There are a number of methods for organizing photos. No matter how you decide to setup your system of storing photos, the important part is that you can find the image you want when you want it. This is a guide to organizing your photos.
When you get film developed or download your pictures to your computer, be sure to date them and state who is in the picture. Future children (great-great-grand children) may inherit them and then they'd know when the picture was taken and who is in it.
These are small things we take for granted. People are really getting into genealogy and they would love nothing more than to have a picture telling them when it was taken and of whom.
By GEM from VA
If you are overwhelmed with years of unorganized photos, start with the current ones first, and get them organized. I made albums for each kid, and one for their dad and I, trying to find the older ones first and working from there to the present. If you don't label them, they will be just about worthless someday. There are special photo pens that you should purchase to write on the back of the picture that won't press through the paper, and are archival safe.
Don't use those awful photo albums that have sticky pages where you press the picture onto the page. The photos will age quickly, and some you can't get off at a later time, and one of mine the pictures slid off after some years.
Contact a lady in your area that teaches creative album making and have her come to your house and teach a group of you and your friends. A nice proper album will have pages that you can write short histories about each picture. I do not sell those albums, but have been to several house demonstrations and have purchased their supplies. You can get the supplies at certain stores as well. Go to one where the saleslady knows about them and can teach you or show you a few demonstrations.
Also, there are demonstrations on You Tube, and or the Internet. This information will save your photos, as they will deteriorate over the years if you don't do them with the good archival safe photo pages. A box is good too if you don't want to use albums.
By hopeful from beautiful Salem, OR
Write your child's age, weight, and height on the back of professional photos (school pics, baby pics from a studio, etc) or on good quality home pictures. If, heaven forbid, you're child were to come up missing, you'll have important identifying information in one place. Fortunately, for most of us, this will simply be a nice record of our childrens' development. Be careful to write lightly or you will be able to see where you wrote on the front of the picture. You could use a peel-n-stick label instead.
By Leann D
I have so many photos in a one big box. What can I do to get them all organized?
Thank you.
By Debbie from Austin, TX
By Cindy S.
06/03/2010
I did this a few years ago. First I sat down and looked at every picture and wrote on the back WHO was in the photo and if possible, where. So many old family pictures I have we are unsure who the person is. Then I seperated them by year to the best of my ability and put them is photo storage boxes I bought at a craft store for cheap. Good luck and grab the tissues because I cried after looking at all the pictures of my kids as babies and loved ones no longer with us. But I sure felt good when that project was done!
I've always planned to get around to putting my pictures in an album, but I haven't done so yet and I think I never will. I've kept my pictures in a big bag and just recently, I looked in the bag and found that dirt, dust, and gravel had gotten into the bag (there had been construction in the apartment). I must now go through each picture and dust it off so I figured it was a good time to organize my pictures.
Do you have any suggestions on how best to organize them (by year? by subject?). What can I do besides albums? Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.
By Carolyn
By ThriftyFun
05/25/2001
I had this problem years ago and decided to do something about it. I arranged all my pictures according to years in albums and bought a labeler to put the years on the outside of the album. I made up one album each for my grandkids and put theirs in years. Now when I get new pictures it is easy to just put them in the album and get them out of the way. When my grandkids come over they love looking at there albums. I have one for each year of there life. There awards go in there also and birthday cards. Now when my family and I are talking about old times I just think about what year it might of been and go right to it. Lots Of Love, - Bonnie
Does anyone have a good suggestion for cataloging photographs? I have boxes of them and would like to put them in some kind of order. Should they be chronological, by subject, etc.? Any ideas appreciated.
By Dee
By emtr2
07/11/2001
Try using an index box. get one thats big enough and there are tab headings on the dividers
I have tons of photos to organize and I purchased many acid free boxes. I can't figure out what would be the BEST way to actually utilize them and make it easy to view the pictures. So far I have only separated them by each childs name, my husband & me and one for friends and family photos. My problem is how to then organize them within. Any advice?
