Dennis recently shared his experience with us, and it’s a wonderful reminder that with the right tools (and a bit of patience), anyone can bring old film reels back to life.

“I did three 400-foot rolls of Super 8, then a few regular 8 reels going back to the early 1950s,” Dennis wrote. “Some of that film is as old as 1977! The quality’s pretty good considering the age — it feels great to finally digitize before it’s too late.”

For Dennis, the Wolverine Film Converter has made a once-intimidating process refreshingly doable:

“I’m impressed with the machine. It runs by itself without constant fiddling. After all the use, it’s definitely paying for itself.”

He also shared how he and his wife have enjoyed revisiting their family moments — including a video of their first Christmas together in 1977. “We bought the movie camera soon after we met so she could film my future stepson on his third Christmas,” he said. “Now, those memories are safe — and easy to share.”

Dennis’s enthusiasm — and his careful, step-by-step process — inspired this week’s checklist to help you start digitizing your own film reels.

Weekly Checklist: Digitize Your Old Films Like Dennis

1. Gather your reels

Gather all 8mm and Super 8 reels. Label by date or subject for easy organizing.

2. Set up your transfer station

Find a stable surface with good lighting and power outlets for your Wolverine Film Converter. Dennis even snapped a photo of his setup to show how simple it can be.

3. Choose high resolution

Dennis recommends setting the converter to high resolution to get the clearest results — even if it takes a bit longer per reel.

4. Be patient with the process

Each 400-foot reel takes around four hours to digitize. The machine “chugs along frame by frame,” says Dennis, so let it run and check occasionally.

5. Use quality SD cards

A 400-foot reel uses 2 GB. The converter supports 32 GB SD cards. Have extras ready.

6. Backup and share

Once your films are digitized, back them up in OneDrive, Google Drive, or another cloud service. Dennis creates view-only links so friends and family can watch safely.

7. Learn basic editing

Dennis plans to use Corel editing software to make short montages — a great idea if you want to create highlights or family tribute videos.

8. Enjoy the memories

Rewatching old moments with loved ones is the best reward. As Dennis shared, “My wife and I have enjoyed viewing the videos. It’s been worth every minute.”

With a bit of time and care, you can give your vintage films new life — and preserve them for generations to come.

Have you started digitizing your reels? We’d love to hear your story, too!

This topic actually came up during a weekend photo event I had. People often avoid sorting pictures because it’s overwhelming, confusing, and sometimes emotionally charged.

Yet organizing your photos doesn’t have to feel impossible. Understanding why we put it off is the first step to making it happen. Which of these statements might apply to you?

 We Assume Digital = Permanent

There’s a false sense of security with digital files. Because they’re stored on phones or social media, many believe their photos are safe forever. Unfortunately, devices fail, apps shut down, and passwords get lost. Without backups, whole chapters of life can disappear in seconds.

 The Volume Feels Overwhelming

A few family events can mean thousands of photos. Add multiple devices and cloud services, and it becomes a mountain too big to climb. But like any big project, you don’t start with the whole mountain. You start with one rock — a single folder, a single month, a single album. Every bit of progress counts.

 We Don’t “See” the Problem

With prints, the clutter is obvious. Digital photos live behind screens, so they don’t nag us the same way. One tip: make your photos visible again. Create a “Favorites” or “To Sort” folder on your desktop or phone. Moving your most meaningful shots there reconnects you to your collection and sparks action.

 Emotional Weight Slows Us Down

Photos are emotional time capsules. Sorting through them can bring joy but also grief, nostalgia, or decision fatigue. This is perfectly normal. The solution? Break your sessions into short, gentle blocks — 20 to 30 minutes at a time. You’ll protect your energy and keep moving forward.

 No Clear System to Follow

Many people say, “I don’t know where to start.” What they’re missing is a simple framework. Try organizing by year first, then by month or event. A format like “YYYY-MM-DD Event Name” keeps folders neat and searchable. You can always refine later; the key is to begin.

 Waiting for the “Perfect” Time

We imagine a weekend, holiday, or “someday” when we’ll tackle it all at once. That mythical block of time rarely arrives. Instead, treat photo organizing as a habit, not a project. Even five minutes a day is progress. Think of it like brushing your teeth — small, regular efforts add up.

