I have the same problem and have "kind of" targeted this year to get them organized. I'm not ready to scan or digitalize, but am ready to prioritize and downsize. I agonized over the many photos I also inherited upon the death of my mother--SHE had boxes from her aunts and cousins who died before--I had gone through a few with her in the last years of her life and so was able to identify some of her friends and relatives, but there are still gobs of old-time photos of folks I don't know and there is now no one alive who knows or cares--my mother did not even know all of them. Still there is some kind of emotional pull that someone someday may want to see that photo taken in World War II or whatever. What's helping me is that I can't imagine my kids would experience it so differently, and I expect they too would just feel the burden passed on--that vague what do I do with these? thing that nags you because "photos" are special and harder to throw away. So far my plan is to save and label, and frame, our closest relatives, make 2 or 3 albums of "my" relatives, particularly with my brother and I as children with them--as these would be the ones that mean the most to me and might be amusing to my kids. That way, they would not inherit boxes! I still have years of our own nuclear family photos in boxes and again, I hope to mainly "albumize" just a few shots of each event and thin out the rest to keep some photo box storage; occasionally someone wants a photo for a project.

I love it when I find a new way to make an old way better. Good for you! For photos, I find it amazing how the digital world has changed everything. My kid will never have this photo dilemma. Ha! I guess I'm not very emotionally attached to my photos (the paper aspect, anyway). Many years ago, I got tired of the bazillion mismatched photo albums. I took them all apart, rubber-banded the groups, and filed them all in 2 photo boxes. That was freedom right there...to rid of the album clutter & space. In recent years, I've been scanning the banded photos to my computer, and...*gasp*...I throw away the paper prints. I've whittled the 2 full photo boxes down to 1 box which is about 3/4 full. When I want to frame & display a photo, I go find it, and am able to print to whatever size I want. Crop, fix, and make a so-so print something worthy of framing. I've scanned obituaries, childhood report cards & certificates, and many other paper keepsakes. Paper is gone and I don't miss them at all. They are now preserved & won't yellow further on the computer. If I want to find something, I know exactly where to find the digital document. No digging, no distractions of other treasures in the middle of my search. No mess. I'm able to print or email & share the obits and documents with family who lost their copies. Liberating.

Hi TIA.. Funny you asked...... I am working on a digital photo scrapbook right now for my daughter's 30th BD. I am having really good luck with it..I am using a Photo Album Kit which I bought at Staples Office Supply. The kit is called Invent It ! You must use you own photo software to do the creating but this kit includes 15 sheets of 2 sided photo paper..one glossy side for best photos and one matte side for messages ..text ...and also can put photos this side as well, you also get two heavyweight paper cover sheets for front and back..and 1 heavyweight photo frame paper cover...the neat thing is that it also includes an easy to use spiral binder to bind the album. I am also adding things on regular acid free paper bought at walmart..the brand is Fiskars Photo Memories. I am using acid free stickers on both the photo and acid free paper as well. I am having fun and the print quality is great.. I have scanned paper clippings of her birth and baptism engagement marriage and her school activities ..a lot of things I saved from her growing up years. I am excited to get this done for her surprise party in a couple of weeks. I would certainly say GO For IT!! Nebgranny98

Married 19 years last March. Album is on our desk in the den. Looked at it repeatedly over the past couple of weeks picking out shots to enlarge and give MIL on her 80th birthday. These included pictures of her 2 favorite brothers, now long-departed, and DH's only brother, now long-estranged. We presented the pictures to her privately, just the 2 of us along with FIL, because we knew she would cry buckets. And she did. Then she insisted on taking all the pictures along when we went out to "dinner" with a few other family members. "Dinner" was a huge surprise birthday party with about 250 guests, loads of food and drink, a DJ, dancing, and a Mariachi Band which serenaded her. She was like a 6 year old in a candy shop for the first time! It was adorable. Our wedding album is priceless. When our entire area flooded and we had to be evacuated, the only things we took with us were our family Bible and our wedding pictures.