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How to Preserve a Family Photo Collection

Organization
April 6, 2021April 6, 20216 minute readby Mollie Bartelt
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Here’s how one family spent an afternoon creating more than just a family photo album—they came together to share stories, laughter, and memories that will last a lifetime.

By Mollie Bartelt

I help my clients create family photo estates, and Mylio is one of the tools I recommend. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with JC Figueroa about managing family photo collections with Mylio. As the Customer Champion for Mylio, JC believes in the power of photos to bring families closer together. Not long into our conversation, I could tell we have the same mission in life—preserving family legacies.

Preserving Family Memories Together

To demonstrate some of Mylio’s newer features, JC showed me how his photo collection was organized. As he did, what caught my attention was not just the photo library, but the story he told of how creating it brought his family together.  

JC had a collection of pictures from 2019 where at least a dozen close relatives were helping his 85-year-old mother preserve family photos. As a photo estate planner, I knew this was a very special day. Not many families take the opportunity to do this together while their elderly parents are alive.

In his photos, I could see JC’s extended family scanning photos, tagging photos on an iPad, and more. For example, the younger generations were enjoying the time-honored tradition of looking through old print photos with JC’s mom and aunt. You can imagine how connected the generations were feeling that day. There was a lot of laughter, and there were some tears.

Family in the living room preserving photos

Commemorating a Life

JC’s father, Gilberto, had passed away only two years earlier. For some people in that cozy living room, this was the first time they were seeing pictures of Gilberto as a young man. One particular picture included Gilberto graduating with his Master’s degree, a major milestone. Wouldn’t it have been great to talk with their father when he was alive about this moment and so many others?

Gilberto's graduationGilberto joins the military

Instead, when Gilberto passed away, the family had to make do in a hurry. In the rush, they could only find a few photos to celebrate his life at his funeral. At the time, JC worked for a different company and had not yet found Mylio. It was a stressful time to try to track down photos and compile them into a slideshow to share. Therefore, he considers it a blessing and privilege to work for Mylio, where he creates tutorials to help other people preserve their family memories.

Today, JC has an automatically generated album for every important family member or friend in his life, including close to 500 photos of his dad.

All of dad's photos preserved in Mylio

Coordinate Your Own Family Memory Preservation Day! 

Whether you have older family members left in the family or not, the time to celebrate your family photos is TODAY! A picture is only worth 1,000 words, but only if there’s someone to tell the tale. That is to say, too many memories are being lost, and stories are slipping away.

I highly recommend organizing a family photo day like JC did. Here’s how it played out for JC’s family as photos circled around the room:

  1. Various nieces and nephews went through the boxes of photos, pulling out the good photos for review.
  2. JC’s sister Nydia, his mother Brunilda, and his Aunt Lucy reviewed the photos to make sure they were important to save.
  3. JC used an Epson Fastfoto 680 scanner to speedily scan the photos. Those photos were automatically added to his Mylio account and synced to a nearby iPad.
  4. His brother-in-law used Mylio on the iPad to start adding descriptions and tagging people in the scanned photos, asking for help if he didn’t know who someone was.
  5. On the flight back, JC used that iPad to change the dates on the scanned photos so they would appear in the Mylio Calendar view correctly.Preserving the Family Legacy
  6. When all was completed in Mylio, JC’s sister Nydia was able to identify which photos she wanted during a Zoom call. JC then exported the photos she wanted and sent her a link to download them.
  7. JC’s mother and aunt (who lives in the same retirement community) can enjoy looking at the photos on her iPad. She also now has the neatly organized boxes of printed photos to look through when she’d like.

Bringing the Generations Together

JC told me he wished every family could have this experience together. He pointed out that he and his siblings—Nydia and Gilberto, Jr.—had quite different interests in life, and sometimes finding common things to do together was difficult. But, he said that everyone got invested in this photo preservation activity and that, “It really brought us closer, especially the younger generation.” It was especially meaningful to watch as the kids could see how the family came together and connect to life in Puerto Rico, where JC’s family grew up together.

Creating a Family Photo Estate 

In my work at Pixologie, I help people create their photo estates, an organized collection where you can enjoy and share the photos while preserving your legacy (or someone else’s) with modern technology. Therefore, I recommend Mylio to people who are looking for a digital photo management program to bring it all together.

JC and his family completed his parent’s photo estate together even though they didn’t call it that at the time. I’m certain that day will be long remembered by everyone who was there. 

If your family is not in a position to work on creating a photo estate together, here are some steps you can do on your own. 

  1. First, gather all of your photos in one place.
  2. Organize once by decades, and then break the decades down by years.
  3. After that, throw away unnecessary and repetitive/duplicate photos.
  4. Scan your photos (on a high speed scanner or find a place to have someone scan for you).
  5. Import into Mylio or wherever you store your digital photos.
  6. Back them up—one copy in the house and one copy outside of the house.
  7. Share, celebrate and enjoy!