 Tech Shifts Faster Than We Do

New apps and new storage options — technology evolves constantly. The longer you wait, the more daunting it can be to migrate photos to a stable system. Starting now future-proofs your memories and saves you from headaches later.

A Few Practical Starting Points

Here are some low-pressure ways to begin:

• Choose a single event or trip. Move all those photos into one clearly labeled folder.
• Make a backup. Copy your favorite 50 photos to an external drive or reputable cloud service.
• Consolidate devices. If your photos are scattered across phones, tablets, and laptops, pick one device to be your “photo hub.”
• Gather prints. Collect your printed photos in one box or drawer so you know what you have.

Each small step builds momentum and gives you a sense of relief — and even excitement — about preserving your memories.

Turning a Task Into a Legacy

When you step back, organizing and saving photos isn’t just a chore; it’s an act of storytelling. These images carry your milestones and your daily moments. A little effort now can ensure that your loved ones can also access and enjoy those memories for decades.

Why It’s Worth It

Once your photos are organized, you’ll find it easier to create albums and slideshows. You’ll also reduce the stress of “I know it’s somewhere” when searching for a picture. Best of all, you’ll have peace of mind knowing your memories are safe, accessible, and shareable.

You Don’t Have to Do It Alone

If the thought of starting still feels overwhelming, there are professionals and resources designed to help. Photo organizers and online communities can guide you. Think of them as accountability partners on your journey to safer photo memories.

Ready to Take the First Step?

Organizing your photos doesn’t have to be perfect or all-at-once. Pick one small task today — like sorting one folder, labeling a few photos, or checking your backup. As you do, you’ll build confidence and momentum. And you’ll be amazed at how connected you feel to your memories.

For more practical tips on getting started, check out Your Friendly Photo Organizing Question Checklist. It’s packed with helpful prompts to guide you as you take your first steps toward beautifully organized photos.

In some cases, we are 30+ years away from those tapes recording family memories!

Digitizing your old video tapes will make sure those priceless memories from birthday parties, school plays, sport events, weddings are more are saved for future generations. Here’s your step by step Digitizing Old Video Tapes Checklist to help you get started!

 1. Gather All Your Tapes

• Search every storage spot – closets, basements, boxes etc.
• Include all tape formats (even audio tapes!)
• Collect them to one place
• Don’t forget to look in camcorder bags, inside the video cameras and entertainment centers as well.

 2. Sort & Label Tapes

• Organize your tapes by format and/or dates. Usually, the formats don’t have overlapping dates but if this occurs in your collection, use your best judgement to organize them.
• Label the tapes with a two digit number (01, 02, 03, etc) or three digits if you have more than 100!) Use a label maker if possible or write the numbers clearly on the tapes.
• Use removable labels or painter’s tape if you want to avoid damaging the original case label.

 3. Decide How You’ll Digitize – if you do it yourself, the costs can range from under $100 up to several hundred depending upon what equipment you need to purchase. Services can range from $15 to $45 per tape and often there are sales on digitization.

• Do It Yourself – With a working video player and capturing device, you can transfer the videos yourself. However, this is tedious work with faulty players, compromised tape quality and overall transfer quality is spotty at best – especially with old VHS and VHS-C tapes. One of the costs of doing the transfers yourself may be your sanity and patience!
• Find a Local Provider – Often camera stores and local pharmacies have digitization services. However, they may send your precious memories elsewhere for the actual digitization.
• Use an Online Provider – There are many companies who have been around for decades offering digitization services. We are ambassadors for FOREVER Digitization Services and recommend their Digitization Boxes. Click here to learn more about their process.

 4. Proceed with Digitization Services

• Look for Mold – If there are white spots (and possibly black spots), your tape will need cleaning and that will be an additional charge. Note it on your order form if you have this situation. I’ve also seen where a company will charge for mold that I didn’t notice.
• Follow the directions to get your tapes to the company and wait for the memories to be sent back to you.
• Be aware of what you should be getting back – Don’t just get a DVD of your memories. DVDs will need to be transferred to a digital file at some point. If you do want a DVD, also get a USB Drive with the digital files (usually MP4s). Most providers will also send you a link to download your transferred videos as well.

 5. Save Your Digitized Videos

• Be properly backed up – You should save your MP4 files with the 3-2-1 Backup Strategy: three places, two media types and one outside of the house.
• For example, this could be on your computer, on an external hard drive and in a cloud storage site like FOREVER Permanent Storage.

