Printing and Organizing Your Photos Like a Pro

To me, photographs are nothing short of magic. You can literally document memories for all of time. We have pictures of grandparents, great grandparents, and even great-great grandparents! My kids love to look at these old pictures. We talk about what life must have been like back then when we look through the pictures

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We love to see how we all resembles our ancestors, and it really brings us back in time. We are fortunate to have these photos. If no one took or preserved these pictures, we would never know what any of our relatives looked like. 

We have pictures of happy memories, like my grandparent’s wedding. We also have pictures of troubling times – like my grandfather overseas during World War II. We  have pictures of my grandmother’s brother, who died when he was only 5 of pneumonia. We are able to physically hold these images in our hands and experience their lives. 

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Printing Your Photos

Most people’s pictures are in two places:

1. Sitting on their phones 
2. Uploaded to their computer or a website

Both of these places are purgatory for your photos. They will sit their in digital space and slowly get forgotten. No one will be sitting around your computer, pouring through the folders, and reminiscing about memories. 

Printing your photos is the first step to saving your memories. Maybe I am old school, but I think pictures need to be something you can hold in your hands. You can pass them around and pull them out anytime. 

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You have a few options. You can print out your photos and put them in albums manually or you can use websites such as Shutterfly or Mixbook to make memorable and organized albums.

Organizing Your Photos

Printing your photos is a good first step, but if you don’t organize them they will most likely collect dust. I love turning my photos into interactive photo books at Mixbook.com

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I recommend making these scrap-book like albums vs. putting 4X6 photos in old-fashioned albums because they are:

1. Beautiful to look at: You can add colors, frames, and words into these books
2. Lightweight and easy to store vs. those big heavy albums
3. Able to capture more memories: You can add in descriptions to pictures such as details from a birthday party or funny quotes from your kids
4. Display your creativity: These are basically scrapbooks without the glue and scissors
5. Busy-parent friendly: It is faster to make these than stuffing photos into albums!

Here is an example of one of my pages:

You can basically turn your photos into interactive stories of your life! Check it out for yourself:

Tips for Organizing Your Photos

Who has time to do all of this? I totally get it! Especially if you are behind! When I first started creating these albums I was a little overwhelmed. I had (no joke) thousands and thousands of pictures to go through! Once I got started, I realized how easy and fun it actually was!

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Here are some tips to follow while you are organizing your photos:

Choose a time period for your albums

What I mean by this is to define the span of time you would like in each of your albums. For example, I take a lot of pictures so I make a new album every 6 months. If you don’t take as many pictures, you can make a new album for each year. 

Defining a time period for your albums will help keep them organized and keep you on track. Try to stay consistent with the time periods in each of your albums. 

Add a detailed title page and descriptions

Think about looking at these books in the future. What will you want to remember? Add a detailed title page that includes important dates, who is in the book, and where it takes place. 

Throughout the book, include the names and ages of the people in the book. Mention where events took place. You can’t add in enough detail!

Include all types of pictures

Don’t only include events, such as vacations and holidays. Throw in some pages filled with pictures that you take on a regular day! Lifestyle pictures often tell the best stories!

Don’t fall too far behind

Once you fall behind, you will start to get overwhelmed. If you do even a page or two every week, you will be able to keep up with your books. This will ensure that it is fun and stress-free!

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If you are behind- don’t fret! Here is your plan to get caught up and not get too overwhelmed! 

• Don’t set goals too high. If you plan on finishing all of your photo books in a week, you will get stressed! Your goal is to finish one book per month. 
• Go slow. The more thought you put into these books, the more valuable they will be. Be patient. 
• Start with the oldest dates first. To stay organized, go back to the beginning and move forward.
• Take it one day at a time. This is a process. Do a couple pages here and there, and don’t get try to finish it all at once. You will take the enjoyment out of it if you make it a chore. 

Summary

You did the hard part already– you took the picture! Don’t let your important memories be lost in digital space! Start creating your photo books that will be cherished forever!

Maybe in 100 years, your future generations will be flipping through your photos too!

Do you print and organize your photos? I would love to hear what you do with your pictures!

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