Whether you’re new to scrapbooking or a seasoned cropper, this article may really hit home with you. Even the most well organized person may find their photos in disarray.

You get your pictures printed, take out just what you want at the moment, then in the midst of doing other things stash them away. You always say you need to organize them, and have probably started to once or twice, but never finished.

Here are a few tips and products that will surely make organizing your photos much easier.

My best advice is to plan out the organization of your photos. Some of you are probably puzzled by this suggestion, but it really makes sense. If you plan how to sort your photos, setting small, specific goals, it will be much easier to accomplish. It will also prevent confusion in the midst of trying to organize.

You might want to consider organizing your photos according to date, subject or some other similar method that you know will make sense to you. Whichever method you choose, be sure to stick to it. Don’t organize that way now and then change your method later on with new photos. That will only create confusion.

Next, try your best to determine how much storage space you need.

You’ll want to make your purchases according to your needs for both organization and storage, unless you already have an adequate storage system. You may also want to plan for the future, ensuring that you’ll have enough space to store and organize any photos you add to your collection.

Now that you have a plan in place and your organizers and/or storage set up, it’s time to sort through your photos. While following your plan, be sure to discard any photos that you know you just can’t use. This will not only make it easier to find what you’re looking for when you go searching, but will also free up space.

My last bit of advice may be the most important. Be sure to label your storage and organizers. You’ll want to choose a labeling method that not only allows you to label them clearly, but that will also stay in place.

You don’t want to stick on labels that may fall off or become too worn to read, or a pen that will fade or run if it gets damp.

With your new system in place, your scrapbooking should be much simpler and more enjoyable.