 6. Enjoy Your Family Videos

• Watch on your computer or television – New televisions all come with a USB port to plug your USB Drive in so you can play your videos on the large screen!
• Edit your videos including cutting out boring parts and splicing clips together. Click here for a program to edit your videos with on your PC and click here for a program to edit your videos on a Mac.

Every year you wait, it gets harder to preserve your old tapes. With a plan like this, you’ll feel confident to finally get this task done! And, you’ll be the family hero during holiday gatherings!!

I’ve put together this checklist to give you some ideas of what you might want to ask as you are organizing photos. They’re split into technical, structural, and process categories but you might have something that is outside of the box and that is okay too! (Like, the emotional ones where you can’t bring yourself to toss or delete a photo . . . a problem for another checklist!)

Technical Question Examples

• Is my computer up for the job?
  A computer less than 3 years old with at least 16GB of RAM and plenty of storage should do the trick. You want to have at least 30% of your computer space open. That means if you have 500GB hard drive, you’d want to have least 150GB of room.

• How do I digitize those old VHS tapes?
  Digitizing at home can be a hassle with finicky software or shaky video quality. I’d suggest sending them to a pro service like FOREVER for top-notch results. Start by rounding up your tapes to see what you’ve got!

• What’s the deal with iCloud, OneDrive, and Google Drive?
  It can be confusing! iCloud is Apple’s cloud, OneDrive is Microsoft’s, and Google Drive is Google’s. Peek into your cloud accounts to see where your photos are landing and if there’s any mix-ups or cross-overs. You’ll feel so much clearer once you sort this out!

Structural Question Examples

• How should I name my photo folders?
  Try a simple format like YYYY-MM-DD-Description (like 2024-07-15 Summer Picnic) or just YYYY-Photos for bigger batches. Create a couple of folders to test it out. When you put the date format like this first, your folders will organize easily.

• How many photos go in a folder or album?
  Aim for 25–250 photos per folder to keep things easy to browse. Start sorting a small group of photos to find a size that feels right for you. It’s a guideline to help you. For example, you don’t want to end up with 50 folders that have 2-3 photos in each. And, you don’t want one folder to have 3245 photos in it either.

• What should my photo collection look like?
  A layered setup like Decades > Years > Months & Events makes finding photos a breeze. Try grouping one year’s photos to get a feel for this structure—it’s like building a memory roadmap!

• Should I organize by person?
  I’d hold off on sorting by person at first—it can get tricky. Instead, try organizing by date or event. Pick a small batch of photos and sort them chronologically to see how it flows.

Process Question Examples

• Why’s my duplicate finder not working?
  A jumbled folder structure or wrong steps might be the culprit. Try tidying up one folder and running the tool again—you’ll get the hang of it! (Or, compare two simple folders at one time instead of all folders at once.)

• Can AI help organize my photos?
  Right now, AI isn’t the best helper for photo organizing, especially with tons of duplicates. It’s more about rolling up your sleeves. Start with a small set of photos and tackle duplicates with a duplicate finding program—you’ll love deduplicating!

• How do I keep track of my progress and questions?
  Grab a notebook or clipboard to jot down what you’re doing and any questions that pop up. Start this habit in your first organizing session—it’s like having a trusty sidekick!

Heartfelt Tips to Help You Know What to Ask

• Jump in to spark those questions! Start with something small, like sorting one month’s photos or gathering your prints. Those questions that come up are proof you’re making progress.

• Jot down questions as they come. Keep a dedicated CLIPBOARD and note page for questions so you don’t lose them. Keep track of your progress. It’s a game-changer, especially when you’re deep in the organizing zone and have to step away for a period of time!

• Questions mean you’re moving forward. Every question you ask shows you’re working hard on your memories. Embrace them—they’re signs of growth!

• Reach out when you’re stuck. Connect with online communities, forums, or pros like me to get answers. Try searching for one answer to a question you hit—it’ll keep you motivated!

Why Start Now? You’ve Got This!

Don’t wait for the “perfect” moment to organize your photos—just start with a small step. Maybe sort a folder or gather a few prints. As you get your hands on your project, questions will naturally come up, and those questions are like little guideposts showing you’re on the right path. I’m rooting for you, and I promise, the more you dive in, the easier it gets!

