How to Organize Photos
Step by Step

Would you like to learn how to organize photos?

Does the idea of tackling those boxes and drawers of photos send chills down your spine?

Most of us feel overwhelmed at the mere mention of such a daunting challenge.

The first thing to do is set some goals and follow this simple plan to get those photos organized! Why set goals?

Baseball legend Yogi Berra said, “If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up somewhere else.”

Why should I organize my photos?

Imagine finding any photo you want in a matter of minutes. Photos are a precious part of a families legacy, we want them to stand the test of time.

Some of the benefits of learning how to organize photos and getting it done are...

• You will be able to find the photos you want within minutes, the first time you look.
• You will have a single location to store your photos.
• You will have a safe storage system for your photos until you are ready to use them in a scrapbook.
• You will have a safe long term storage system for those photos not used in a scrapbook, and it will be simple to maintain.

Don't worry, you don't have to complete all the steps of learning how to organize photos in one day. Break them down into manageable segments that you can complete as time allows. This process may take some time, but the rewards are well worth it.

It took me a year to organize some heritage photos (five boxes) from my grandparents, but now they are a treasure for the whole family to enjoy.

Take a deep breath, we are ready to begin. Just follow these simple steps to learn how to organize photos.

Here is a list of suggested supplies. The supplies you'll need may vary based on the space available to store your photos, how many photos you have, and your personal preferences.

Just make sure that all of your choices are acid free and photo safe, this is an important part of how to organize your photos.

• Photo storage containers – There are many different types of storage containers available. They should be acid free and opaque so light will not damage your photos. Also keep in mind the number of photos you need to store. Storage containers range in size from holding around 200 photos to 2000 photos.

• Large photo storage containers – You may want to get a larger storage box or expandable file to hold larger photos and memorabilia. Finding a place to store all the larger items was an important part of learning how to organize photos for me.

• Index card tabs – You will want something to divide the groups of photos. Index card tabs work well because they stick up above the photos for good visibility.

• Negative sleeves and storage – If your negatives didn't come in sleeves from the developer, you will want to get sleeves to store them in. Sleeves come in a sheet that will fit into a three-ring binder or that you can store in an envelope. The envelopes can be labeled to correspond with the photos and put in a storage box.

Gather all your photos and memorabilia together in one place. Don't forget the drawers, boxes under the bed or in the attic or basement.

Take a moment to remember all the places you may have stashed some photos. This is a good beginning step in how to organize photos.

There are several different ways that you can sort your photos. The most common is probably chronological.

Another method is to sort by event or subject, such as birthdays, holidays, vacations. You can also sort by person or family.

You may decide to use one method or a combination of methods to create your own way of how to organize photos.

Organizing by date may be one of the easiest ways to sort and maintain your photos. As you develop film or print from digital images, you can just add them to your system by date.

Digital photos have the date in the meta tag. For developed film, look on the envelope from processing or look for a date stamp on the photo.

If you have photos from film cameras that are not dated, you will need to look at the photos for clues to when they were taken. You can look at styles of clothing, the age of people you know in the photos, and places where the photos were taken. These will give you clues to put together.

When sorting start with a broad sort, such as by decade. Then refine your sort of each decade by year, then each year by month or season.

Sorting in stages makes it much less overwhelming. This breaks a seemingly impossible task into manageable steps.

Let's take a closer look at each step of how to organize photos.

• By Decade - Some scratch paper may be helpful in the sorting process. Label a paper for each decade you will be working with.

  Begin sorting your photos by the decade they were take in. This step can be done in several sittings.

  Take advantage of small amounts of time available. You might be surprised what an hour here and 15 minutes there can do. Don't wait until you feel you have enough time to do it in one sitting.

  You can place the papers for each decade on a table and place the photos on them as you sort.

  Another option is to place the papers for each decade in a box and put the photos behind the cards. Index cards might work well for that method.

  You may find some photos that you are not sure about. Label a paper as “I have no idea”. Place these photos there.

