Organizing Photographs

I sat there on the living room floor, tv on in the background, surrounded by piles of pictures. It was time to start organizing photographs.

I was in the process of moving and suddenly realized one of my biggest collections were photos.

Decades worth of memories.

There were albums large and small, bright orange envelopes from Shutterfly orders, black and white images, pictures in loose stacks, clear boxes with sticky notes, scrapbooks and even some family slides.

Yes, you read that correctly. 35mm slides. Like from the 1950s and 1960s.

I had quite the variety of images.

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Starting the process

I was overwhelmed by the task of gathering all the photographs, with the goal of fitting them in one large container. Some pictures were my own, some were from my grandparents for genealogy purposes, and some were pictures I borrowed for special projects.

How did this get so out of control!?

I thought well maybe I can narrow down the piles by throwing out blurry, poorly cropped, or duplicate images.

Nope.

This just consumed even more time that I didn’t have during a tight deadline. But isn’t that what led to this predicament in the first place??

Never taking the time to organize all these images. So many instances I started but it was never completed.

With all that being said, I would love to share some helpful tips for when you Do get to time to organize photographs.

| Related Article: What is Genealogy?

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Tips for getting organized

• Sort through photos a little bit at a time. Post-it notes help for labeling piles!
• Match printed photos of similar shape/style, this can help with chronological order
• Have family members or friends help identify and label who individuals are in pictures. Use a pencil or gently use a pen to write on the back of the image.
• If you have unidentifiable pictures that you don’t want to keep, please consider donating them to genealogy groups, historical societies, or antique stores. Others may find them very helpful in their family research.
• Try to only throw away/recycle pictures that are completely blurry or have people cropped out.
• Store groups of pictures in a photo organizer box (link below!)
• Use photo albums small or large to keep pictures of the same event or time frame together
• Large prints can be stored in large manilla envelopes
• For digital images, start by organizing by year and then month
• If you would like to decorate your home with pictures, solid colored frames help to create a cohesive look
• For a fun craft project, create a family tree and choose a picture of each family member to add to the tree
• Scrapbooking is also a fun, creative option for preserving pictures with extra little items such as tickets, score cards, stickers, etc.

| Related Article: Tips for Organizing Paperwork

Product Recommendation Links

(*Disclosure- RLS Photogenic is an Amazon Associate and earns a small commission from qualifying purchases. There is no extra cost to the buyer.)

Picture Frames

Photo Box Organizer

Large Photo Albums

Shutterfly Print Orders

I hope these tips and recommendations help!