Review and Organize Your Photos

Pace yourself, and set reasonable goals: No matter what the task is, you have to pace yourself.  Whether you are organizing photos, creating projects, or just revisiting your photos, you should give yourself a time limit. Either set a timer, or narrow it down to a specific day or event. This makes the task much less daunting. When I am creating photo books, I like to break it up indo days. That way I can really break down my trip and relive every moment properly.

Delete photos that you don’t need: More often than not, we have far too many photos than we need. I look at each photo and see if it contains anything meaningful. I ask myself the following questions and dependng on my answers, I delete the photos that I don’t need.

• Who is in the photo?
• Is there anything meaningfull in the background?
• Is there any other photo like this?
• Why was this photo taken?

Choose the best way to showcase your memories: Not all adventures are the same. Sometimes you have lots of photos, other times you have more video. Some adventures have memorabilia, like tickets, receipts, and postcards to include. Therefore, it is best to organize everythign you have before determining what kind of project to start.

If you have lots of video, maybe create a movie, or a series of movies. If you have lots of photos and keepsakes, create a book. If you don’t have enother photos for an entire photo book, create a calendar.

Select an application to create your project: Over the years, I have used several applications. Some are easier to use than others. Below are a few of the ones that I keep coming back to based mostly on price, ease of use, and quality of the final product.

• Photobook Canada: I have been creating photobooks and calendars with this company for years! I like that they have a desktop application that I can download so I can create my projects from my computer without having to upload the images. I use this company for any books over 40 pages.
• Mixbook: When I started getting charged duty, I switched to Mixbook. They have a great online interface that allows you to have total control over the page layout. They also have a huge selection of stickers, fonts, and layouts. They sometimes have discounts that are comparable to Photobook Canada, unless you are making a 41+ page book.
• iMovie: Hands down, this is my favourite movie editing tool. I am a bit bias because I have a Mac. If you are using an apple product and have not yet tried to create an iMovie, I strongly encourage you to start.

Don’t rush the final product: I used to think that I had to finish my books by a certain date. Or I would buy a coupon code and automatically set myself a deadline. Don’t do this. The more pressure you put on yourself the finish, the less enjoyable the experience. Take your time. Relive each part of your vacation. Let the memories flood back and document them. It is so much more enjoyable and the final product has so much more love.

Once you are done, then start looking for a coupon code or discount. When the time is right, purchase the product, share it with your friends, and enjoy revisiting it years later.

Pros:

• Price is usually very affordable with coupon codes
• Lots of options when it comes to creating the layout
• Option to create book online or on local machine
• Multiple people can edit a book if created online
• Good quality

Cons:

• Sometimes you are charged duty from the shipping company (but Photobook Canada provides online credit for any amount you are charged)