My Best Methods for Organizing and Storing Digital Photos

Are you in {my Facebook group}?  It's a great place for information and inspiration, but I love it when people use it to share projects they've created and to ask questions.

A few months ago, Angela posted a great question.  Here's her post:

"Looking for some advice on best methods of organizing and storing photos.  Please share your methods!  Go!  Thanks!"

This is a great question!  AND this is such a common question and common need that I want to share the answer with you, too.  Here's what I told Angela that I hope will be helpful to you also.

There's so much talk today on photo organization and storage that it can feel overwhelming and even impossible.  Some people even pay to have their photos stored.  But the purpose of a photo isn't to store it.  It's to see it.

So here's how I make sure my photos are taken care of, all the way around:  I store them digitally and in print, which are the two suggested ways for storing them.  (Experts say not to put all your eggs in one basket and that the safest way to store photos is in print.)  Storing photos in multiple ways might seem overwhelming, but the way I do it is actually really convenient--I only use one website for multiple methods!  

Here's what I do:

STORING MY PHOTOS IN PRINT

1. I store my photos in print (again, one of the safest ways to store them).  By "store in print," I mean that I publish my photos and memories in books and/or individual scrap pages.  You MUST prioritize quality, though.  {Find my recommendations here.}
2. I love using a company where my entire projects are safely stored digitally as well.  So I not only have my photos saved in printed books and scrap pages like the ones shown below, but I have access to the digital versions of those works-of-heart as well.

STORING MY PHOTOS DIGITALLY

1. First, I save my photos to my computer.  Computers {aren't the safest places to store photos}, but I also use Digital Method #2 (below), so my Photo Eggs aren't all in my Computer Basket. 
2. Experts recommend one onsite (computer/hard drive) storage option for digital photos, plus one offsite (not in your house).  When looking for an offsite (cloud) storage option, it's important to prioritize photo privacy!  (If you haven't heard yet that other photo companies sell your photos, be sure to {read this article ASAP}!)  My go-to recommendation for cloud photo storage is {Forever}, for privacy and more:  

Doing this means I know my photos are SAFE and secure, plus I get to actually LOOK AT THEM in printed pages any time!  Print is where photos actually get loved.  

UPDATE 2023:  I've put my answer to Angela's question into this 13-minute video:

 

And for a lot more detail covering everything you need to know very thoroughly, including strategies for consistency, I highly recommend these 3 videos to you:

Part 1:  Organizing and Decluttering Photos

Part 2:  Solutions for Storing and Preserving Photos (and why they're not the same thing)

Part 3:  Strategies for Consistency (10 ideas to make your good intentions into reality)

I think video is the best way to see what I'm talking about, but here are some pointers in written form for both physical (already printed) and digital photos, if you prefer.  Just click here to read:  How to Organize Both Printed and Digital Photos

JUST ONE EXAMPLE OF THE REAL-LIFE BENEFITS

My niece was here visiting for my daughter's graduation in May.  We were really busy most of the week (especially me), but it was fun to see that during downtime, my niece would pull out the scrapbooks and photo books I've made.  She and my son are the same age (22), and they enjoyed looking at pictures of themselves when they were babies "meeting" for the first time and toddlers playing together.  

That just wouldn't have happened if I'd had a CD or a flash drive sitting on the shelf.  The printed version, complete with details and memories written out, is what means something.

It's what pictures are for.

Get started preserving them {by following these steps}.  Because it's the BEST!  Really.

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This blog post was updated in 2023.  Any references to Heritage Makers are no longer valid since they discontinued their photo storage capabilities after they were purchased by a health and wellness company, and it was never guaranteed storage anyway.  Forever's focus is digital cloud storage for photos and videos that is guaranteed to outlive you by 100 years.  Learn more about Forever Storage here and the Forever Guarantee here. 

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