While the steps here are simple, I know the process can be long and emotional. But, the rewards are immense, and it can be appreciated by family members now and for generations to come.  

Consider these four points:

  • Photos connect generations
  • Pictures inspire people
  • Photos strengthen families
  • Photos celebrate life

When you think about the power of photos, I hope you’re inspired to help preserve your family’s legacy. JC put it best in our conversation:

“As humans, we are losing the opportunity to preserve our family legacy. This is one of those things in life you just have to make time for.”

Special thanks to JC for letting me share his story! And, if you’d like to learn more about preserving your family’s photo estate, visit Pixologie, where we have helped our clients preserve millions of memories.




As Google Cancels Free Photo Storage, Mylio Steps Up

AUTHOR:

Mollie Bartelt

Mollie Bartelt is a photo estate planner who works at Pixologie. She writes about photo organization and preservation.

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#family photos    #family reunion    #organize photos    #Photo Collections    #Preserve Family Photos    #Preserve Photos

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Have you ever heard of a collaborative photo album Have you ever heard of a collaborative photo album? It’s a digital photo collection you build with a loved one. Ideal for couples who want to combine their photo memories, collaborative albums allow you to sync your devices so you can organize your pictures into one unified library. 

Spend your next date night sitting down together and going through photos from the past. Whether you revisit your first date or snort at the funny pictures you sent each other years ago, it’s an opportunity for laughter and nostalgia, a chance to relive the highlights of your life together. 

Collaborative photos albums allow you to revisit your past, celebrate your present, and envision your future. Here’s how to make one with Mylio in 5 easy steps:

Step 1: Download Mylio on your computer.

Step 2: Complete the setup wizard.

Step 3: Download Mylio on both your phones and tablets.

Step 4: Add a little organization. Create albums of special occasions, tag your faces in People View, import photos from your Facebook albums.

Step 5: Choose a date night to sit down and enjoy photos together!

Save this post for your next ready-made date night ❤️
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Today, we’re celebrating #EarthDay by honoring our magnificent planet, and the life it sustains, in photos. Let’s do everything we can to protect her.

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Here’s how Mylio helps you stay in control: If Here’s how Mylio helps you stay in control:

If you've already spent time organizing your photos into folders, Mylio lets you import your current folder structure, saving you valuable time. Changes you make to Mylio from any device are reflected on all your devices, so you always have the most current version of your library. And if you ever switch to another photo manager, you can easily move your entire library - folders, photos, and metadata - to the new system.

Double tap the photo if you love this feature ❤️
Need some help deciding if Mylio is right for you? Need some help deciding if Mylio is right for you? Join our next webinar to get an overview of the app. You’ll learn: 

⚡️ Key features of the application.

⚡️ Mylio's advantages in comparison to other solutions.

⚡️ Benefits of using the app.

This is an excellent opportunity to get any questions answered by a panel of Mylio experts. Tune in on Tuesday April 20 at 10:00a PT. 

Registration is FREE at the link in our bio.
Open the Mylio app and you might open a window to Open the Mylio app and you might open a window to the past. With simple organization tools at the touch of your fingertips, you can dive into a lifetime of memories. Revisit past adventures and remember the people you met along the way.

Get started with Mylio today. Download from the app store.
Whether you have older family members left in the Whether you have older family members left in the family or not, the time to celebrate your family photos is TODAY! A picture may be worth 1,000 words, but only if there’s someone to tell the tale. That is to say, too many memories are being lost, and stories are slipping away.

We challenge you to bring your family together for a Family Photo Day and preserve your photo collections, together. Bonus points for including multiple generations. Bring your aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, parents, and siblings. You’ll show up to create a family photo album, but you’ll leave with new stories, laughter, and memories that will last a lifetime.

Here’s some tips to get you started. You can assign each family member a task.

1. Gather all your photos in one place. Invite your family to bring over all the photo albums they have laying around. 

2. Go through boxes of photos and albums, pulling out the good ones for review.

3. Review the selected photos to make sure they were important to save.

4. Organize once by decades, and then break the decades down by years.

5. Scan the photos and import into your Mylio account.

6. Once the photos are in Mylio, start adding descriptions and tagging people in the scanned photos. You can always ask a family member for help if you don’t know who someone is.

7. Add dates to as many photos as possible so they will appear in the Mylio Calendar View correctly.

8. Share the preserved memories with everyone in your family.

Feeling inspired? Tag your family below to start planning your next Family Photo Day!
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My dad was one of twelve children. All twelve married, and had an average of three children each; this adds up to twenty-four aunts and uncles, and thirty-six cousins. This also adds up to rather crowded family reunions at my grandparents’ house —  lots of fun though, with a large pool of family to be really close with.

