digital photo box

smart phone. tablet. laptop. mini tablet. desktop. camera. ipod.

we now live in an almost overbearing digital world where technology rules our everyday life. believe me, like the girl next door, i love my iphone, could not live without my macbook and am in the market for an ipad mini [for those of you who own apple stock--> you're welcome.]. with all of these gadgets, maintenance and organization is a MUST. now, i am no apple genius bar employee, but every time my lovely momma says her iphone is running slow, my response: ''you have too many pictures and/or videos on there''. where this may not be the true reason, i'd like to think it is. recently, we took a few minutes to import pictures to make a digital photo box [remember those photo boxes that were so popular ten years ago?]. we saw an immediate change in her phone AND finding photos on her laptop is now a piece of cake. here is a little step by step on how we can all get our photos organized, making ourselves semi tech savvy!

1) import pictures to your laptop or computer. after the import is complete, a message might ask to delete or keep pictures on your phone. this is a personal preference, but i delete to allow more space on my phone. if you are one to show off that big fish caught on vacation or a child's first steps to friends and family, maybe consider keeping those pictures on your device.

2) whether you are using 'my pictures' or 'iphoto', there should be a place to create new folders or albums. you can create as many folders/albums as one would like. consider grouping them by year, with subfolders under each year. here are some examples-

folder: 2013

subfolder: tampa, FL vacation

folder: 2012

subfolder: summer gardens

another way to organize pictures are by subject; put any picture that pertains to that particular subject in the relevant folder. currently, this is how mine are organized in 'iphoto'. examples-

folder: oregon 

folder: c.organized projects

folder: uofl 

   [side note, go cards!]

3) drag photos from the original import folder [pictures usually default into a 'my pictures' or 'photos' folder after importing] to the new organized folder [ie- vacation 2013]. holding down the CTRL or COMMAND button while clicking on photos allows for multiple pictures to be chosen. time. saver. 

4) smile because all of your photos are now in one place ready to access: print: share: enjoy.

do you have a go-to store for developing pictures? if not, i highly recommend Walgreens. the site is user friendly, processing time is minimum, delivery or pickup options AND you can link to your facebook page to print directly from facebook photo albums. handy, eh?

need a little helping hand with your photo project? i would love to jump in! visit my webpage for contact information. www.corganizedanddesign.com 

c.organized- cw

photo above from www.theverygirl.com