Pick one tiny task today—maybe sort a folder, label a few photos, or check your computer’s storage. Spend just 30 minutes on it, and watch how those questions start bubbling up. They’ll guide you to the next step, and I’m here cheering you on as you bring your memories to life!

Want to dive deeper into this? Watch this Episode of Live with Mollie!

You’re not alone. One of the most common frustrations I hear is this:

“I didn’t even know OneDrive was turned on! Now I have photos saving in places I didn’t choose—and I’m scared to turn anything off.”

Let’s walk through what’s really happening, how to take control, and most importantly—how to make sure your photos are truly safe.

What’s the Problem with OneDrive?

Microsoft OneDrive is built into Windows and often turns on during updates or when you log in with a Microsoft account. This is SO frustrating even for those of us who know better. OneDrive seems to start backing up folders like Desktop, Pictures, and Documents to the cloud—without you realizing it.

At first glance, that may seem helpful. But soon, you may notice:

• Photos missing from your computer
• Confusing file paths (like C:\Users\Name\OneDrive\Pictures)
• Syncing errors
• Duplicate or missing files
• The phone App syncing photos to your computer

And here’s the kicker: adjusting the OneDrive settings with syncing or deleting photos improperly can cause major problems with your photo collection.

What You Can Do

Before you rush to disable anything, follow this safe process to stop the confusion and protect your photos. Here’s your Photo Safety & OneDrive Control Checklist:

Photo Safety & OneDrive Control Checklist

 1. Locate where your photos are now:

• Search for “Pictures” or open File Explorer and check:
  • This PC > Pictures
  • OneDrive > Pictures
  • Desktop > Screenshots or camera uploads
  • Others (Downloads, Documents, etc.)
• Jot down any folders where your photos are actively landing.

 2. Back up your photos to a safe place you control:

• Copy ALL photo folders to an external hard drive or permanent photo storage platform (like FOREVER).
• Don’t rely on OneDrive as your only backup. It’s a syncing service—not permanent storage.

 3. Decide if you really want OneDrive turned on:

• If you love automatic backup to the cloud and are organized with your Microsoft account, OneDrive can be useful.
• But if it’s causing confusion or duplications, turning it off may bring peace of mind.

 4. Turn off OneDrive safely:

• Click the OneDrive cloud icon in your taskbar.
• Select the gear > Settings.
• Under the “Sync and Backup” tab, choose Manage Backup.
• Turn off backup for any folders you don’t want in the cloud (like Pictures or Desktop).
• Important: Before confirming, make sure the files are backed up elsewhere—turning off syncing can remove them from your PC!

 5. Optional: Pause or unlink OneDrive completely:

• From OneDrive settings, go to Account tab > Unlink this PC.
• This stops syncing, but leaves your local files intact—make sure your photos are downloaded and saved before unlinking.

Click here for a helpful article from Microsoft to turn off, disable or uninstall OneDrive from your computer.

Take a Breath—You’re in Control Now

If your photos have been scattering across your PC thanks to OneDrive, you’re not doing anything wrong. Microsoft simply doesn’t make the default setup easy to understand. The key is to pause before deleting anything, copy your files to a safe space, and be thoughtful about how you want to ensure the safety of your photos.

An Example To Show Your Scenario May Be a Bit Different

Here’s what one of my clients, Sandy, experienced when she realized OneDrive had started up on her computer again. Although she went through the steps a little differently, she did not lose any of her photos.

Sandy wrote to me:

It went well—thanks to you!

• I immediately unlinked One Drive from my PC and uninstalled the app from my phone (so it would stop uploading photos).
• I bought a new EHD and downloaded everything from my One Drive account online.
• Then I deleted everything from the cloud and uninstalled OneDrive from my PC.

As you predicted, all the folders on my PC stayed and are now on the hard drive only. It was an annoying process, but I’m very relieved everything’s out of the cloud!

This brings up a common question: “What photos should I actually keep?”

My Guiding Principle:

The goal of saving photos is not to keep every moment captured by the camera, but rather
to preserve the essence of life — the people who mattered most, the places that shaped one’s journey, and the moments that reflect what life was like.

This works well for everyday photo collections as well as for vacation photos.

What Photos to Keep

Focus on photos that tell the story of you, your family and your life. Depending upon the occasion and your photo taking habits, here are some ideas on what pictures you’ll want to keep.

 People you were with — both casual moments and a few nicely posed group shots.

