Wait! Don't Lose Those Precious Memories: Print Your Photos

By June Santini

Everyone loves all the photos you post. You love all the photos you take and maybe don’t post, but save to your computer, or your phone, or the cloud. We are recording in minute detail our everyday lives and every significant moment that happens to us or to our families. Yet, most likely, the most photographed generation in history won’t have any photos of themselves in a few years. The way we store media is constantly changing (can you say 8-inch floppy disk?) and cloud storage accounts may be forgotten or abandoned after you’ve neglected to login for years. Your hard drive will crash and those flash drives may become obsolete.

So, act now. PRINT those darn photos and preserve those memories! You don’t have to print all of your photos: just pick out a few of your favorites. Then, make something fun and memorable with them. Or just stick them in a box. Either way, you won’t regret having hard copies.

Here are some simple ways to preserve those precious photos:

Traditional Scrapbooking

Create pages as simple or as elaborate as you’d like. Traditional scrapbook pages are usually 12 inches by 12 inches, but you can also do 8 ½ by 11 inches. Just make sure you use acid- and lignin-free paper to keep photos from yellowing and fading.You can find free scrapbooking lessons on Scrapbook.com. You don’t have to spend a lot of money or buy a lot of supplies: just a few pieces of paper can get you started. There are dozens of Facebook groups where scrapbookers share ideas and inspire each other to “git ‘er done.”

Pocket Scrapbooking

This is super-simple and you can create pages quickly, with very few supplies, and they look great! Simply slip your photos and some pre-cut decorative cards into plastic sleeves and you’re done. The cards come in themed kits and are readily available at craft stores. The most popular one is Project Life. You’ll find lots of tips and tricks for getting started and inspiration to keep you going! Scrapbook.com also has a free class on pocket scrapbooking, called Scrapbooking for the non-scrapbooker. I recently did an experiment at the KidsOutAndAbout offices. I asked our team members to bring in a couple of photos each. I brought some basic pocket scrapbooking materials and within 15 minutes everyone had created a beautiful page. I think I may have hooked one or two of them!

Digital Scrapbooking

If the thought of physically sorting through any supplies just overwhelms you, consider digital scrapbooking. Using software like Photoshop, you create digital pages with your photos, then have them printed. You can either print them yourself or order the pages online to be sent to you. Just be sure to actually print them: otherwise, what‘s the point? Sites like Shutterfly also allow you to create gorgeous digital scrapbooks and then have the entire thing printed and bound. They’ll also just do it for you, if you find any type of scrapbooking overwhelming. Digital scrapbooking tutorials can be found on Scrapgirls.

Just Print

Just print out a bunch of photos and stick them in an album. Remember how much you loved looking at old photo albums when you were a kid? If worst comes to worst, just stick the prints in an album! It’s not that hard! But, okay, if you're not up for even that, buy a photo box, print out some photos, and put them in the box. Done.

Years from now, when your kids are grown, you’ll thank me. Resolve to take one step towards preserving those memories. Get some prints made of your photos. What you do with them after that could be a fun new adventure. Or you’ll simply have a box of photos. Either way, it’s a win.

June Santini is VP of Operations at KidsOutAndAbout. When she is not at the office, she is busy scrapbooking the two most beautiful grandkids in the world.