By Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist
Guest Blogger

Millions of boomers love to take photos. However, many boomers aren’t able to use their photos or enjoy them because they don’t have them organized.

Taking photos for me is one of the great pleasures of life. But, for years, my photos stacked up because I didn’t know how to store them safely in a way that would preserve them over the years.

A friend of mine took the best dozen or so photos of each of her children every year and put them in a notebook. She used colored construction paper and pasted the photos on with rubber cement.

It looked great. And, when her two children graduated from high school, she presented them each with a huge notebook of photos.

I was envious. Most of my photos were still in boxes.

But, her method didn’t seem right to me. And, sure enough, it’s now known that rubber cement damages photos. In addition, acid-free, archival-quality papers are now available that are much safer to use than construction paper.

About a dozen years ago, I finally found a system that works:

• Place photos and negatives in acid-free plastic sheets with pockets for different size photos or negative strips.

• Put the pages in notebooks that hold 8 ½ x 11 inch photo sheets.

• Organize the photos by year.

The photo to the right shows one of the notebooks that I’ve completed.

The method is working well. A big breakthrough came when I realized that if I purchased sufficient supplies ahead of time, I could make the notebooks as photos and related materials came in. This avoids photos stacking up with articles, catalogs, and magazines that need to be filed.

I’ve assembled about 50 notebooks, and I’ll probably need to make 50 more.

It’s wonderful to be able to find photos when I need them. For example, I’ve made a number of photo boards for my friends and family for special events. I’m also scanning photos to use on my blogs.

If you need to develop a method for photo storage, the article “How to Organize Your Photos” on the ehow.com Web site offers these tips:

• Gather your photos.

• Label the photo packets on the outside top edge with the event and date, and put them in a shoebox.

• Put your loose photos in plastic recipe boxes with tabs labeled for time periods or events.

• Choose a system to store and display your photos.

• Don’t worry if you don’t have time to make scrapbooks now. Protecting photos is the first step.

• Label and store photos in albums as you get each roll of film processed.

Some photo stores and retail outlets offer acid-free pocket pages for sale. This photo shows the sizes that are available. Among the online sources are:

Print File Archival Storage

Ultra Pro

Light Impressions

As for digital photos, I’m figuring out what to do about them. I purchased an i-Mac in January. My photos are nicely stored in the Apple photo library. However, I haven’t backed up any of my photos on CDs.

Here are some references for organizing, storing, and backing up your digital photos.

“Be Sure to Back Up All Your Priceless Digital Photos” – USA Today

“Archiving and Backing Up Your Digital Photo Collection” – Dummies.com

“Preserve Your Digital Photo Memories” – AARP

“Archiving and Backing Up Your Digital Photo Collection” – Sympatico.msn

“Five Ways To Never Lose Your Photos” – Digital Photography School

For more information for boomer consumers, see my blog The Survive and Thrive Boomer Guide.

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