how to organise photos Archives

Aug 09 2017

Save Your Photos: Create A Family Timeline

Preparing a family timeline aids in the sorting process as you begin to tackle your photo and video collection. Begin by plotting important milestones like marriage and birth dates.

Most of our lives can be mapped into important milestones on a timeline, even though we may not know specific dates. Once a timeline is created, you will use this as a roadmap for indexing your photos during the sorting process. Trust us; you’ll be glad you took the time to complete this step.

Create a family timeline to act as a road map for your #photo #organizing project #saveyourphotos Click To Tweet

Map Your Family Timeline

As you look at the entire collection of photos/videos that you are working with, determine the oldest photo and the most recent photo. This is the time span that you will plot on your map.

Once you have these major markers in place, you can begin to jot other moments or milestones in between until you are satisfied with your timeline. Plot your timeline on a spreadsheet or in a notebook, for easy reference. You will refer to this often as you start sorting, and details may change based on some of your photo discoveries.

Now is a good time to ask your relatives about key dates and events for accuracy, especially if you are working with heritage photos!

Events/Dates to Add to Your Family Timeline

Here are a few event and date ideas to get your family timeline started.

Birth
Marriage/Divorce
Death
Adoption
Immigration/Naturalization
Move to new home/city
Graduations
Baptism/Christening
Military Service
Retirement

Are you ready to start your timeline?

We also invite you to visit our sister blog The Photo Organizers for more tips and in-depth knowledge from some of the top photo organizing industry professionals. To find a photo organizer near you, visit the Association of Personal Photo Organizers.

Aug 04 2017

Don’t Let Great Memories Fade Away

Rick Voight of Vivid-Pix™ reminds us to not let our memories fade away. Vivid-Pix™ is a proud sponsor of 2017 Save Your Photos Month.

Our memories make us who we are.

Our memories are the stories of us. They’re the bridge to our past that links us to our grandparents, parents, siblings, children, grandchildren, and friends. Like treasured heirlooms, our memories teach us that the bonds of family and friendship need to be cherished above all else. Sharing those memories enriches our life by bringing us closer to our loved ones.

Memories cannot be replaced, but they can be revived.

Those photographs lying in a shoebox are memories waiting to be revived, relived, and shared. That old photo album collecting dust might have an irreplaceable picture of your daughter playing with her dolls; or that memorable picture of you and your college roommates the day you all moved in. These amazing memories deserve a second chance.

Breathe new life into old memories by reviving & restoring your #photos to their original splendor. @VividPixFix Click To Tweet

Restore, revive, keep and share your precious memories easily.

Breathe new life into old memories by reviving and restoring your photos to their original splendor. With a wide range of services and programs available, the process of restoring old photos is not as challenging as you think. Just take it one step at a time.

Gather

Gather all your photos from those boxes and photo albums. Don’t forget any photos stored digitally on old computers or laptops. Start by gently removing any dust or dirt from your photos with a soft cloth.

Organize

Think about how you want to organize your photos. You can group them by date or event, family members or vacations. There are lots of ways to organize your collection. Choose a system that works for you and create stacks of your photos accordingly. If this sounds like too much, check out APPO.org, where you can search for a professional to help you organize your entire photo collection.

Scan

Now it’s time to digitize your photos by scanning them. You can scan several photos at once on your printer’s scanner. Or use an app such as Shoebox from Ancestry.com on your phone. (If you’re using your phone to scan, remember to scan photos in a room with lots of natural light.) You can also just delegate this process to a local store or a scanning service like Scanmyphotos.com, which scans, crops, edits and archives your photos.

Restore

After your photos are scanned, the next step is to restore their vibrancy. With innovative photo correction software like Vivid-Pix™ RESTORE Picture-Fix, enhancing and refining your old photos is as easy as 1, 2, 3. You can restore color and clarity with just one click. And what’s more, RESTORE also improves on the built-in enhancement software in scanners and scanning services.

So relive and celebrate those unforgettable moments once again by converting your slide and print photos to digital images. Revive their vivid color and clarity and store them securely, so you can share them with family and friends–and continue to enjoy them for years to come. Just as memories stand the test of time, now your treasured pictures will, too.

