The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly - Dealing with Printed Photos In 1999, it was estimated that American's were storing 550 billion analog photographs. Not only do we have our own endless supply, but we likely have inherited many as well. Wouldn't you

In 1999, it was estimated that American’s were storing 550 billion analog photographs. Not only do we have our own endless supply, but we likely have inherited many as well.

Wouldn’t you like your photos to make you smile – not add more stress? If you’re like me, you got loads of printed photos (digital is a whole other discussion!) sitting around in shoe boxes, hiding in bureaus and on the top shelves of closets. Maybe even a few curling and yellowing away stuck to your refrigerator.

This project can feel overwhelming – but breaking it down into bite-sized chunks can help.

Step 1: Gather all photos together in one place

Designate a place to collect any photo you find in your home. This can be anything from a box to a room! Search your house - drawers, closets, basements, bookshelves - for any and all photos and get them into the designated spot.

Step 2: Sort your photos by identifying markers

Choose a surface where you can spread out (ideally one that won’t be disturbed). If you don’t have that option – sort into small batches and put into labeled envelops as you go. The key word here is label!

Sort them into whatever categories you think you’ll enjoy the most – year, holiday, trip, person, etc. The easiest marker is often the year. Create a pile for each year and mark it with a post-it note. If you start with the easiest to identify or the ones that have been kept together in envelopes, you may be able to piece together the less easily identifiable photos.

Edit along the way – give yourself permission to discard any that are blurry, out of focus, overexposed or multiple copies of the same picture. It goes without saying – any photos that make you cringe, depressed or angry should get the boot too.

Photos tell a story. Does the photo deserve to take up space in your life? Does it make you happy to look at it and reminisce? Choose the photo or assembly of photos that best capture the feeling of the time and place. When you get to similar shots of your kids posing in front of the entrance to Disneyland - choose the best one, and feel free to discard the rest.

Step 3: Album, Box or Digital?

How and where should your photos be kept? Which photos are worthy of being in an album? Which could live in a photo storage box?

How many new and unused photo albums do you have? While albums are lovely to look through – they are time intensive to create - and there’s only one copy. How will you protect them and share them with others? The photos that make the album cut are probably the ones to consider having scanned and stored digitally (maybe even create some photo books to pass along). This will keep them protected and allow for easier sharing.

If the editing process still left you with a lot of photos, you might want the bulk of these to live in a photo storage box. Transfer the identifying details onto dividers for marking categories and make sure the box is archival to protect from yellowing and fading.

Enjoy, protect and share your most treasured photos. A mash-up of crumpled, repetitive or unidentified photos can’t beautifully tell the story of your life. Edit today so that the story can be enjoyed in the future.