There is no time like the present to go down memory lane and start organizing your photos and memories. You can begin by organizing them in their appropriate timeline. This will give you a clear idea of how you want to proceed. Regardless of the direction you go, be sure to first organize your paper photos before you digitize them, or you risk having a “digital mess,” too, advises Mollie Bartelt, cofounder of Pixologie, a photo management company.
"You can organize your paper photos by major categories like decades or people, and then sub-organize them into sections, like family events,” she says. Bartelt recommends putting photos into piles or small boxes, divided by index cards, and labeled with sticky notes.
This topic always seems so daunting to cover. Some of us have an extreme amount of memories, photographs, letters, journals, videos to convert, and digitize. There is no wonder why there are some amazing companies that are taking on this challenge for us.
Here are some of our favorite Companies:
Digitizing yourself
If you prefer to digitize photos yourself, we have started a check list to manage this great labor of love for your descendants!
1. Organizing your memories based on the timeline of your life.
By compartmentalizing your memories, the task will become more manageable.
2. Digitizing Technology
This will assist you tremendously to scan documents, photos, and letters to the software of your choice
You can pick up an inexpensive flatbed scanner (from $69), if you don't already own one.
When scanning the photos facedown, keep in mind the higher the dots per inch (DPI), the better the resolution will be. For example, 300 DPI is OK for photos, but 600 DPI is recommended to ensure you get all the details in your pictures.
Flatbed scanners also can be used to preserve irreplaceable historical documents, such as birth certificates, marriages licenses, a child or grandchild's handprint or drawing, newspaper articles, and cherished letters and deeds, as well as images of a sentimental keepsake like grandma's favorite broach or a great uncle's pocket watch.
To speed things up you might consider picking up the Epson FastFoto FF-680W ($599), which can scan one 4-by-6 photo per second. It also offers the ability to capture in a single scan both the photo and any handwritten notes on the back!
Used wirelessly over Wi-Fi or connected to a computer via USB cable, the FF-680W scanner also can handle postcards and Polaroid photos; offers photo restoration and editing options, as well as file organization tools, including automatic file naming; and allows you to share images to popular cloud services, such as Dropbox and Google Drive.
3. Sharing Access
The most important part is to give access to these archives to ALL of your family. You can create a shared google drive or account and invite all of your family members to join and collaborate.