Need ideas for storing thousands of Photos

[biker chick]

I have thousands of photographs stored in 3 large filling cabinet drawers & other nooks & craneys around the house & i need ideas on how to make photo albums to keep them dry & safe as i dont have negetives or copies of the photos as i burnt them as they all go mixed up over the years,anybody who has any ideas please feel free to share your ideas as i badly need some good ideas,thanks a million.... bikerchick

[elbo]

I know the feeling of coming down with photos. I have loads also from over the years - lots of them now safely in photo albums - but still hundreds more loose and needing albums.

[Butterflyj]

Your best bet is to get at least the most tresured scanned into your computer and then copies made onto CD's.

You can also then use a company like www.myphotobook.ie or Lidl's and Aldi do equivalents and make little booklets with captions.

I paid about €15 for a book. They let you down load a program and it is simply then a case of drag and drop.

[greenmag1]

hi
i seen on a diy show once and they put loads of photo on a kitchen/dining room table and put a sheet of 6m glass on top with polished edges for safety. which made a great talking point when at the table... you could do that with some... or scanning them into your computer and storing them on cd is a great way to store...
hope this helps

[Bawnie]

I think that the best way is to clean, scan and catalogue them, on a computer!! There are lots of packages out there. This way they are airtight, waterproof etc. Store them on Archival CD's, they last 100 years so should be good enough for future generations........ we live in hope!

It'll be a mammoth task but so worth it i believe! Good luck with the task.

[User_Friendly]

Hi bikerchick (love the name). I have several ideas of how to keep them safe.

But I need to know.

Do you intend to just store them or would you rather display them?

You could of course scan them onto a computer and then save them onto a DVD and look at them on a DVD player. But of course you still have the originals to store.

Lat me know if it's storing them or displaying them you have in mind and I'll help as best I can.

Robert.

[coby12]

Hi biker chick

I have load of photos too and I had them all in boxes, I pulled them all out and picked my favourate, then I arranged them on the floor and made a collarge and framed them, they look lovely but takes a lot of time, every time I go past my frames I stop, its great to look at something or someone that means a lot rather than have them filed away.

coby12

[TickTock]

Biker Chick. I almost cried when I heard you had burned negatives! I would advise anyone never never ever get rid negatives. This was done in my family by someone thinking they were doing the right thing after an elderly person died. We now have very little in the way of photos of that person- its a tragedy. As I'm interested in family history I would always suggest using family albums. TKMaxx do lovely ones very cheaply. Get the ones that need photo corners - I don't recommend the sticky albums. If you could put the names, dates, and place name on the back of the photos it would help or in a label under each photo. Yes, it can be a big job but so worth it in the end. When people get older they can forget who someone was or where a photo was taken.

Some people have taken up the American hobby of scrapbooking but I am not in favour of this myself as what they do is print out a second photo and stick it on a page decorated with lovely paper, flowers, memorabilia etc. It's an expensive hobby and you actually end up with double amount of photos. I'd just prefer to be able to look at the photos which are the most important thing. Although scrapbooking works for special family events, like first day at school, weddings, special holidays, etc. Its just not for me. Or the other simpler answer - shoeboxes!!

[mrsl]

Some people have taken up the American hobby of scrapbooking but I am not in favour of this myself as what they do is print out a second photo and stick it on a page decorated with lovely paper, flowers, memorabilia etc. It's an expensive hobby and you actually end up with double amount of photos. I'd just prefer to be able to look at the photos which are the most important thing. Although scrapbooking works for special family events, like first day at school, weddings, special holidays, etc. Its just not for me. Or the other simpler answer - shoeboxes!!

But a scrapbook page has the story associated with the photo written up on/with the page as well. A lovely way for others who do not know the story behind the photo to relive the memories as well. I got one for a recent birthday and everyone at the party could read about my life rather than just looking at photos and not understanding the importance of the events in them. Yes, scrapbooking is not for everyone but it doesn't have to be expensive.

[Scrabble]

I have thousands of photos too.Alot are stored in boxes but I also got big albums that hold 400 pics in tescos over the years.Great birthday and christmas presents to recieve.
My hobby is scrapbooking and card making.I've made a few scrapbook pages and the most important thing is to make sure any papers used are acid free.This is to make sure that photos last longer.
If you do put your photos onto your computer make sure you copy it onto a disk.My sisters computer crashed and she lost everything including a photo of my son with my dad not long before my dad passed away.You can never get memories like that back.
Scrapbooking is expensive because we live in rip off ireland but alot of hobbies are expensive and its building up your stash over time that s enjoyable too.

