RSS FEED4 Do-It-Yourself Steps to Preserve ALL Your Snapshots: SORT | STORE | SCAN | SHARE! (Part 1 of 2)
4 Do-It-Yourself Steps to Preserve ALL Your Snapshots:
SORT / STORE / SCAN / SHARE!
Part 1: SORT & STORE
So, folks, got any of THESE floating around (see pix below)?
(Hint: Snapshots? Negatives? 35mm slides? Old photo postcards? Family photo albums? Weird stuff?)
(Please click on each image for more information.)
Yes? Well then check THIS out!
4 Do-It-Yourself Steps for Preserving Family Photos & Snapshots!
Sort / Store / Scan / Share
Since ALL OF US have photographs & snapshots in our family archives or genealogy collections (or on our smart phones / iPads / & desktop computers!), these 4 Do-It-Yourself Steps are for … well … EVERYONE who’s interested in archivally preserving and presenting ALL their images, old and new!
And if you don’t have the time to do it all yourself, we can even steer you towards the professionally trained folks at the Association of Personal Photo Organizers to do it FOR ya (more on that below)!
Seems SIMPLE enough, right?
Well, it is!
Follow our 4 Do-It-Yourself Steps and turn this (left-hand pix) into THIS! (right-hand pix).
(Please click on each image for more information.)
So, with all that said, let’s take a quick look at each step and you’ll have YOUR photographs & snapshots SORTED / STORED / SCANNED / & SHARED in no time!
Sort / Store / Scan / Share
1. Sorting Your Snapshots & Photographs
Yes folks, we’ve got FULLY-ILLUSTRATED, step-by-step blogs to help you FIND and SORT your photographs, snapshots, & photo albums!
(Please click on the image on the LEFT to see our blog on FINDING FAMILY ARTIFACTS /
click on the image on the RIGHT to see our blog on SETTING UP A GREAT WORK SPACE /
and see the list of related blogs below.)
So, the first step in our easy 4 Do-It-Yourself Steps for making the most of your photographs & snapshots is to SORT things out!
QUICK TIP: Since you’re gonna have everything out already, this is also the step where you can start to think about WHICH of your photos & snapshots are the MOST IMPORTANT! These are the images you may want to SCAN & SHARE (more on all that in Part 2 of this two-part blog).
Now, ya might be thinking that SORTING through all your snapshots as the MOST intimidating aspect of the whole process (see pix above).
Sure, folks, there ARE some challenges you’ll run across, but I’m here to tell ya not to worry cuz we’ve got a “roadmap” for ya!
• American Family Archives | OVERALL PHILOSOPHY
• American Family Archives | FINDING FAMILY ARTIFACTS
• American Family Archives | SETTING UP A GREAT WORK SPACE
• American Family Archives | SORTING THROUGH FAMILY HISTORY
• American Family Archives | DATING PHOTOS & MEDIA
We’ve written a number of fully-illustrated blogs (see list above) on “how to get started” when it comes to sorting your photographs & snapshots / photo albums / old photo postcards / 35mm slides / old home movies / and anything else that you might find tucked away in your attic* / basement* / or hallway closet, so WE’RE THERE FOR YOU as you start to sort things out!
Oops! Yeah, don’t let this happen to YOU!!!
(Please click on each image for more information.)
* QUICK TIP: hey folks, NEVER store your irreplaceable snapshots, photo albums or anything else in your family archive in attics or basements, as temperature and humidity fluctuations—and the possibility of leaking roofs, water heaters or pipes—can DAMAGE or DESTROY your cherished memories! And while we’re on the subject, keep drinks, other food items and the family cat AWAY from your work space. ‘Nuff said.
So, while you’re SORTING your old (and new!) snapshots, 35mm slides, photographic postcards, and old home movies, NOW is also a great time to simultaneously think about the SECOND step of our 4-step process: STORAGE!
Yup, while you SORT your stuff you can also archivally STORE it!
(Please click on either image to see our fully-illustrated blog on Preserving Family Photo Albums.)
Yes folks, going through your family snapshots & photographs is the perfect time to combine SORTING (the FIRST thing to do) with STORING (the SECOND thing to do).
Hey, it’s already all out in front of you, so why not? It will help keep you organized!
And while we’re on the topics of SORTING and STORING, remember that all your DIGITAL PIX need the same sort of attention!