 A selfie here and there is okay too!

 A few photos that show where you were — at home, by friends or family, landmarks, signs, etc.

 Key landscapes that feel meaningful or unique

 The best versions of any repetitive shots (like multiple takes to get the best shot)

 Anything you truly love and want to remember

What Photos to Delete

Eliminate what doesn’t add value or memory:

 Repetitive photos that don’t stand out

 Bad photos — blurry, overexposed, or accidental

 Screenshots of shopping, travel details, home decor ideas or other information you no longer need

 Informational images that were useful in the moment but aren’t needed long-term

How Many Photos To Keep

In today’s world, it’s easy to take hundreds—if not thousands—of photos in just a month.
Setting loose guidelines can help you keep your collection manageable and purposeful.

Here’s a simple formula to guide your photo-taking and saving habits:

 Take 200–300 photos per month

 Keep about 80–100 photos per month

 That gives you around 1,000 photos per year

 Favorite about 25 per month — about 300 per year

 Those 300 can fill a 50-page photo book with 6 photos per page

 Use 12–36 of your favorites for a family calendar or annual photo gift

This formula isn’t rigid—it’s meant to help you see why having a photo routine makes everything easier down the road. It also keeps your photo projects realistic and achievable

What About Vacations?

The same idea applies to travel—just adjust it based on the length of your trip:

 On our Colorado trip, I took over 600 photos and kept about 180

 For a two-week trip to Spain in 2019, I took 4,000 photos and kept around 1,200

Vacations are prime photo-taking times, but they’re also the easiest way to end up with a bloated camera roll. Sorting them soon after the trip helps you hold on to the best moments while they’re still fresh.

The Bigger Picture

This weekly checklist is here to encourage you to take photos with purpose, delete the excess, and thoughtfully save the images that truly reflect your life. The more intentional you are, the easier it becomes to enjoy, share, and preserve your memories for the future.

Need help in staying motivated and on track with your photos? Check out The Pix Plan by clicking here.

Let’s assume most of your photos live on your phone. Now what? There are a few ways to get this done, and like with anything in the photo world, there’s no one-size-fits-all method. But whichever you choose, the goal is the same: get your best photos into a safe, easy-to-find spot each month.

Your Monthly Photo-Saving Checklist

Pick a regular day each month to do your photo save. (Put it on your calendar!)

Review your photos from the past month and delete junk photos – duplicates, repetitive, blurry shots, accidental screenshots.

 Save the important family memories in a folder on your computer or in a cloud storage site. (We recommend Forever Permanent Storage for a variety of reasons – but substitute with your cloud storage if you prefer.)

** We don’t recommend relying on your phone to be the home of your family photos. There’s simply too many moving parts to saving family memories that makes this challenging and risky for long term photo preservation. **

HERE’S HOW: Manually Save Photos to a Folder on Your Computer

After deleting all junk photos, connect your phone to your computer, select the photos you wish to save, and copy them to a designated folder (ex. 2025-07 July Photos)

Pros:

• You stay in control of what’s saved and its in your possession on your computer
• Doesn’t require ongoing subscriptions or cloud plans
• Folders are easy to access for future projects
• Simple to back up to an external hard drive. (Also, for added protection, you can upload the photos to Forever or another cloud storage site).

Cons

• Requires you to remember to do it
• Can feel tedious without a routine
• Viewing photos in folders not as enjoyable and not easily shared
• Photos aren’t backed up unless you remember to back them up to an external hard drive and cloud storage site.

HERE’S HOW: AUTO SAVING YOUR PHOTOS WITH FOREVER (and many other cloud sites can do this as well)

Install the FOREVER App on your phone to automatically upload all new photos to your FOREVER account. Then once a month, log in, delete the junk, and create an album for the month.

Pros:

• No need to remember to upload
• FOREVER guarantees permanent photo storage (Click here to learn more)
• Easily organized into a monthly folder once inside the app
• Enjoyable app to view photos
• Create photo books and other print projects with your photos
• Great long-term solution for photo preservation

Cons:

• You still need to go in and clean things up monthly deleting the screenshots, repetitive photos and others not worthy for saving
• Storage requires a one time fee for the amount of space you wish to purchase
• Watching video requires a streaming plan

Whichever method you choose, consistency is key!

This monthly habit only takes a short amount of time and helps you build a reliable photo archive—without the end-of-year overwhelm.

