How to organise a digital photo album
A digital photo album is a selected sequence of photographs. Group by event or date, choose the strongest versions and make a reading order that keeps related pictures together.
Keep the complete photo collection in separate folders. Use a smaller selection in the album so you can show each image at a readable size.
A family gathering and a building project need different orders. Put people together in the first; show stages of change in the second.
Make a digital scrapbook
Add your photos and keepsakes in tbf scrapbook, then arrange them on the pages.
Choose an album order
Date order suits a trip or a year. Subject order suits a collection of relatives, gardens or places visited more than once.
When dates are uncertain, group by known event instead of assigning a precise year you cannot confirm.
Choose different views
Include a wide view to show the place and a close-up for a detail such as the meal or a drawing. Keep portraits large enough to recognise the people.
- Keep one clear version from a near-identical burst.
- Retain a less polished image if it records a missing person.
- Put a detail photo beside the wide view it belongs to.
- Use a separate section for images awaiting identification.
Add names and dates
Record the known date, place and people near the related photograph. Use larger images when faces would otherwise be too small to recognise.
If tickets and letters start taking equal space, consider a scrapbook format. It gives those items a place instead of treating them as extra photographs.
Steps
Establish the setting
Open with a wide view of the place and a portrait. Keep faces large enough to recognise before adding more photographs to the page.
Group the people
Keep photographs from the same gathering together. Include different people instead of repeating the same group pose.
Show the activity
Use the pictures in action order, such as ingredients, preparation and the finished meal. Keep the sequence on one spread where possible.
Close the section
End with a distinct final scene or a later comparison. Store the unselected images in the archive without filling the ending page.
Questions
Is a digital photo album the same as a photo folder?
A folder stores files. An album selects and orders pictures for viewing, often with names and dates that make the sequence understandable.
Can I mix portrait and landscape photos in an album?
Yes. Group by subject first, then arrange shapes. Use a large landscape beside stacked portraits rather than cropping every photograph to one ratio.
Should an album include every picture from an event?
Usually a selection is easier to read. Keep the complete event folder separately so the album can show only pictures that add something different.