While you don’t need to SCAN these images (hey, they’re already digital, folks), you DO need to SORT them with an eye toward both organization and which ones you’ll want to PRINT and SHARE via placement in archival photo albums; sending printed copies to friends & relatives as sentimental gifts for Mother’s Day / Father’s Day / birthdays / & holidays; perhaps matting / framing / hanging them in the living room (please click on each link for more information).
Take a look at old negatives and 35mm slides you might find while you’re SORTING your family archive or collection,
as you may come across FANTASTIC images that you don’t have any prints of. These, too, can be scanned, printed, & shared!
(Yup, you know the drill – please click on either image for more information.)
So, with your photos & snapshots (and any negatives & slides you might find! – see pix above) SORTED—for organizational purposes and to choose which pix you’ll want to SCAN (if not already digital)—we’re on to the next step…STORING!
Sort / Store / Scan / Share
2. Store Your Snapshots & Photographs
Yup, it’s now time to turn this…
…into THIS! (Please click on each image for more information.)
Ok, this is the second stop in our quick tour of 4 Do-It-Yourself Steps toward archivally preserving your photos and snapshots!
In the section on SORTING your pix (see above) I briefly mentioned taking your BEST images and creating photo albums that can be shared with friends and family whenever you want to pull them out, and matted / framed pix that you can share EACH AND EVERY DAY cuz, well, they’re hanging on the wall! (More on all that in Part 2 of this two-part series of blogs.)
But what about all those other old (and new!) photographs & snapshots / negatives / 35mm slides / old photo postcards / 8mm home movies / old photo albums, and everything else that you’ve found while SORTING things out (see pix above, and click on each highlighted link for our fully-illustrated blogs on each specific topic)?
Yeah, not all of them are gonna end up in an album or on the wall, but NEVER THROW THEM OUT!
Yup, YOU can turn this (pix on left) into THIS (pix on right)! Organized, archivally safe, and ready to SHARE & STORE—forever!
(Please click on the LEFT pix for our short video, and on the RIGHT pix for our fully-illustrated blog, on our all-in-one 4×6 Archive 900 Kit.)
What is universally recommended—and not just by me, but by genealogist / historians / trained APPO members (more on those folks below) / and even museum professionals—is that you organize and keep ALL your old photographic “artifacts.” EVERYTHING!
Just HOW do ya do all that?
Well, it’s actually relatively EASY
To explain all the in’s & out’s of this, clicking on the pix below will take you to either a fully-illustrated blog or video on each type of photographic “artifact” you may have, or to the specific archival product illustrated (with the “BEFORE” images on the left, and the “AFTER” images on the right).
(Please click on each image for more information.)
(Please click on each image for more information.)
(Please click on each image for more information.)
(Please click on each image for more information.)
(Please click on each image for more information.)
(Please click on each image for more information.)
BOOM!
You’re DONE!!!
All your photos & snapshots are SORTED and STORED, and are ready to be SCANNED and SHARED!
But before we head over to Part 2 of this two-part series of blogs, if you don’t have the time to do all your SORTING and STORING (and SCANNING) yourself, then check out our friends at APPO – the Association of Personal Photo Organizers (see below).
They’re HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
So, as mentioned, if you simply DON’T have the time to do any of our 4 steps yourself, then do yourself a GIGANTIC FAVOR and contact your local member of the Association of Personal Photo Organizers (click here to see our fully-illustrated blog on what it is that they do)!
Yup, from…
1.) helping you get started
2.) to assisting you while you do most of your own organizing and scanning yourself
3.) to taking over the ENTIRE PROJECT(!) and getting it done FOR you
…the professional and well-trained folks from APPO will help you organize and archivally preserve ALL your cherished photographic memories (even the ones you don’t even remember you have!) in order for you to “tell your own personal family stories” through the photographs & snapshots in your family archive. Check ’em out.
Corkscrew Photography is run by a trained APPO member! Get in touch with them if you want either a bit a simple guidance,
or if ya want to hand them your ENTIRE photography archive. They’ll SORT / STORE / & SCAN, so that you can SHARE! ‘Nuff said.
(Please click on either image for more information.)
One such APPO member we work with a lot is Nancy Carr at Corkscrew Photography (see pix above), who you can get in touch with here.
So folks, with that we’re on to Part 2 of this two-part blog to see just how to…
Scan / Share
…your treasured photographs & snapshots!
See you there!
Contact Us
If you have any additional questions on preserving your old photos and anything else in your collection, or would you like more information on any of our museum-quality archival storage and presentation materials, please contact us here at Archival Methods. We’re always there to help with any archiving, storage, or presentation questions you may have.
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