  You may find clues as you sort that will help you find where they go. If you still have some photos that remain in this category, consider keeping that in your organizing system.

  When you have completed sorting by decade, you are ready to refine your sorting to years.

• By Years - Take one decade at a time, sort these photos by year. Following the method used for sorting by decade, label a piece of paper for each year in the decade. Place photos with the paper for the corresponding year.

  If the photos aren't dated, use clues to help you sort. You can make a category for each decade to contain photos you are not sure about.

  Again, as you sort you may discover where they belong. You're on a roll in learning how to organize photos, lets refine the sorting again.

• By Month - Now work with one year at a time. Label a piece of paper for each month.

  Sorting by season may be a good option if you don't have dates to work with. You can usually get a idea of what season the photos were taken in.

  You guessed it, place the photos with the paper for the corresponding month. You can make a category for each year for those photos you still are not sure about.

  Now, if there are a few that remain in this category, you only have a few to look through later.

This method of how to organize photos works great if you are not sure when the photos were taken. If you think of an event or subject rather than date when you want to find a photo, this system may be the right one.

If you are sorting primarily for scrapbooking and plan on completing your albums based on theme you may also consider this method. When sorting by event or subject, you may find that your categories evolve as you sort.

Label a piece of paper for each event or subject that you know you have photos for. Some events you might use are birthdays, holidays, vacations, school photos, pets, home improvements and more.

Keep some extra papers handy, I'm sure you will be adding some events as you sort. Sort your photos and place them with the papers for the corresponding event.

After you have sorted your photos by event or subject, you may decide to sort chronologically within each event. Even if it is just by decade or by year. This may aid in finding photos more easily later on.

For this method, lets look at sorting your photos by person or by family groups. You may find you need a combination of the two. This method works very well for heritage photos. Too often many of these photos are not dated or labeled.

Label a piece of paper for each person and family group that you have photos for. You may need to make a group for multi-family photos.

Remember the group for those photos we don't know much about? You will probably need a category for those as well. Sort and place the photos with the paper for each category.

After you have sorted by person or family, you may decide to sort chronologically within each group. You may just sort by decade, or best guess on the dates the photos were taken on those heritage photos.

You may want to sort your negatives in the same manner that you sort your photos. You can keep them together until the final sorting stage.

Don't forget that the negatives are a vital part of learning how to organize photos. Some just throw away the negatives, but you never know when you might want to scan or reprint a photo.

Make sure that all negatives are stored in sleeves and labeled with date and subject. This will make any necessary reprints in the future much easier.

If you opt for storing your negatives in three-ring binders, insert the negatives into the sleeves designed for binders and label them. Cd's and index prints can also be stored in specially made sheets in binders.

For storing negatives in regular sleeves, insert the negatives with sleeves into envelopes. Label the envelope with date and subject.

Cd's and index prints can be stored in envelopes with the negatives. Some companies offer envelopes specifically for this purpose. We're in the home stretch, learning how to organize photos isn't so bad is it?

Now it is time to store your photos and negatives in an archival manner. This is the last step in how to organize photos.

We want to protect them from further damage or deterioration. Photos and memorabilia should always be stored in a cool dry place, out of direct light.

Let's take a quick look at what to do now that you've learned how to organize photos.

Once you have refined your sorting to a point you are satisfied with, make an index tab card for each group of photos. Label them with the date and subject for each group. If you are sorting chronologically, you can group them as they were developed.

Place the groups of photos with their index tab cards storage boxes. Arrange them chronologically, by event or subject, or by family; which ever method you chose.

Place the negatives in the binders or in storage boxes if you opted to place the negatives in envelopes. You may want to dedicate a specific box or boxes to negative storage. It might be helpful to arrange the negatives in the same manner as the photos.

Congratulations, you did it! You've learned how to organize your photos. Enjoy your sense of accomplishment for a job well done. This is one less obstacle out of the way for your scrapbook project. You might even find you enjoy your pictures out of the album more too!






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