Organizing your old photos can be a tedious and daunting task. But just like any chore that involves organization, you’ll feel so much better once you’re finished!
We’re very supportive of digitizing photos, but this doesn’t mean we think you should throw away your old photos. Tangible photos can have a lot of value, both sentimentally and historically. As the digital era advances, you’ll be glad you held onto these photo relics because some of this analog media might be completely obsolete in several decades.
Your family will also be grateful to have these analog photos preserved for future generations. Looking back at old family photos is such a treat and it’s a fun way to remember your unique family history.
Categorize All Your Photos
Organizing your photos starts by looking at every picture in your collection. After you lay out all your photos, it’ll be a lot easier to categorize the pictures by year, event, person, or location. Decide how you want to separate and label the photos using these categories or any other descriptor that makes sense to you. Once you bundle these photos by category, you’ll have a better idea of what you have in your collection.
Digitize Your Photos
Once you have the photos arranged and out of boxes, this is the perfect time to digitize the photos and negatives. Follow our digitizing guidelines and send them over to Southtree. We’ll return the photos unharmed and that’s when you can finish your photo organization.
Digitizing your photos is a great way to have a backup of each copy in case anything happens to the original prints. It’s also easier to share the photos with family members online when you have digital files. Furthermore, you can use the digital files for craft projects – this ensures the original print is always available even if you want to use the photo on a greeting card, scrapbook, or keepsake.
Re-box Your Photos
While you’re waiting for your photos to be digitized, start organizing the boxes you’ll store the photos in. Within each box, you should use bags or envelopes to narrow down the category of each photo. For example, one box can be labeled “1980” and then have an envelope for “summer” or “Christmas.”
The more specific you get when organizing your old photos, the better! Even though it will require a lot of work, it will make things easier in the long run when your children inherit the photos, or when your relatives come to visit and want to look through them.
Best of luck, and don’t forget to contact Southtree when you’re ready to preserve your memories!
