Once you convert your print photos and videotapes to digital format, you can combine them with other photo memories on your computer or cloud drive. This will likely be part of a bigger organization project as you sort through different photos and place them in various categories. One of the easiest ways to combine digitized photos is to create a sorting system so you know where each photo goes – this will also help you organize the memories you create in the future.
The main goal of digitizing photos is to keep all of your memories in one place. You can combine digitized photos with pictures you took last year or a decade ago. Follow these steps to easily organize your memories.
Digitize All of Your Media
The first step to combine digitized photos is to make sure all of your files are in an online format. Your ultimate goal is to easily find and access any memory you need without going on a scavenger hunt through print photos, VHS tapes, and digital uploads. When all of your memories are digitized, labeled, and in a similar format, you can find anything you need with just a few clicks.
To start this project, spend a few hours pulling together all of your non-digital memories. Search through closets, drawers, and storage containers to make sure you gather all of your photo albums and boxes of pictures. Once you are done, ship these items to Memory Fortress. We can save your videos and photos on USB drives or store them in the cloud. This makes it easy for all of your memories to be in the same file format.
Develop an Organization Strategy
Your next step to combine digitized photos is to form an organizational strategy. There are multiple ways to combine digital photos, but one of the most common systems is to sort memories by the year they were taken. For example, you could have a folder dedicated exclusively to the year 1992. This is the easiest way to combine photos that were taken with multiple cameras and in different eras. As long as you have a general idea of when the photos were taken, you can easily find the memories you need.
Within each year you can also create sub-folders to further organize your memories. For example, a folder labeled “1992” could have subfolders called Christmas 1992, Scott’s Birthday 1992, First Day of School 1992, etc.
At Memory Fortress, we cannot uniquely label each individual photo. But we can label them by folder names. If you group photos into categories (and most of our customers do), we can create folders for them. All you have to do is place your photos into separate Ziploc bags and write the label for them on the front. If the folder name is “Europe Trip”, then the individual pictures within that folder will bear the names Europe Trip 001.jpg, Europe Trip 002.jpg, Europe Trip 003.jpg, and so on.
Determine Where You Want to Store Your Files
Once all of your files are labeled and organized, you can decide where you want to combine digitized photos and store them. One of the main benefits of starting a project to combine digitized photos is that all of your memories will be in one location.
Some people prefer to store their memories on their computer’s hard drive. This is the easiest way for you to access your images because you don’t have to worry about uploading the photos and sharing them with others. However, you might want to look into cloud storage solutions (like Google Drive or Dropbox) for your photos. With this option, your images are protected even if your computer is damaged or stolen. You can access the images and videos almost anywhere as long as you have the correct login and password credentials.
Uploading your images should be pretty straightforward, especially now that all of your memories are digital.
Invite Family Members to Combine Digitized Photos
Another benefit of storing your files in the cloud or through online solutions is that you can create a hub for your family’s memories. If you are using a service like Google Drive, your other family members can contribute their digital photos to the same space. You can share your newly-digitized photos with relatives across the country and ask them to share similar photos they have. You may be able to see photos and videos of events that you forgot about, further contributing to your family’s historical records.
Start Your Digitize Project With Memory Fortress
If you are ready to combine digitized photos with your existing memories, start your project with Memory Fortress. We can take print photos, VHS tapes, and even scrapbooks and turn them into digital files. You can receive these memories on DVDs, saved on USB drives, or stored in the cloud. Once your files are digitized, you can easily combine them with your existing media.
Starting an order with Memory Fortress is easy. First, tell us how many photos and videotapes to expect. Then prepare to ship them to our Atlanta offices. For only $29 down, you can begin your digitization project.
Order now and take the first steps to enjoy fully digital organized files.
We digitize everything right here at our facility in metro Atlanta, processed by US citizens.