Julie
By phishphan98
03/22/2005
Seperating is half the battle! Personally I would sort by date now that the seperating is done. Most of the photo boxes come with some kind of index car/seperator so use those to mark what event or date it is. If you run out, which I have, regular large index cards will work too! The last tip I leave is to work on them in baby steps. A box a day or a pile a day. I tried doing it all in one day and got discouraged and they just sat there because I didn't want to deal with it...but when I went back and I did it in small amounts I had it done in no time... Good Luck!!
Help! I am putting 40 years worth of photos into albums! What a mess, and its so difficult to categorize them.. according to ages and which grandchild age to put where when they are all together w/family! I wish we could have afforded picture albums then! I've been doing this for 2 weeks and every room of my house is mess picture piles everywhere on every table!
All of that to ask you this; my daughter is on her 3rd marriage (and her last!) so the problem is, do you put the pictures of the children's fathers in the album too? I don't want to offend my son in law now. The mom and dad are in the pictures with the kids too. I'm trying to leave out the ones where they are standing too close etc. But the pictures are so good! What do you do in this case?
I think my grandsons should be able to see their dads in the pictures from their *babyhood* along w/ their mom. One of the dads we DON'T care for.. but I want to be fair to the child. I even thought of carefully cutting out his face or something lol but I don't want to ruin the picture. OR making a private album and keeping it hid. Then at least one day maybe the kids will get to see it...or not. I can't be the only one who this bugs. What do you do in this case?
I'm overwhelmed with old photo prints, 3 or 4 generations worth. Any suggestions on sorting, and storing? I'm not a scrapbooker, but eventually, would like to do one for each of my children. I'm also into genealogy, so would like to keep that in mind for the old family photos. Thanks, y'all.
By Gloria
By TXBetty
01/26/2012
It's funny that you are posting this question; I've been scanning and trying to get my photos organized for weeks now. I've purchased several photo albums that I had to return because none seems to work for me. I'm dealing with over 50 years of photos; all different sizes and a lot without dates.
I'm not into scrapbooking because of the time and expense. Just want to get them in some sort of order. As of yet I've failed to find a solution. Can't find refill pages for the few albums I have. I've searched this site as well as others and not found anything that works without spending a fortune. I'm about ready to throw them back in the photo boxes I had them in. This question has been posted so often I get the impression others are having as much trouble as myself.
Does anyone have a better way to store family pics? I currently have mine stored in photo albums, but over the years the clear plastic that folds over the page won't stick anymore and the pictures keep falling out. I really don't like stashing my pics away in photo boxes because they seemed so unorganized that way. I find it very enjoyable to look at pics in the photo albums when company arrives or simply alone. Any suggestions?
By Onesummer
By MaryMax
04/12/2012
Beautiful photo boxes...got mine at Ross, a discount store here in Dallas. Different sizes, colors, styles, etc. I placed it on a shelf in the den with greenery around it. Easy to get to and holds lots of photos.
What is the best way to organize photos and keepsakes? I am a bit too lazy to do scrapbooking, is there a lazy person's way to having nice albums? Is it best practice to put all photos and keepsakes in albums or do people have other methods? I would love to hear your ideas.
By Stellabell from Manchester, WA
By Emerirta
04/25/2012
I used a A-Z alphabetizer and put post-its on the letters with my kids names and other family names, Sorted all the picutres according, then when they were all sorted I removed one of kids photos then sorted from newborn to present.
I couldn't find photo albums that I liked so I use 3 ring binders with the pockets in the front and back and put a baby picture and Graduation picture on the front cover pocket, it took a long time but the shelves look so much better
I have been given 6000 photos for work and now work wants me to organize them in numerical order and find some way to catalogue them. They also want some of the photos to be placed in frames and hung around in the office. All the photos are very sentimental. If any one has ideas that would be great, I have run out of everything.
By Rickii-lee from Queensland, Australia
By Noella
03/12/2010
What kind of photos are they? people photos, family photos? photos of animals? manufacturing photos? landscape photos? There are various ways to organize and arrange, depending on the content.
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