Get Help!

If you’re struggling with where to start or need some guidance in managing your family photos, both print and old, I have many resources for helping people. Watch a video I uploaded recently to learn more.

Click here to be added to our weekly e-newsletter where I send a new checklist or system each week to help you on your photo saving journey.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the thousands of photos on your phone or the boxes of prints stacked in your closet, you’re not alone. Most people don’t need more guilt or pressure—you need a trustworthy guide and a system that works in real life.

That’s where I come in.

I’ve spent years helping people organize their photos and turn chaos into clarity. But here’s the truth: help only works if you use it. The real transformation happens when you pair learning with action—and build a routine that lasts.

To start with, here are the resources I’ve accumulated to share our system for saving photos:

 The Pixologist’s Guide to Organizing and Preserving Your Family Photos

Available on Amazon, my book offers our whole system for saving your old family photos.

YouTube Video Library

Check out Pixologie’s YouTube channel where I post videos to inspire and walk you through my checklists, key organizing tips, tools, and trends—perfect for visual learners or quick refreshers.

LIVE Podcast Most Tuesdays at 10:00 am CST – on YouTube, Spotify & More

I bring stories, strategies, and sometimes even a gentle nudge to keep going. I also answer viewer questions—so your challenges may be featured!

Weekly E-Newsletter

Every Thursday, I send a fresh system you can apply immediately. These bite-sized tips are designed to help you make consistent progress—even if you’re busy. Click here to sign up for my weekly newsletter and get The Roadmap to Organizing Your Photos download.

The Pix Plan

This is my signature course and community for people who are serious about working on their photos routinely and building a photo estate. It’s supportive, structured, and designed to keep you moving forward with weekly opportunities for live assistance from me.

And if you would like to find help outside of what I offer, please check out:

The Photo Managers – This organization has been around for over fifteen years and there are many great photo organizers who offer their own types of education and photo organizing services.

Either way, I hope you start saving last month’s photos and begin developing good habits to work on your photos routinely!

** Each week, I’ll post a new checklist to help you tackle one part of photo organizing—so you can feel confident and motivated in saving your photos. ** These weekly checklists are simple, focused, and designed to help you take action—one small, manageable step at a time.

]]> https://pixologieinc.com/creating-your-photo-estate-a-ten-point-checklist/ Fri, 28 Jul 2023 00:19:16 +0000 https://www.pixologieinc.com/?p=7094 Are you sitting on a treasure trove of memories, hidden in boxes, albums, and digital folders? Do you wish there was a way to organize and preserve these precious moments for future generations? 

At Pixologie, we’ve celebrated a decade of helping people save their memories. As part of our anniversary, we’ve put together a 10 Point Checklist that covers everything you need to know about creating your photo estate. But what exactly is a photo estate?

Download the handouts here. They will help you go through the process!

Photo Estate Definition

A printed or digital collection of photos, film, video, documents and memorabilia organized in a manner that allows another person or persons to view the photos, learn about the lives documented, and be impacted by the legacy of those people.

Now, let’s jump to the first point:

Point 1: Collect and Inventory Your Photos

Imagine opening a dusty old closet filled with envelopes, albums, loose pictures, and even analog media like film negatives and slides. It might seem like a daunting task, but this is where we begin—gathering it all together. From print pictures to vintage VHS tapes, bring it all into one location.

Gathering your entire collection might seem overwhelming at first, but it’s a fantastic achievement. We’ve prepared an inventory form to keep you organized.

Download and print this form: Your Photo Inventory

Point 2: Photo Project Timeline and Accountability Chart

To turn this massive project into an achievable reality, let’s prioritize which aspects are most important to you. Maybe you want to start with digitizing those old slides or perhaps organizing your digital pictures. 

Take some time to identify your priorities. Are your print photos your main focus, or is it your digital collection? Once you’ve decided, you can begin creating your personalized timeline. You can choose which tasks you prefer to take on yourself and which ones you may need assistance with us.

We all know how life can get busy, so setting realistic deadlines will help you stay on track and reach your goal.

Point 3: Get Prepared

Whether you plan to hire Pixologie or do it yourself, having the right hardware and software is essential to make the process as easy and efficient as possible.

