When you are ready to work on your projects you will want to be organized and ready, and not left feeling like you wasted your valuable time in the preparation and photobook process. You will also want to make sure your photos quality is protected.
Here are 10 tips and warnings about online photo storage, photo books and digital scrapbook sites that you need to know about before you spend your valuable time and money and possibly end up with fading memories. If you want to skip all the fluff and find the best site out there visit Heritage Makers and you be the judge.
First, You don’t need to purchase any software to get started. You will find lots of sites that allow you to upload your photos from anywhere there is internet access. You may find yourself in a place when your photo card is full and you don’t want to delete any pictures and your trip is only half started. You may want to consider purchasing an inexpensive universal photo card reader that can be plugged into any computer and work with any camera memory card. This will allow you to upload your photos from any computer. Load your photos into your account each time you “clean off” your photo memory card and label the folder for quick organization. You can organize it just by saying the month and year. Maybe even add the location of where the photos were taken. When you are ready to create your project you will be so excited to know that you don’t have to search for photos or wonder when it was that you took them, and if your computer crashes, you won’t have to worry about losing your photos as well! Find a site that allows you to search through a plethora of artwork and personalized templates for your project. Once you get started creating you don’t want to find yourself limited in how you can create your project. Take ten minutes every couple days and search through the artwork. Being that you have found an online site, you can do this anytime from anywhere there is online access. Project Organization: Find a site that allows you to have files and folders in your online account that allow you to organize your photos and artwork you have searched for or have uploaded. The chances of your computer crashing and losing your data would be devastating and having to search one folder at a time on your desktop is way too time consuming. Use your “Favorites tab” filing system to organize your favorite photos and artwork so when you are ready to start working on your project it is already organized! This makes your project go that much faster when you are ready to work on it. Share your photos. Find a site that allows you to share your photos. After the fun event you had with family and friends, surprise them with a message of photos from the fun event in their email. This is also a great way to cheer up anyone’s Monday and say thanks for the fun memories. They then can choose to load them into their account as well. Use your Email to help you capture the stories and the memories you have. Email yourself with a message or memory. When you are ready to work on your project you can search your email and copy and paste your message or memory into your project. Note: keep the same title each time you send yourself an email, it will be easier to search for it later on. Warning: Find the system you like and that will allow you to grow with it. You may not need all the options now but over time you will become more comfortable in your digital projects and will want to be able to add your personal flare to it! There are a lot of digital photobook companies online but leave you with limitations on how to design your book or how to layout your pictures. Warning: read the fine print in the policy and procedure area. Most online digital photo book sites will minimize your photos quality. The last thing you want to happen is when you are ready to use your photos; you’re unable to work with your photos because the quality had been minimized. Some online sites do this so their site runs faster and they don’t have too much of their online storage used up. Some sites are even charging you to get your photos back or deleting them after so much time has gone by. You might as well just print them and throw them in a box at this rate and be back at square one! Warning: There are a lot of free offers for photobooks and digital products to get you to try out their site. However, you do get what you pay for. Look for books that are wire stitched and bound and have a linen reinforced backing. This will ensure the work you have put into your project will turn into that family heirloom and not in the family trash over time. Finally, find a site that allows you to have the ability to upload your photos AND design an amazing project, not only a digital photo book. You may want to decorate your home with a vacation scenic photo and you will want more options that just a digital photo book. How about wall hangings on canvas, or sending out your holiday cards, or being able to have a personalized chore chart for your kids…etc. I found a site that can cost you 6 dollars a month for unlimited photos storage that minimizes photo quality and I also found a site that allows you unlimited storage at high resolution plus the ability to create a plethora of projects using over 45,000+ pieces of artwork for only 7 dollars a month.There are so many ways to stay on top of your memories and stories before they fade especially during your busy summer months. When you find a site you are interested in, please read the fine print. Find out how you are able to get the photos back from the site, if there is a time frame and cost to storing the photos and how many photos you can upload. Find out what products they offer and if they have any training, online tutorials or free live classes that you can join and learn. Is their customer support amazingly helpful or do you have the opportunity to work with a personal consultant? You will want to know that you are not wasting your time up front for your later growth and project creation. Your time is valuable, find an online company that finds your time and memories valuable too. Heritage Makers