So there are a lot of us. And for every one of us, the canonical family memory is held in one photograph, taken in 1981 at my grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary. Today, it sits on my mantelpiece (pictured here).

More than thirty years have passed since I joined the others for this portrait, and as you might guess, the family tree has kept growing new branches and leaves. But it’s also grown apart. My grandfather died the year we took the picture, and without him the big family reunions slowly withered. So a new generation of more than seventy grand cousins have grown up with only the photo as a constant reminder that we’re all part of something bigger. It’s like our flag. Or coat of arms.

Last year a grand-niece I didn’t even know existed got tired of wondering who those distant loved ones were, and decided to reunite all of us — first on social media, then in person (swipe through to see the whole photo).

Now my own kids, born on the other side of the planet, are truly part of something much bigger. All thanks to the power of one old picture.”

❤️ Shared by Cyril Bouanna

Do you have an old picture that anchors your family together? We want to see it! Share your story in the comments below or tag is in your post.
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⚡️What about your phone? Yes, and for devices that don’t have much storage space, Mylio will help you manage its size.

⚡️Mylio also keeps your library in sync, so any changes or additions you make on one device get synced to the others.

Visit the link in our bio to see all the ways Mylio is stepping up to the challenge and giving the people the option to consolidate, organize, manage, and protect their photos.
3 TIPS TO ORGANIZE YOUR DIGITAL PHOTOS LIKE A PRO✨

1. Organize How You Remember. 
Think about how you remember and organize your photos so you’ll be able to find them easily. For example, if you remember where you took them, you’ll want to organize geographically, in which case Mylio’s Map View and geotagging will come in handy. If you remember when something happened, then Calendar View and dating photos make more sense. If you remember who you were with, then People View and facetagging will come in handy. Mylio can do this in efficient batches to help you save time!

2. Create Sorting Buckets. 
Creating folders and sub-folders is an easy way to categorize your photos into “buckets.” If you’re drowning in photos from past travels, create a folder for each of your trips and a sub-folder for each part of the trip. For example, “Europe 2018” could be your top-level folder, and your sub-folders would be “England,” “Spain,” “Italy,” and so on. If you’re organizing family photos, your top-level folders can be the years, which would contain sub-folders like “Grandma’s Birthday,” “Steve’s Graduation,” and “New Year’s Party.”

3. Use Automatic “To Do” Lists. 
Mylio creates automatic to-do lists for you, if you know where to look that is. We’ve got you covered: Head to the People View and click on “Untagged.” From there, select “Batch Tagging.” This is where you’ll find untagged and unconfirmed photos. Now all you have to do is add names to the untagged people and confirm those that have already been auto-tagged for you. This is easy to do when you’ve got a few minutes to spare. Waiting in line for your coffee? Tag a few faces. Your to-do list will be completed before you know it.

We have so many more organizational insights to share with you. Want more tips on cataloguing your growing photo collections? Click the link in our bio!
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That’s me in my 1979 Buick LeSabre noodling through downtown Hollywood traffic. I’m on my way from Phoenix, Arizona to Seattle, Washington — a place I’d never been. It’s late 1990, and my brother and I have decided to get together and head West, to see what we could see. It was the beginning of many positive and dramatic changes in my life.

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⚡️Pro Tip: Link an online calendar to mark important events like birthdays, anniversaries, or special trips in your calendar. Mylio will then automatically create and highlight those events for you.
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Download Mylio today to quickly find pictures from past adventures. Available on all your favorite devices.
Happy World Backup Day! Today we are celebrating w Happy World Backup Day! Today we are celebrating with @seagate by spreading awareness of the 3-2-1 rule. ⁣
⁣
Backing up your photos in more than one place prevents you from losing memories that are important to you. When your data is properly backed up, you can rest assured knowing it’s protected forever.⁣
⁣
Seagate and Mylio have partnered to help you backup your media memories. A Seagate drive stores them, and Mylio consolidates, organizes, and gives you access to them anywhere!
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Never worry about losing a photo again. With Mylio, you get two levels of protection:

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This is how Mylio stores your original, full-sized photos. 

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The Power of A Picture: “This photo was taken t The Power of A Picture:

“This photo was taken the last time I saw my grandfather before he passed away. We hugged each other. I said goodbye, and walked out the door. I never saw him again. I forgot about the picture.

One day, I was visiting my Mother, and she mentioned she had something to give me.

When she pulled out this photo, I just sobbed.

When I look at this picture I see all the love that my Grandfather and I shared. I see all the early morning chats we had over canned pineapple juice. I hear all the wisdom he passed down to me with his stories about WWII. I feel his embrace.

This picture is a moment of unconditional love between a Grandfather and his Granddaughter. I treasure it. It reminds me that while our time here together has passed, our love for each other will live forever.” 

❤️ Shared by Meghan Rosen

Do you have a picture that carries unconditional love? We want to see it! Share your story in the comments below or tag is in your post.
 

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