So what is photo organising?

Most of us know that we have many wonderful photos of trips, family members and special events somewhere in our homes. They may be in frames, boxes, albums or scattered about the home. Perhaps we inherited photos that we want to keep to share and pass down family stories to future generations. There may even be undeveloped films and disposable cameras, slides, cassettes and more stored somewhere.

With the invention of digital cameras and more recently phone cameras, it’s so easy to take photos. A survey by smartphone firm Honor indicates that the average person in the UK now takes 884 photos each year. And whilst it’s great to be able to capture those special moments, it also creates a problem. We have more photos than ever before and the number grows exponentially every year, making it difficult to stay organised!

We may have a wonderful collection of photos, but if that collection is in chaos, it’s almost impossible to enjoy and share those images.  

Imagine having all images together and organised so that you can find a photo, create a photobook or share photos easily. How would it feel to re-live special events; remember trips and holidays; fun times and see family grow through the years; to be able to look back at old photos; to 'meet' relatives and understand their stories.

Imagine knowing that photos are protected from the elements so that they survive for generations to come and digital images are backed-up so they can’t be lost or corrupted.

How could photo organising help you?

A professional photo organiser supports people to bring together all of their images and organise them so that they are easy to access and are protected long-term.

Photo organising activities include:

• Physical photos - sorting photos and grouping by category or date, identifying dates and details, scanning photos to create a digital back-up, providing appropriate storage to help preserve delicate photos

• Digital photos – organising digital photos into category or date, removing duplicate copies, identifying individuals, amending image data to record important details and enable searching by keyword, back-up tools

• Film, videos, slides – converting videos and images to modern technology, providing appropriate storage to help preserve delicate photos

• Photo editing and restoration – examples of photo editing include correcting colour in old or faded images and removing marks and creases

• Photo gift creation – beautiful photo albums, displays, photo books, photo gifts, specially presented images and collections

• Media sharing – creating collections that can be accessed and shared with family and friends via the cloud or remote access

...and much more.

How do photo organisers work?

Photo organisers can provide support in a range of ways, including:

• consultancy/guidance on how to manage some or all of your photo collection yourself

• courses to help you learn how to organise and protect a collection

• done-for-you services, managing all photo organising activities for you

When you select done-for-you services, your physical photos, films, slides, devices and/or digital photos are shared with the photo organiser, who will bring them together into one photo collection hub and return them to you in an organised collection.

Photo organisers offer different services depending on their experience or specialism. They may provide archival storage to help preserve your collection or create digital copies, advise on back-up options, file sharing solutions and create beautiful photo books and gifts for you.

What are the benefits of photo organising?

Organising your photo collection can be an emotional and sometimes overwhelming task, particularly if you have lots to do or need specialist advice.

If you don’t have the know-how or technical expertise, or the time to dedicate to the task, or perhaps you want to create something for a future event but are not confident that you can get organised in time, it’s worth seeking support from a photo organiser.

When you work with a professional photo organiser you benefit from:

• specialist training, expertise and knowledge

• the work can be done for you and tailored to your requirements

• it can be more efficient when someone who is not involved in your memories and family history works on your collection. It can take a long time when you organise your own photos and keep stopping to look at reminisce

• reassurance - you’ll be advised on back-up strategies and long-term preservation

• APDO members subscribe to a code of conduct, are insured and aware of data privacy requirements

• you’ll be able to access and enjoy your complete collection and share special memories for years to come

Tips for managing your photo organising project yourself:

If you are not sure where to start with organising your photo collection, put regular time side to dedicate to organising your photos. Take action and follow these steps:

1. Organise:

◦ gather up all physical photos togerther and organise them into decade. Once in decade you may be able to identiify events or more specific fates

◦ download digital photos from all your devices onto 1 hard drive so that you can organise them

2. Protect:

◦ use archival quality materials to store physical photos so that they are not damaged over time

◦ scan physical photos onto a hard drive so that they are backed-up should the photos be damaged or lost

◦ back-up digital photos (professional recommend a 2nd local hard drive and a 3rd off-site such as cloud storage)

3. Share:

◦ select favourites for frames, create displays and photo books to share your photos and enjoy them for years to come

Where to find a photo organiser?

If you would like help to organise and preserve your photo collection, search APDO for professional organisers who specialise in photo organising.

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