Tools you’ll need:

• For hardware, we recommend having a newer computer with higher megabytes of RAM. 
• An external hard drive for backups 
• A high-speed scanner, we recommend Epson FastFoto 680W scanner
• For software, use File Explorer on a PC and Finder on a Mac
• For duplicate photos, we suggest using Duplicate Photos Fixer Pro for PC and Photo Sweeper for Mac.
• For digital photos, we suggest using XnView MP for renaming files. Here’s a video on how to use it.
• For printed photos, we highly recommend using an age chart to help identify pictures. Here’s the link to the age chart.

Once you have gathered, prioritize and prepared the tools for your photo estate. Let’s dive in to organizing print photos.

Point 4: Organize Print Photos

Now comes the fun part, organizing your print photos! We’ve created a simple three-sort system to help you tackle the mountain of memories. 

Three Sort System

1. First, divide all your photos into family groups, decades, and major categories. This shouldn’t take too long; if you’re spending too much time on this, it’s likely because things are mixed up. Anything that doesn’t fit here should be placed into a mixed-up bin. 
2. Next, sort the decades into years – this part may take some time, especially if you have a large collection. But remember, slow and steady wins the race!
3. Finally, take each year and break it down into months or events. It may be helpful to use an age chart to help identify people in the pictures

If you want to preserve your photos in Photo Safe boxes, we have some beautiful archival boxes that come with a nice black folio to keep your larger photos safe.

These boxes can hold up to 2300 photos each. Once it is properly organized, next is scanning your photos.

Point 5: Scanning Photos

If you have a large number of photos to scan, it’s essential to invest in a high-speed scanner. A flatbed scanner is not practical for scanning hundreds of photos, so we recommend getting a high-speed scanner like Epson FastFoto 680W. 

Keep the scanning process organized by using the same batch system you used for print photos. Use those names as folder names for the scanned images. This will help you stay neat and organized while scanning.

Point 6: Other Types of Media

Aside from printed photos, you might also have other types of media like slides, negatives, film reels, videotapes, audio recordings, memorabilia, and oversized items. Each of these requires different approaches to digitization.

You can use a scanner like the Epson Perfection V600 Color Photo Image Film Negative and Document Scanner. We have used and reviewed this product, and it works great. While it might not provide the professional-grade color restoration of a photo lab scanner.

I highly recommend getting professional help. While some software can digitize your media, the results might not be great. Let the pros handle it for the best outcome.

Point 7: Organize Digital Photos

Digital photos are easier to organize than print ones, but they can still get scattered across devices. The aim is to gather all your digital photos in one place on your computer.

Here’s how:

1. Make a folder for your digital photo collection.
2. Organize them chronologically, like decades, years, and months.
3. Delete duplicate files to save space and keep things tidy.

Watch our free master class to organize your photos once and for all.

Point 8: Preserving New Photos

As you continue taking pictures regularly, make it a habit to save and organize them promptly. Be selective in the number of photos you take and regularly review and delete repetitive or unnecessary shots, especially after special events.

To preserve your new photos efficiently:

• Create a folder “YYYY-MM Photos” on your computer (2023-06 Photos)
• Get all of your photos from last month into that folder
• Delete screenshots, repetitive photos and other junk.
• Upload to FOREVER® in an album named for easy sharing and preservation.

Point 9: Adding Information to Photos

Adding information to your photos, such as descriptions, captions, or tags, is a meaningful way to tell the stories behind the images. This information can be embedded in the photo’s metadata, ensuring it remains with the image wherever it goes.

Use Adobe Bridge or other metadata editing tools to add details like dates, locations, names, and events to your photos. This will enhance the overall organization and retrieval of your collection.

Point 10: Enjoy and Use Your Photos

The ultimate goal of creating a photo estate and organizing your photos is to enjoy, share and pass on to future generations. Use your photos to create personalized photo books, calendars, cards and photo gifts. 

Edit your videos and create slideshows with this software:

• PC – Windows Photos App
• Mac – Quicktime, iMovie
• Both – Filmora, Final Cut Pro

Edited videos should be added to your photo collection and it’s optional to save original videos.

Watch the full video here:

Conclusion

Organizing and preserving your photo estate requires time and effort. But the reward is immeasurable. Your photo collection holds memories and stories that can be passed on to future generations.

By following the steps mentioned above and utilizing available tools and services, you can create a well-organized and accessible photo estate that will stand the test of time. Enjoy the journey of organizing your memories and sharing them with loved ones.