Organizational {Friday} Storing your Printed Photos

Last week I shared how I store my digital photos and how I back them up. If you missed that post, look here. Today I will share how I store my printed photos.

Getting Photos Printed
I have used many printing services over the years, and I have also found my favorites. Unfortunately my absolute favorite printing service is "no longer." It was at my local grocery store, and they used the paper I LOVE, they printed them within an hour (most times within minutes), and it was super easy to pick up my printed photos anytime. Now that they have taken the photo printing service out of the store, I have had to resort to my favorite online printers. While I don't mind sending them to an online service, I dislike having to wait for my photos to show up in the mail. But I have thousands of printed photos waiting to be scrapped so I don't know why I don't mind waiting. It's not like I am going to finish my "back log" anytime soon! LOL!!

Anyway, I am very picky about paper and quality. Luckily, I have found two sites that meet my "picky standards." My two favorite online photo services are Mpix and Scrapbook Pictures. Mpix is my favorite service; however, I hear a lot of people prefer my "second favorite."

When receiving my latest order from Mpix, here is what was in my box:

When you order a large order of prints, they come in this very nice black box. These are perfect for long-term storage of your photos. They are also easy to label, stack, and store! Now, if you order a small amount of prints, they come in these photo-safe envelopes (see it on top of my storage box).
I love these envelopes. I don't know if it's the sound they make when touched or the texture. They are great, and I have always saved them even when I no longer need them because I might decide to send some photos to someone, and I can reuse the envelopes or I use them for professional photos of the kids that I may not scrap.

Other Storage Options
You may not order a large order of prints to get the nice photo boxes from Mpix; however, there are many other storage options available for your prints. My absolute favorite photos storage boxes are made by Creative Memories. They are called the Power Sort storage boxes.

I think this box has been re-done since I have last purchased them because my boxes hold 2,400 photos and this particular box holds up to 1,200 photos. They also used to have a Mini Power Sort Box which I do not see on their site anymore. My boxes hold 12 removable compartments; the mini holds 3, and it seems the new boxes hold 6. Anyway, regardless, it is still a GREAT photo storage box. I love the removable compartments (they hold 400 photo each) along with the dividers. Makes it easy to take to a crop or keep a small group of photos on your desk! These boxes make it VERY easy to store my photos and find what I am looking for. I actually keep some of these boxes stacked under my craft table. I can see the labels easily on each box, and they are within reach when I want to scrap my photos. These are the particular photos I am working on now.
I do not have all of my photos sorted this way. When my favorite grocery store printed my photos, I kept them in the photo envelopes with the negatives and/or CD. I then wrote the date and occassion on the front of the envelope, and then I stored them in date order in the dresser unit in my room. I have several drawers of photos like this:
Of course, there are also photo boxes avilable at Wal-Mart, Target, etc., Regardless of what boxes I use, keeping them by date works best for me.

I hope this has helped a little. I have a LONG way to go in scrapping my photos, and I have a long way to go in getting the drawers of photos into PowerSort boxes. However, what's important to me right now is that I can find what I am looking for, and my photos are safe. Have a blessed Friday everyone!