Rick Voight is a lifelong snapshooter, who has been in the imaging business for a few decades. “Rick, Randy, and a few excellent people” created Vivid-Pix™ to make it easy for customers to get and share better photos. Vivid-Pix patented and proprietary software’s follow the slogan created a century ago – “you press the button, we do the rest”.

At HP, Rick helped create the Retail Publishing Solutions division – connecting home, store and online – delivering photos and gifts in minutes, in an hour, and in a few days. At Kodak, he enjoyed working with just about every class-of-trade, developed relations and promotions with local, regional, national, and international sporting teams, theme parks, and organizations; creating new technologies and revenues.

Rick is a volunteer and board member working with multiple non-profit organizations.

Sep 19 2016

4 Reasons to Hire a Professional Photo Organiser

Mara Morrison of The Filing Fairies wants you to get past the reasons you aren’t organizing your photos and consider hiring a professional photo organiser.

In our line of work we hear things like:

“I could do this myself”

“I know I could do this on my own but I just can’t motivate myself to get started” or

“There are too many options I don’t know which one is right for me”.

Because many people believe they have the skills to complete a task themselves, there is also an associated sense of guilt. They are thinking “I should be able to get this project done”. They are embarrassed that they long to hire someone to do it for them. I remember the first time I hired a cleaner for the house. You should have heard the song and dance I made about how busy I was and how I really COULD clean the house myself, how apologetic I was about my Joe Average house hold mess. I won’t even get started on the wife/mother guilt that I laid on myself. I will tell you though about the relief once I gave myself permission to let that responsibility go, the sweet release of the burden that would allow me to focus my energy on my growing family and a business I loved, was uplifting.

You hire a landscape gardener to advise on planting or design and help keep the lawns in check, or a tutor to unravel complicated math problems with the kids. There is no shame in engaging a professional photo organiser to help you with your photo life management. Most people are unable to put a monetary value on their life’s memories so why not invest in getting help to ensure that they are used, enjoyed and protected.

4 reasons to hire a professional photo organiser #saveyourphotos Click To Tweet

4 reasons why you should hire a Professional Photo Organiser

You are busy.

Life is chaotic! We are all at different stages of life and everyone one of those stages comes with high demands on your time. It is perfectly reasonable to not get through the basic household chores and errands, let alone a special project (no matter how important it might be). How often do you have a basket of washing to put away? A Professional Photo Organizer is dedicated to helping and is working hard to provide solutions you can use.

You are overwhelmed and scared.

The elephant just seems so huge and you don’t know where to start eating it. Metaphorically you are scared that eating such a large elephant will make you full to bursting and you are scared that trying to work on a large project will crush you. A Photo Organiser can help identify a clear process to suit your unique needs and put you on the path to freedom.

You are confused by choice.

You know the old saying a Jack of all trades the Master of none. When there are too many options or solutions you become confused by what might be right for you and of course you can’t be expected to be skilled in all areas. Plus you recognise that you don’t really want and unskilled indecisive ‘Jack’ to be held responsible for your priceless memories. A Photo Organizer can demystify all the solutions and ascertain what is right for your individual needs.

You need accountability.

Similar to engaging a trainer or coach to motivate you to achieve fitness and sporting goals, a professional photo organiser can hold you accountable for your organising goals.

Your story matters. Your photo collection tells that story. Don’t let guilt or fears prevent you from doing something to preserve and protect your precious memories. Check out our Resources Page and download our eBook or other checklists.

We make it our business to make your wishes come true.

Mara Morrison

The Filing Fairies is a partnership between friends Mara Morrison and Jo Myers, who met working for an event management company. It was there that they discovered their shared passion for order, lists and getting things done. In 2008 as part of a 150th Anniversary Tour for NAB they organised close to 200 events over an 8 month period. It was during that time they recognised their excellence as a team. Now as The Filing Fairies they hope to realise a vision of giving you peace of mind by helping you to organise your photo collection so you can utilise and enjoy it. The Filing Fairies are certified members of the Association of Personal Photo Organizers.