Most of us have a “photo overwhelm problem.” We take lots of pictures, we have multiple cameras and phones in our family, we have boxes of photos from the past, we’ve likely inherited photos from our parents and grandparents, and it never feels easy to sort, organize, locate, or enjoy all those memories and meaningful moments.
Today’s podcast is designed to help you do just that. LearnDoBecome team member and STEP Coach, Jill Adams, is a pro when it comes to digitizing, organizing, and displaying photographs, and I was so excited for the opportunity to interview her! We invite you to listen to the conversation and take notes on the ideas that stand out to you—and if you’d like a printable version of Jill’s step-by-step instructions, click the image below to download your copy!
And if you love what you’re learning and want to organize your whole life, make sure you’re part of our Steps to Everyday Productivity program (STEP). Our introductory class is here!
You can find links to scanners, photo books and more in our LearnDoBecome Amazon Store!*
And here’s the digital frame we mentioned: Pigeon Frame
Hey, April! GREAT to have you back! Missed you! Hope you’re refreshed. ❤
You had mentioned a digital frame that handles email updates – link, please? Did you say “pigeon frame?” Just making sure what to search. Thanks so much!
Lezlee, thanks for asking! Yes, that’s right. Here’s the link, https://www.pigeonframe.com. 🙂 Thanks for being with us!
Be careful with these, I had one and loved it but somehow it corrupted and I lost a lot of pics that were on it. 🙁
It was so nice to hear your voice again, April! I always get a lift from your podcast no matter what the topic. Organizing my photos and home videos has been on my someday list for years. The upcoming holidays make it seem even more important since I know I’ll be adding even more memories to the collection.
Thank you, Lealani! I am glad this was helpful for you—and I wish you the best with your photo management! Some seasons of life are super full, so it’s nice to know we can work on these projects when we’re ready. ❤️❤️ Have a wonderful week!!
It’s always a work in progress, but it is high priority for me. We have digitized all of our video tapes and they are viewable in a permanent digital home. My kids, husband and I can even view them on our phones and they will ALWAYS be there. It is a relief. I used to do traditional scrapbooking, but now do completely digital. I had our traditional scrapbooks digitized so that I can make copies if need be, and if something ever happens to our home, the memories won’t be gone. Memory keeping is part of my weekly routine (putting photos on the computer, backing up in multiple places, including the permanent online home, deleting from my phone and camera card) and my projects always result in next actions on my context based next actions lists (usually at the computer). I’m even in an accountability group for the memory-keeping on FB. It is one of the most worthwhile time investments for me!
Would you mind sharing your source for digitizing your video tapes and your traditional scrapbooks? This is on my project list…
Thanks so much!
Hello Julie,
I’m interested in how you digitized your scrapbooks and the other methods you use to keep organized. Thank you!
Stephanie
This topic has been on my mind a lot lately! Looking forward to learning more. You always have great and relevant content. Thank you for all you offer,
Molly
What a great podcast! Photo management has always been a challenge. I have a couple physical albums from high school and I did scrapbook our wedding pictures. Should I plan to digitize those pictures? When my kids were about to graduate, I did go through the boxes of physical photos and I combed through lots of digital folders pulling all the pictures of the graduating child and setting up year folders in the child’s folder. Then I went through each year and pulled favorites and event highlights and ordered physical photos. Then I had a weekend marathon scrapbook session. Not once or twice, but three times. You’d think I would have learned my lesson after the first or second time. There are some physical photos that didn’t make it into the scrapbooks, what should I do with those? Digitize the ones that weren’t digital in the first place and then just put them in a miscellaneous album? What about the annual portraits and/or school pictures? We displayed the physical pictures at their graduation parties with twine and clothespins. Should I scan those and just make an album with the physical copies? I just don’t know what to do when there is both physical and digital. I’m tired of the boxes of miscellaneous photos. Once I scan them, I still feel like I need to do something with them. Is putting them in an album the way to go? Thanks for any ideas.
These are great questions, Nikki! Ultimately, I think it comes down to how you would answer the following questions:
-Do I have backup copies of my most important photos? (If you have some physical photos that only exist in one place, it might make sense to make that one of your first photo-related projects because if something were to happen to those original copies, you would want to know that they were saved somewhere.
-What is the easiest, least time consuming way for you to pass these photos on to your children? (Personally, I really wanted digital copies of all my family’s photos and videos from my childhood to present day. I have a couple of 2 TB hard drives that are so small and can hold a TON of pictures and videos. I have backup copies of these hard drives as well, and I feel so at peace knowing I have these memories saved and *could* print them if I wanted to, but likely won’t. My mom made me a scrapbook when I was a child, but it is heavy and takes up a good amount of room. As an adult that is moving around every couple years, I am grateful to have the scrapbook digitized so I don’t have to move it around with me. I can look back at the memory and know my mom put so much love into it, but not have to keep the physical object. I know everyone will look at this differently, so maybe you could ask your children what they would prefer–do they want digital items instead of physical ones? What about your own energy? Will you feel burnt out or tired after making photo albums and scrapbooks for everyone? If that’s your love language or your favorite hobby, by all means, go ahead and make those albums! 🙂
At the end of the day, it might be helpful for you to do a mindsweep and get ALL the photo-related projects out of your head. Write everything down and then sort the projects by 1) urgency, 2) personal desire to complete them, and 3) things you feel you *should* do from a sense of obligation. Anything in category 3 could be reevaluated or renegotiated so you don’t need to do anything you aren’t excited about. I think photo organization is something so personal to each person and family and that also makes the projects related to pictures really subjective. What I might love doing with my pictures might be the opposite of what you’d like to do. And that’s okay! A mindsweep will definitely help you identify what is most important to you, and then you can incorporate those into your current projects list. Hope that helps!