Organizing Photographs

In this article series, we look at some of the ways to protect and organize photographs.

For the full article, start below or jump directly to the topic of your choice:

Introduction
Choose Your Storage Options
Organize Current Photos First
Tackle the Backlog
Contain the Negatives
Organize Digital Photos
What To Do With Those Duplicates

Protect Your Personal History

For most of us, photographs are the only records we keep of our lives.

Photos we inherit from relatives connect us with our roots and bring family histories alive. And the photos we take ourselves will one day be cherished by our children.

Organizing Saves Your Memories

Too often, though, we treat these treasured keepsakes casually, at best. For years, I kept all my photos stashed in various places around the house: in drawers, "magnetic" albums, boxes in the spare room.

Then I learned that photos are not indestructible. If not cared for properly, photographs will fade. They may bend or crease. And non-archival storage containers may eventually damage photos beyond repair.

And isn't the whole point of taking photos to be able to look at them from time to time, reliving pleasant memories? If photos are stored haphazardly in multiple containers and locations, what are the chances anyone will get to see them again? Much less enjoy them?

I realized that to be able to enjoy and protect my photos, I needed a system for getting and keeping them organized.

Next>> Choose Your Storage Options