PHOTO ABCs

A is album quality: Your best photos that you want to save, print out and put in photo books. Depending on the device, app or software you use to organize pictures, you probably have the ability to add keywords or tags to each photo file (or group of files). Mark these photos in a way that will make searching easy when you decide to use them. One easy way to do this: If the photos you want to use primarily live in your iPhone’s camera roll (the camera folder, if you’re using an Android), Nelson recommends going through your library and “favouriting” them.

B stands for box: Photos that are worth saving and important, but probably won’t end up in an album. If these were printed photos, they’d be the ones you keep in a box somewhere, but don’t necessarily display. They also might provide additional context or tell the rest of the stories of the A photos. Store them according to whatever regular theme-based or chronological system you have set up.

C is for can (as in, trash can): Photos to delete. This category includes blurry pictures that hold no emotional or sentimental value, duplicates and low-quality pictures. Nelson recommends using the 80/20 method: Save 20 per cent of your pictures and discard the rest.

S is for story: photos that tell a story. Even if these aren’t the most compelling, beautiful photos, they have value if there’s a memory attached to them. This is another way to determine if a photo is an A photo.