s the best way to protect pix and make sure they stay intact over time. Try these plastic photo boxes from the Container Store and/or these albums from We R Memory Keepers. (And be sure to store them in a cool, dry place in order to prevent damage.)
Drill down your digital collection. Having hundreds (or, let’s be honest, thousands) of digital photos may not seem like clutter since they’re stored out of sight on your computer or phone. However, digital photos can consume a lot of needed disc space—eating up memory and causing your devices to run slower. Solution: delete unwanted photos from your camera/phone before syncing, or do a thorough review after upload to save only the best ones.
Create online albums. Staying on top of digital photo organization will ensure that your photos don’t gradually get lumped together into one massive, hard-to-browse area. Creating online albums or dedicated folders will help you easily locate the photos you’re looking for and keep photos in their proper virtual place. (For annual events or gatherings, use one central folder or album, with sub-folders by year.)
Have a back-up plan. Anyone who’s dealt with a crashed hard drive and no backup knows the pain of having precious documents and photos wiped out—don’t let that happen to you! The key is not only being organized, but also smart with storage; otherwise, you could lose all of your precious memories. For safe, smart backup, use either an external hard drive or cloud-based service (see below tip for ideas).
Fly the friendly skies cloud. Cloud-based services aren’t just a great means for backup; they’re also a useful way to free up space on your computer. Plus, you’ll be able to access the photos from anywhere with an Internet connection. Not sure which software works best for your needs? Here’s a handy list comparing and contrasting popular software picks.
For more of Allison’s photo organizing tips, check out this article in U.S News & World Report.
