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Getting More Out of Your Digital Photos
by Leanne Tremblay

Description: Tips for organizing digital photos for easy retrieval.

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I recently read an article on the downfall of digital photos. Instead of a lifetime of prints squirreled away in shoeboxes, thousands upon thousands of digital photos are disappearing into hard drives, never to be seen again. The point is well made. Digital photos that stay hidden on computers, CDs, or worse yet camera memory cards aren’t really pictures at all. Photos are meant to be seen.

But, the straight-up truth is that the price of digital cameras has never been better, and Moms, the recognized memory keepers of the family, are now both camera and internet savvy. Digital photos are here to stay so we better find a way to store them, share them, and keep them organized.

Memory Cards

What's embarrassing is that many photos never make it out the camera (a.k.a the camera’s memory card). We’ve all heard about the person who bought a new digital camera, took a wack of photos, but can’t get them downloaded to their computer. Instead, they just buy another memory card and carry on. Obviously, this isn’t the ideal solution and if this is you, I suggest stop reading right now and go find a camera expert either online or in-store. Get those pictures downloaded!

Computer Hard Drive

Once your photos make the journey to your computer, what happens next? Here’s where things go a sideways for most people. Keeping photos organized on your hard drive is largely a matter of personal preference and self discipline. Figure out a system of file folders that YOU understand and download your photos into those folders the same way every time. In other words, DON’T download photos to your desktop just because you’re in a hurry. Take the time to select or create the appropriate folder and stick the photos there. If you don’t, you’ll end up with photos all over the place. Now, photo organizing software like Photoshop Elements claims to take the misery out of this step because it doesn’t care where on your computer the photo files are physically located. The software keeps track of where the files are and organizes them for you. However, I find that many times I want to access to my pictures without going into Elements. If my photo filing system is all over the place, I’ll never find anything!

CD and DVD Storage

Some people prefer storing photos on CD or DVD. In case of computer crash or physical damage, your photos are safe. Kind of like the extra security of an “off-site” backup. Remember though, that discs can still be damaged, scratched, or lost. Photos on disc can’t be accessed in a hurry either. You have to know which disc the photos are on, which means accurate labeling.

Online Photo Storage

Online photo storage is quite simply the way of the future and a digital photographers dream. The best thing about it is the possibilities for sharing and accessing your photos from any internet computer. To store photos online, just upload them to an online service either for free or for a monthly fee, and then from your online account, create public or private photo galleries that other people can log on to and view. Slideshows of family vacations and special birthdays become accessible memories that family and friends anywhere in the world can watch and enjoy.

But there’s more to it than just sharing photos. Some online services are geared to professional quality photofinishing. Cheap digital prints as low as 9 cents each, poster-size canvas prints, and personalized photo projects like photo books, calendars, and mugs are a snap to create once your photos are hosted by an online service. Some services, like Shutterfly, let you make your photo projects available for other people to order off the web as well.

So where do you go for storing photos online? Online photo sharing giant Flickr is probably the largest photo sharing community (475 million photos stored). For storage plus online photofinishing and gifts, like books, cards and calendars, the big three are Shutterfly, Kodak Gallery and Snapfish. For serious photographers there are “boutique” sites like Smugmug who offer specialized services.

While I don’t think online storage completely replaces “at home” storage, by going with a web service you’ll simply get more out of your pictures. In just a couple of mouse-clicks, your digital photos turn into art, decorative gifts, and practical keepsakes.

Leanne Tremblay is the successful publisher of Photo Printing To Go, an idea portal for transforming digital photos into prints, posters, gifts, photo memory books, digital scrapbooks and photo cards.