How to Get Your Photos Out of Digital Form

How many of your photos are still just files?  We talked {last week} about the importance of getting your photos out of digital form-- printing them --so that they could be seen and enjoyed.  But how?  How, exactly, do you take files and make them into photos?

This can be a difficult question to answer because it depends on where you are.  Some people don't know how to get their pictures off their phones or cameras in the first place, and other people just don't know how they want to print them.  Here are some ideas and pointers no matter where you are. 

Some people have a roadblock before they begin because they don't know how to get their photos off their phones or cameras in the first place.  If this is the hurdle that's tripping you up, don't worry because you are not alone.  I am surprised sometimes to find how many people take pictures with their phone or camera but don't actually know how to do something with them besides just leave them there.  I made this video tutorial that should help:

I'm excited for you to do this because once you've gotten this far, you'll be thrilled to now be able to actually do something with your photos.

Once your digital photos are saved to your computer, you might ask yourself, "Now what?" 

First thing is to pat yourself on the back!  No kidding.  Next, now that your photos are on your computer, it's time to make them into something!  You may need to explore some options to find what works best for you, but these are common options these days:

1. Simply submit them to a photo printing source to receive back plain hard copies.  Walmart, Target, Walgreens (and others) have photo-processing centers, and there are online companies such as {Forever}.  Once you have your photos in hand, it's important to give them a high-quality home where you can also tell their stories.  A shoebox doesn't count! 
2. Skip the step of printing physical photos and make your digital photos right into {digital books or scrap pages}.  One of the advantages of printing digital books or photos is that you have the option of ordering multiple copies without repeated work.  (I highly recommend using a website that keeps your project in your account indefinitely just in case something happens to your original project, too.  And CHECK, because not all companies do!  This was a huge factor in {my own choice of digital publisher}.)

Whatever you choose, be happy with it.  Choosing something YOU WILL DO is vital to the success of getting your photos out of digital form consistently so you can enjoy them.  Here are some fantastic options to consider:

By the way, the current thinking for storing digital photos is TWO WAYS DIGITALLY and ONE WAY IN PRINT.  I personally do all of that {at the same website}, but however you store your photos, keep in mind that the PRINTED form is the most meaningful way to store your digital photos!  It counts!  In a world that focuses so much on digital photo storage, print counts!

There are additional "how"s of getting your photos out of digital form, too, such as "How do I find time to do this?" or "How do I move forward with my goals for preserving photos and stories and memories?" or "How do I even begin?"  We will visit these in upcoming weeks on #familyhistoryfriday as we break down FAMILY HISTORY into FAMILY STORIES and then into bite-size pieces.  Start with getting your photos out of digital form, though, and you will have overcome the hardest hurdle.  

And you can always check the tabs along the top of this blog to dive into these questions a little more.

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This post was first published on May 12, 2017, at www.livegrowgive.org by Jennifer Wise.

You can find more #familyhistoryfriday posts by clicking the hashtag link next to Labels below.