Whether you are a professional or just a casual photographer, you want to consider some type of organizational process to keep your photos.

Snapping photos is easy but organizing and keeping them can be a daunting task. Photos that are important, what needs to be deleted, or labeling them with the proper date, place, or event, can be confusing and overwhelming. And most of the time, this is where the paralysis happens – not knowing where and how to start!

Cluttered digital images are the most overwhelming, believe me! Aside from the difficulty in finding the photo you need, it can be hard to identify when or where that photo was taken.

Photos are your precious memories. If you have the habit of taking photos especially during different events, you must keep them and have them organized.

In this digital age, your phone holds the most photos. And of course, it can only keep them depending on how large your storage is. But aside from your phone, there are still those printed photos and negatives that you also need to take care of.

So, how do you start organizing your digital photos? And that is something I can help you with these easy and useful tips!

Organizing your digital photos

Your photos are your legacy and tells the story of your life. Therefore, it is important that you keep them and make sure that they will last until you have your grandchildren! 😊

These days aside from your phone, you may have them on your computer, tablets and other gadgets. If you are one who has the habit of taking pictures wherever you go, chances are your storage may be near its limits. So, to ensure that they are well-kept and preserved, let’s start organizing and free some space!

Tip #1: Delete Unimportant Photos Immediately

If you are a professional photographer or simply a photo enthusiast, then you have taken lots of photos. Because you want to make sure that you capture the perfect image you are looking for. To avoid immediate mediocre photo build-up, make it a habit to delete unnecessary photos right away.

Fight the instinct to keep photos especially those that are too repetitive and have bad quality. For me, bad photos are just clutter and can make it hard to find the good ones especially when there are too many photos in your storage.

Tip #2: Start editing your photos as needed

If you want to fix a few imperfections on your photos, crop, or get the best lighting, it is best to do it right away and create a separate folder. Label these photos as “to be edited”. Once you are satisfied with the alterations, move them to another folder that says “finished versions” then delete them.

But if you have a large batch of photos and may seem to be overwhelming to do right away, do it in batches and allot at least 15-20 minutes in increments until it is done.

Tip #3: Organize photos into folders and albums

Whether on your phone or computer, create different folders and albums that are labeled accordingly. Make an inventory so it will be easier for you to segregate them according to different identifiers such as:

• Date (year and month)
• Place
• Event or special occasion
• Persons included in the photo
• Vacations

This will make it easier for you to find photos that you need and delete unnecessary ones. Some phones have apps that can automatically analyze photos and group them into albums. Easy-peasy!

Tip #4: Tag your photos accordingly

Tags are type of metadata that you can add to your photos for easier searchability. You can easily do this in any operating system and there’s no need for you to purchase any program. The good thing too, you can also do it within your cloud storage.

However, adding tags can be time-consuming but it’s the best form of organization that you can do for your photos. To add tags, here’s how you can do it:

Using Windows

• In your file explore, go to the photo that you want to tag. Right-click on the photo and select properties. Click the details tag. This can be found under description with the category marked tags.
• Click the “tag” description and it will show a text box where you can edit and add any tag that you want.
• Click OK then save

Using Mac

• In your file finder, select the photos then choose a color below the Tags icon in the information section.
• Enter your desired tag or use an existing one.

Remember when tagging your photos, be consistent. For example, if you are tagging your photos with family vacation do the same for the others so it will not be confusing.

Tip #5: Do a regular backup

It is a must that you back up your photos at least once a month to check and make sure that your precious memories aren’t lost or get accidentally deleted. You can back up your photos using different ways:

• Directly on your phone or computer’s cloud account – most phones have this capability so make sure that you use it.
• Digital photo storage services – some services are free while others have a monthly cost or annual fee. Prices may vary depending on how much storage you subscribe in to.
• External drives – these are easy to use and you can choose the size of storage to purchase. A 1 terabyte storage can store up to 250,000 photos taken with a 12-megapixel camera and can only cost less than $50.

You can never be too careful when it comes to keeping your photos. Hence, it is best to have a back-up so in case that your storage got corrupted, you still have your photos with you.