Arranging Your Scrapbooking Photographs- An Important First Step

Whether you keep your photographs stored online or get them printed at the local drugstore—the first step to being able to create a really memorable scrapbook is to get your pictures and memorabilia organized.
While organizing your photographs may seem like a time-consuming and cumbersome part of your scrapbooking process, it really will save you a lot of time later and will also help you to avoid making those mistakes that can’t be easily fixed, such as forgetting to initially include a particular and important picture in your scrapbook.
Computer Storage:
More and more scrapbookers these days are deciding to keep their photographs on their own personal computer or on an online picture storage site. This is a terrific option for many of us who are creating digital scrapbooks and who don’t have the necessary space to hold the many printed photographs that are waiting to be used in a scrapbook. For these reasons, digital image organization is usually the easiest and fastest way to keep your pictures in good order.
When using digital photographs, you can store them in organized folders on your computer or you may choose to upload them to one of the popular websites that host picture sharing online. Either way, you will have the option to create multiple folders. This is the preferred method versus dumping dozens or hundreds of picture uploads into one giant folder.
You will also find that it is simpler to create folders according to your scrapbook album's theme. For instance, if you are creating a scrapbook with events in a chronological order, you may name your folders “The Holidays 2006” or “Spring, 2007.”
If you like to take a lot of photographs, you might try grouping them according to a specific event with folder names such as “Laurie’s 6th Birthday Party.”
If your album is not just chronological, however, you’ll most likely find it helpful to sort your digital images in a different way, perhaps according to how you will eventually use them in a scrapbook.
Printed Picture Storage:
For those of us that are not so computer savvy, there is nothing wrong or old-fashioned about resisting the computer trend altogether and continuing to get actual print copies of your favorite photographs. Often, though, it’s difficult to find the time to complete scrapbook pages immediately after you get the copies made. In these instances, it is important to remember to safely store your prints away from heat and light until you can begin to create your scrapbooking pages.
There are many available storage systems on the market today that will help to keep your photographs clean and protect them from acid. Remember to look for scrapbooking products that are specifically made for photograph storage as these important organizational tools will always be acid free.
One of the quickest and most convenient photograph storage methods is simply to use a regular photo album (there are many safe albums available for purchase, but, again, you want to make sure they are lignin and acid free before you purchase them). It's true that sliding your pictures into a regular photo album slot is not nearly as attractive as creating scrapbook pages, but this way you can still share your photographs with guests in a presentable way until you have time to work on creating your scrapbook pages.
Again, you may find that it will probably be best for you to organize your photographs according to the theme of your scrapbook album. With print pictures though, instead of creating virtual folders, you will use other physical tools to separate your photographs and keep them organized. Just like when you are using the computer folders, you will want to keep these drawers, files, compartments, etc. clearly labeled so that you can quickly find what you need when you have the time to work on your scrapbook.
The key to scrapbook photograph organization is time. Devoting a few minutes at the start of your project to arranging your photographs in the proper order will make your scrapbooking time much more efficient and enjoyable.