Organize and protect phone photos

When Fred R. Barnard coined the phrase, "A picture is worth a thousand words" in an advertising trade journal, he likely never imagined just how pervasive photography would become. Photos can tell a story, and thanks to digital technology putting cameras in our pockets, there are now more photos being taken than ever before. According to PhotoAiD®, a passport photo service, smartphones now capture about 92 percent of all pictures with the average American taking out a phone to capture an image six times a day. The typical smartphone user stores around 2,795 photos in their camera roll, and many date back several years.

Although phone storage capacity has increased in recent years, leaving so many photos on a phone presents challenges. What do you do if your phone is lost or the data becomes corrupted? What happens when you've finally reached the storage limit? It can be helpful to identify different ways to organize and store images somewhere other than on their phones.

· Consider cloud storage. Cloud storage enables phone users to often automatically have their images copied to a managed cloud server, typically at a cost. This enables the individual to access these images from various devices. Once images are saved to the cloud, they can be deleted from the phone, if desired.

· Utilize another backup storage device. External hard drives are available in various storage capacities and often are handy for storing data-heavy files like videos. Software can be used to back up images to these devices automatically upon connection, or people can manually move over images as needed.

· Get prints made. Some may be old enough to remember the days when rolls of film were taken to a store to be developed and people waited to see how the photos would turn out. Digital cameras removed the mystery, but still required inserting a memory card into a photo kiosk to have prints made. Many modern phone users just leave images on their phones, and the majority are never seen again. Individuals can narrow down their favorite images and order prints so that they will be more likely to view and enjoy the photos they've taken.

· Make photo books. Various photo printing services offer photo book products. If the idea of having thousands of individual prints seems overwhelming, images can be curated into bound photo albums featuring a few different images on each page depending on the book size and the layout. Photo books also can be given as gifts.

· Create digital albums. People can organize the images on their phones by breaking them down into albums. This will make it easier to recall and find certain images. Albums can be made for specific vacations, people, pets, and other events.

Creating a system to organize photos taken on a phone can ensure the most noteworthy moments are not forgotten.