I have finally gotten to the point that I am sorting through all the pictures. The plan is to scan them all and that brings up how best to organize them. I have pictures "inherited" from both my Grandmother and my Mother that go back to the 1920's, Some of these are going to be a challenge to identify, but if I don't do it now my family will have no idea where to start.
I can come up with a "naming format" to consistently identify each picture and then store the pictures in folders. However, that won't include any ability to list the people in the photos or include a description of the occasion or just tell about the person(s) in the photos. Photo Bucket or something similar might work better than just files in my computer as well as give family/friends access. I don't know how much text can be attached to each picture, though.
As I thought about how best to organize I wondered if there was a Genealogy Software that anyone is using that has the ability to include pictures and text. Then I could combine the pictures with a family history. Any recommendations? How are you handling it?
The Bear II said
11:20 AM Jan 13, 2015
My brother has been working on our family tree and on his in-laws tree. He uses Anchestry.com for research but posts is findings on Blogspot which allows him to use long descriptions if needed. It also allows him to archive his posts by chronology or other identifying means. Plus he can limit access to the site to keep it in the family.
The scanning and posting is a long and tedious process. Whatever you do be sure to save your work often just in case of computer or internet failure.
dewwood said
10:05 AM Jan 15, 2015
I have a question that goes along with how to store photos and documents for future generations. We have photos that are 70 to 100 years old and we can still view them. When looking at the changes in technology in the last 20 years I wonder what mediums will be readable in another 50 years. We already have things that we no longer have the capability to access so what will another 50 years bring? I know this is a serious issue for most of us but I don't know of any real answers so I thought I would bring it here in a related post. I am not trying to hijack the thread but thought these two things are related. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Cindi said
12:39 PM Jan 15, 2015
Dewey,
I had thought about that also and decided that burning a CD is not the answer. Probably one ( or more) of those USB data storage sticks will be a good choice.
Second Chance said
02:09 PM Jan 15, 2015
dewwood wrote:
I have a question that goes along with how to store photos and documents for future generations. We have photos that are 70 to 100 years old and we can still view them. When looking at the changes in technology in the last 20 years I wonder what mediums will be readable in another 50 years. We already have things that we no longer have the capability to access so what will another 50 years bring? I know this is a serious issue for most of us but I don't know of any real answers so I thought I would bring it here in a related post. I am not trying to hijack the thread but thought these two things are related. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
Since the main types of storage media (i.e. hard drives, and optical media) degrade over time, it's a good idea to plan to make fresh copies of your data often. As you do this once or twice a year, you can move to newer technologies as they become available.
Someone else has suggested storing images in the cloud... with a high-res film scanner for my old images and a full-frame DSLR for my newer ones, (and minimal compression or no compression at all for files) my files are too large to consider that approach (have over 10,000 images at this point).
TomW said
01:47 AM Jan 19, 2015
Ancestry.com not only lets you build your family tree but also allows for entering lots of additional info, including individual pictures, though I don't know about private documents or family photos.
Barbaraok said
09:12 AM Jan 19, 2015
TomW wrote:
Ancestry.com not only lets you build your family tree but also allows for entering lots of additional info, including individual pictures, though I don't know about private documents or family photos.
Yes, you can put things in and have it remain private. And they love to have family photos included. Lots of people build trees that are private to be viewed only by family and then do another tree that is public with very limited information. And you can use Family tree Maker on your computer for doing a lot of there things and synch it with one or more trees on the web. Just depends upon how much money you want to spend.
osanmike said
06:54 PM Jan 28, 2015
I use ancestry.com and have for many years. It should do what you are looking to do plus much more. I just you the free version right now, but if you pay the fee you can search the online records. You can upload pictures and add them to people in your family tree, add info, dates, events... You can also invite people to view your tree, or make it completely private.
Cindi said
08:14 PM Jan 28, 2015
As an update:
I am just storing the pictures in folders by date on my computer as I scan them. Using Windows Live Photo Gallery I can tag each person and include a caption. I upload albums of 30 or so pictures to FaceBook, limited to family viewing, and the tags and captions stay with them. My cousins are helping me identify the people I cannot. Then I put just a few of them on Ancestry.
I went with ancestry.com for the genealogy. You can put pictures and stories on there and share with the family. You can keep it private or make it public. Even if you choose to make your tree public, anybody still living is listed as private.
I have finally gotten to the point that I am sorting through all the pictures. The plan is to scan them all and that brings up how best to organize them. I have pictures "inherited" from both my Grandmother and my Mother that go back to the 1920's, Some of these are going to be a challenge to identify, but if I don't do it now my family will have no idea where to start.
I can come up with a "naming format" to consistently identify each picture and then store the pictures in folders. However, that won't include any ability to list the people in the photos or include a description of the occasion or just tell about the person(s) in the photos. Photo Bucket or something similar might work better than just files in my computer as well as give family/friends access. I don't know how much text can be attached to each picture, though.
As I thought about how best to organize I wondered if there was a Genealogy Software that anyone is using that has the ability to include pictures and text. Then I could combine the pictures with a family history. Any recommendations? How are you handling it?
The scanning and posting is a long and tedious process. Whatever you do be sure to save your work often just in case of computer or internet failure.
I have a question that goes along with how to store photos and documents for future generations. We have photos that are 70 to 100 years old and we can still view them. When looking at the changes in technology in the last 20 years I wonder what mediums will be readable in another 50 years. We already have things that we no longer have the capability to access so what will another 50 years bring? I know this is a serious issue for most of us but I don't know of any real answers so I thought I would bring it here in a related post. I am not trying to hijack the thread but thought these two things are related. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
I had thought about that also and decided that burning a CD is not the answer. Probably one ( or more) of those USB data storage sticks will be a good choice.
Since the main types of storage media (i.e. hard drives, and optical media) degrade over time, it's a good idea to plan to make fresh copies of your data often. As you do this once or twice a year, you can move to newer technologies as they become available.
Someone else has suggested storing images in the cloud... with a high-res film scanner for my old images and a full-frame DSLR for my newer ones, (and minimal compression or no compression at all for files) my files are too large to consider that approach (have over 10,000 images at this point).
Yes, you can put things in and have it remain private. And they love to have family photos included. Lots of people build trees that are private to be viewed only by family and then do another tree that is public with very limited information. And you can use Family tree Maker on your computer for doing a lot of there things and synch it with one or more trees on the web. Just depends upon how much money you want to spend.
I use ancestry.com and have for many years. It should do what you are looking to do plus much more. I just you the free version right now, but if you pay the fee you can search the online records. You can upload pictures and add them to people in your family tree, add info, dates, events... You can also invite people to view your tree, or make it completely private.
I am just storing the pictures in folders by date on my computer as I scan them. Using Windows Live Photo Gallery I can tag each person and include a caption. I upload albums of 30 or so pictures to FaceBook, limited to family viewing, and the tags and captions stay with them. My cousins are helping me identify the people I cannot. Then I put just a few of them on Ancestry.
I went with ancestry.com for the genealogy. You can put pictures and stories on there and share with the family. You can keep it private or make it public. Even if you choose to make your tree public, anybody still living is listed as private.