How to Keep Track of Photos

Digital Photos

• 1

  Go through your photos and delete duplicates or photos that you don't want.

• 2

  Create one folder and label it "Photos."

• 3

  Create secondary folders within the "Photos" folder and label them with years like 2007, 2008, 2009 and so on.

• 4

  Go into each secondary folder and make more folders. Label them with the months of the year or with a specific season.

• 5

  Drop your photos into each month or season folder. So, when you want to find a photo from September 2007, go to Photos>2007>September. If you want to add additional folders into each month, like separating photos by family member, than do so. If you are unsure of when the photos were taken, just put them into the year folder, rather than the specific month folder.

• 6

  Name your photos as you import them. For example, if you are importing a photo of your husband in Italy from August 2008, label it "Jack_Italy_Aug_2008." This will make looking for photos easier when you go through your folders. If you have several to name, highlight about 20 of them and label them with the month and date they were taken. For example, label photos from August 2008 with: "August_2008." Go back later and add more

  specifics if you want.

• 7

  Back up all your photos with an external hard drive or by loading them onto an Internet photo site, just in case your computer crashes.

Paper Photos

• 8

  Purchase photo boxes, which are available at most retailers and craft stores.

• 9

  Go through all your photos and put them into chronological order. Throw away any that are misprints.

• 10

  Stand these photos up in boxes and label the boxes by year. Write the months onto pieces of acid-free paper to act as bookmarks. Place these bookmarks between the photos to differentiate the months of the year. If you don't have enough photos to fill a box, stand some up and lay the rest flat to use as makeshift bookends.

• 11

  Display photos in acid-free photo albums, going in chronological order. Look for photo albums that provide space to write next to each photo. This will allow you to write a brief description of the photo without having to write directly on the photo.

• 12

  Keep photos indoors, preferably in a humidity-controlled environment. Keep them up off the ground -- like on a bookshelf.