New Years Resolution #1 is complete! With the new year approaching and my due date looming, there were a few organizational projects that I wanted to complete before baby’s arrival. Simply put, once baby is here and I’m a mom of three brushing my teeth will be an accomplishment most days so big projects will either need to wait a few more months (that blissful time once baby is sleeping well but not crawling everywhere!) or I’d have to attack it head-on now. I decided to go into attack mode.
The first resolution I had was to print all the pictures that were sitting on my computer and external hard-drive to ensure they were safe! Shortly before Christmas, my Dell laptop’s backlight went. Basically it meant I could turn my computer on but couldn’t do a thing because I couldn’t see the screen! What I thought would be a simple repair (just put in a new backlight, how hard could that be?) turned into what could be a $300 bill. So instead we purchased an external hard-drive and had the repair shop transfer my entire hard-drive onto it. I plan on taking my old laptop out into a field this summer and shooting it, just sayin’.
That experience scared me – I could have lost all my photos from 2009-2010 (2008’s on my other old laptop) so I’d highly suggest investing in an external hard-drive if you haven’t yet!
Now, where was I? Right, back to the pictures. While the digital age has enabled us to take and store pictures on our computers, they are only a memory if something happens to your computer. So print them!! I know, I know, it’s a monumental task and when you look at it like that it’s much too overwhelming. My first new year’s resolution was to print and then store all my photos in photo albums, from 2007 to 2011. Yeah, my knees felt weak at the time I decided it too. I did it though, and here’s how to break it down step by step so you don’t lose your marbles doing it.
1) Pick your favorite store for online photo developing. I like Costco because they tend to have the best sales and their turnaround time is awesome. Here in Canada they recently had a 9 cent/print sale. But the sale isn’t what you’re concerned about now – just pick one website for uploading and stick to it.
2) Decide what you need to print. In my case it was 2007 to the end of 2010. I’m guessing most of you have your photos arranged by months on your computers. Simply create a folder by the same name at your favorite uploading site (Costco for example). So, name a file at Costco’s photo site “January 2007”. Open that same file on your computer and pluck what you want to develop from that month into the file at the Costco site. It’s much easier now to be selective and only choose what you’d develop. If you have 14 shots of your 3 year old blowing out her birthday candles, pick the best 4 or so and upload those.
3) Look at it as a year-by-year task. Take your time and upload your pictures, in the corresponding files, for the entire year. Once you have completed the December file at the photo developing website, pat yourself on the back and take a break. All the while you’re uploading, keep an eye out for sales at your chosen store. There are no sales on at Costco.ca right now, but I know there’s got to be one coming just around the corner (they had two 9/cent print sales in January).
4) Only print photos when there is a sale! 19 cents a print is not good, 15 cents a print is not good! 12 cents a print is ok but hold tight and 9 cents a print sales will be worth it (especially when you are developing a year’s worth at a time)
5) Sorting – ahhh! When you print a year’s worth of photos at a time, you will cry if I don’t prepare you ahead of time by explaining that your pictures may not be in the order you uploaded them. That’s because your photos upload by file number (DSC0093 for example) and not by the pretty little folders you sorted them into. That’s ok. When you get your year’s worth of photos pack, just take some time one evening like I did (364 pictures for 2010 is what I was working with) and simply sit on the floor or at a large table and begin sorting. It really takes no time at all.
6) Into the albums they go! Once your photos are sorted they are super-easy to slip into albums. #5 and #6 are best done when the kids are in bed or at school because otherwise you get sidetracked by them wanting to see every last photo and talk about it (save that for when they are safely tucked away in albums!)
See? It really is doable if you break it down and don’t look at it as one ginormous task.
My next project? Finishing my 2 kid’s baby books. And by finishing, in the case of my 3 year old I also mean actually starting her baby book. Oops. Less than 8 weeks to go – I’d better get on it!
Add Comment