Organizing Photo for Your Memoir or Family History Book
Nan Barnes
Organizing photographs to decide which to include in a memoir or family history book can be a challenge. One of the first choices is whether to scan your photos and work with digital images or to work with the actual photo prints.
If you decide to work with the actual prints we suggest you use a photo binder with archival quality vinyl sleeves to protect the photos from damage. Place two photos back to back in each sleeve. Place labels on the sleeves to indicate categories, stories or chapters to which the photos belong.
If you decide to scan the photos, you have a choice of using a scanning service or doing it yourself. Whichever you choose, your images must be scanned to at least 300 dpi which is the minimum level of resolution required by most digital printers.
If you are working with digital images there are a variety of photo management software programs including ACD See Photo Manager 12, CompuPic Pro, Picajet, and Google’s Picasa 3. These programs will allow you to tag, organize and index your photos.
Once you have decided on the system you want to use you can organize your photos by date, by person, by special event or whatever categories you decide upon. Working within the category you can decide which photos will make the best illustrations for your book.
If you decide to work with the actual prints we suggest you use a photo binder with archival quality vinyl sleeves to protect the photos from damage. Place two photos back to back in each sleeve. Place labels on the sleeves to indicate categories, stories or chapters to which the photos belong.
If you decide to scan the photos, you have a choice of using a scanning service or doing it yourself. Whichever you choose, your images must be scanned to at least 300 dpi which is the minimum level of resolution required by most digital printers.
If you are working with digital images there are a variety of photo management software programs including ACD See Photo Manager 12, CompuPic Pro, Picajet, and Google’s Picasa 3. These programs will allow you to tag, organize and index your photos.
Once you have decided on the system you want to use you can organize your photos by date, by person, by special event or whatever categories you decide upon. Working within the category you can decide which photos will make the best illustrations for your book.