Regards
Scrabble

[osberstown]

LET ME GET THIS RIGHT..YOU BURNT THE NEGS AND NOW... YOU NEED TO STORE THE DREGS? THIS COLLECTION MUST BE NICE,OTHERWISE WHY SEEK ADVISE..FROM PEOPLE YOU ONLY MEET THRU THESE PAGES AND HOPE YOUR GUILT IT ASSUAGES; TO THINK SUCH PRECIOUS MOMENTS CAUGHT IN TIME.WERE TREATED WITH DISDAIN SUBLIME,UNTIL AT LAST THEY MEANT TO YOU WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO DO.
SORRY BOUT THAT,BUT HAVE YOU TRIED THE COLLAGE IDEA?
IT WORKED FOR MY AUNTIE(HER NAME IS RHEA).
THE WAY IT WORKS, .. GET A LARGE FRAME; WOODIES HAVE
THEM-THEY'RE NOT ALL THE SAME-THEN SELECT SAY FIFTY
OF YOUR FAVOURITE SNAPS-FRAME THE MEMORIES-THEN RELAPSE
TO THE TIME THEY WERE TAKEN,THE JOY UNFOLDING AS
THE DEAR PEOPLE WITHIN YOU WERE ONCE AGAIN HOLDING.
THIS WORKS A TREAT,YOU CAN CHANGE THEM AROUND
AND THE SMILES WITHIN WILL ONCE MORE BE FOUND.
Love.X

[TickTock]

Mrsl - point taken regarding expense. I was thinking about the printing of the photos - it runs into a lotta ink.

Scrabble - I'm a cardmaker myself and source most of my 'stuff' on the internet - Ireland is a joke when it comes to craft supplies. Maybe we should have a separate forum for our kind of crafting!?

[Scrabble]

Hi TickTock,
I don't buy stuff off the internet.I don't own a credit card.Really glad I never got one.(I've seen too many people get into heavy debt ).
Anyway, next year we are planning a trip to America and my empty suitcase is for crafting goodies.I CAN'T WAIT.
America has some beautiful stuff or I've bought off QVC in England.They take postal orders.
A site I love for scrapbooking is called twopeasinabucket.com .They also show altered art which sites like jumble town is a great source to get things for this.
I'l try to upload a photo later of a scrapbook page to show the way I love to display photos.

Regards
Scrabble

[mrsl]

I use www.madaboutcards.com for craft items. I find them very good.

[TickTock]

Mrsl and Scrabble - thanks for your replies. I've heard about those site all right. I have a few favourite sellers on Ebay and I've got some good deals there. However, we've gone way off the original subject here so I'll list my favourite sites for you on a separate post under 'Papercrafts' in a little while. Chat later.

[Chris P]

...I'll list my favourite sites for you on a separate post under 'Papercrafts' in a little while...
Hi TickTock,

The "Useful Sites and Tips" thread should be of interest to you.

http://www.jumbletown.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=34368

Regards
Chris P
Admin

[TickTock]

Thanks Chris. I had seen some of those last year but there are a lot more sites added now. Much appreciated.

[Karolankan]

I have thousands of photographs stored in 3 large filling cabinet drawers & other nooks & craneys around the house & i need ideas on how to make photo albums to keep them dry & safe as i dont have negetives or copies of the photos as i burnt them as they all go mixed up over the years,anybody who has any ideas please feel free to share your ideas as i badly need some good ideas,thanks a million.... bikerchick

I'm sure this has been posted somewhere here before but I too had millions of photos in boxes stored away. Which is such a shame.
I went to my local Woodies and picked up a couple of the largest picture frames I could find. The biggest ones I bought were 2ft x 3ft.
I picked out the largest photo I had of myself, himself & the kids and stuck it in the centre and gradually added photos of all our families and friends in a collage style throughout the frame. It does mean cutting up your photos (which I know is a sin) but think about it, 30 percent of most photos consists of sky, grass, bush etc. I now have 2 large and 1 medium sized frames in my home which each containing from 200 to 300 photos of people. EVERYBODY who comes into my home is drawn to them. They are a real focal point in the livingroom, kitchen & hall. I still have loads more photos to use and intend to do a couple more frames. It does take a lot of time but it is a project that can be done in an on going basis. The result is fantastic and instant and has been a huge hit in my home. Don't file them - share them.

[Scrabble]

Karolankan, I love your idea.

biker chick, this is what I love to do with my photos.I have uploaded them on the papercrafts thread too...here:

http://www.jumbletown.ie/forums/showthread.php?t=63798

Also I was at a carboot sale today and picked up a brand new photo album that holds 400 photos for 1 euro. And one of those wooden boxes that are like a photo frame and they have room for loads of photos inside.I've seen them in the shops for 40 euro.I got one today for 2 euro.
Needless to say I was a very happy shopper.

[wickwocks]

hi biker chic,

i was in the same boat and what i did was got a lever arch folder, cheap a4 coloured paper and clear pockets , glue pics and leave space for tag line... its another form of scrpabooks i suppose but lever arch can decorated and made pretty

best of luck with it