After you use what you want to for the scrapbooks/photo albums/give away an so on, what do you do with the ones left over? If there are double prints, do you just use one picture and then throw the other one away? (unless giving it away). Or, do you file them some how? We have box after box of pictures. Just wondering if I need to keep them all. I guess it would be fun in many years to come to look back at all the pictures in the boxes. But, the duplicate is in a scrapbook. So, I can't decide what to do. What do you do?

By Trina~moderator on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 11:38 am:

I'm the wrong person to ask! I have boxes full of photos that aren't even in albums yet. I did well with the first baby, putting all photos in albums right away, but once #2 came along I just couldn't keep up. I've been primarily using my digital camera for a couple years now, and print out my own pics when needed. They're stored on my computer and backed up. I probably should put them on CDs as well but don't know how.

By Missymelissy on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 11:42 am:

I'm in the same boat with pictures --- tons of them in boxes and right now I have approx 16 films to be developed -- I love taking pictures. I received a scrapbooking kit for Christmas which I would like to start doing. As for duplicate pictures, I'm not sure what to tell you -- maybe do another album with the duplicates and leave out for people to look at when they come to visit and if anyone likes a certain picture, then offer it to them and tell them its a duplicate - just a thought.

I would like to know what people do with the negatives -- do they put them with the pictures or are they in envelopes? Are they labelled?

By Andi on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 11:43 am:

I toss them if I have it in a scrapbook. I try to give it away but if it's a picture nobody else will want I toss it. I just started doing this so I have two very big plastic storage bins in the garage full of pictures that I need to go through.

Maybe in 18 years when I have some time and the kids are gone I will get caught up.

By Karen~moderator on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 12:35 pm:

I'm the odd one, I never throw away pictures. I keep every one of them.

By Colette on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 12:43 pm:

I never throw pics out. I feel superstitious about it. If my pics aren't in an album, they are under my bed in a big, huge box.

By Mommmie on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 01:26 pm:

I put mine in albums, the ones where you put one 4x6 on each page. I have about 30 albums. My son is 9 and they started when he was born. If I have a duplicate then I just put them together on the same page, one behind the other in case I ever need it.

Now that I'm digital it's all on my hard drive as backup. Need to burn them to CDs but no big deal if I don't. I didn't save negatives before once I decided if I was going to reprint or enlarge any of them.

By Eve on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 01:32 pm:

My 35mm prints are in one box, dated. Then, my camera died and I went digital. (We really do need to replace our camera ) I keep them in folders on my PC and have them backed up on disc.

I have started scrapbooking and I love it. I have been printing and (&then I use a spray sealer) putting them right into my scrapbook. It's been so fabulous to see my photos from an occasion with a little story beside it!

By Conni on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 01:35 pm:

Robin, I would think you could keep the extras for when your kids are adults. You could give them to your children as they get settled into their own homes and have a place to keep some of their childhood photos to enjoy with their families. Maybe for now you could just store them in a fire proof box???

By Fraggle on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 02:00 pm:

We don't take a lot of pictures but I do have a couple shoe box sizes filled with our doubles that never were needed. Most of them I would probably never use so at some point I guess we will end up throwing them out. All of our pictures go into photo albums first and then a lot of the doubles get framed or put into a scrapbook. I actually need to have a ton of reprints done because I don't have enough pictures of some events!

By Dawnk777 on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 02:55 pm:

Boxes of photo envelopes at my house, although many of them are labeled as to what is inside. That is about as far as I have gotten.

By Ginny~moderator on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 09:15 pm:

Whatever you do, please - based on the box after box of photos my Mom had and I had to go through after she died - please label them as to when, who, where, and event. It is so terribly frustrating to know you are looking at a piece of a loved one's life and not know what meaning it had. Just write on the back of the photo with a marker or, if you are really feeling neat, put a label on the back and write on the label, but please label them.

By Mommyathome on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 10:38 pm:

Ginny, BTDT!! After my mom died we went through some old pictures. Mostly black and whites. There were some *really* cool pictures in there, but we had no idea who/what/when/why/where etc. Good reminder.

By Dawnk777 on Monday, January 12, 2004 - 11:57 pm:

That's why I have labeled the envelopes at least. I suppose I should label the actual pictures, though.

By Missy3 on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 06:21 am:

I am in the same boat as everyone else. The only way I can get them organized, then just being in a box. I utilize the envelope that the pics come in, if you look on the back there is a line to put the subject as well as date of the photos in the envelope. Then I put the envelope in the photo box, at least they are in date order and by subject. That helps.

I do throw out doubles if I am not using them. I toss blurry pics or return them, you can return them at .10 each. Did you know that? At least at Target you can. I also throw just keep the good ones. If I have 5 pics of the same moment, I pick the best one and toss the rest. I also give some pics to the school for their yearbook-a tleast someone will utilize them-LOL

I also let my DD(7) do her scrapbook when she has time. She loves it!!! Good organization lesson for her

By Debbie on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 08:15 am:

Well, I throw away the bad ones right away. Then I take the good ones and scrapbook them, put them in frames around the house or give them away. I do have some good ones that are in a box, but not many. I now have an awesome digital camera that dh got me for Christmas, so I am hoping I won't have bad ones anymore.

By Dananivyboo1 on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 11:26 pm:

I have been into photography since a child and finally finally went through them and set them aside. During this past holiday I took them so the family could go through them and see what they wanted. I was glad not to come back with the huge box, cause they would have been tossed if no one wanted them.

Now with digital they are stored on the comp, till accumalted to put on CD and we can look at them on the DVD player.

By Hol on Wednesday, January 14, 2004 - 12:57 am:

I'm with Collette..I keep EVERY picture. Too superstitious to throw them away. I remember when my older DK's were little, and we'd have portraits done at Kmart, etc. I always wanted to buy every single one of them, because I couldn't bear the thought of someone throwing away pictures of MY kids.

I USED to label pictures, and put them in an album as soon as I got them from the developer. However, I haven't done that in years, and now we have Rubbermaid totes full of pictures. That is on my list of "SOMEDAY" things to do.

I, too, can't stress enough how important it is to LABEL pictures, for the future generations. Just because YOU know who the people in the picture are, doesn't mean that your GRANDCHILD will. Also, if you have more than one child, it's GOOD to keep the duplicates, so there's no fighting over pictures when you're gone.