When choosing the photo organizer that best meets your needs, you need to first determine what your needs are. The type of photo organizer that will work best for you depends on what operating system you use and if you plan on sorting your photos digitally or getting prints. You should also decide whether you want the organizer to make your pictures available to others, whether you want to edit pictures within the organizer, and how much space you need.
Some photo organizer software programs require you to sort pictures based on where they are located in your system, while others will let you sort virtually and assign the same photo to more than one folder. If you want to assign photos to multiple folders based on who is in the picture, where it was taken, and theme, look for an organizer that separates the pictures into a virtual folder, meaning it will be stored in several locations without being moved from its location on your hard drive.
Your operating system plays a key role in deciding which organizer will work best for you. Some organizers can be used on Windows and Linux but not on Macs, while others will only operate on Macs. If you organize and store your photos on a tablet PC, you'll need to find an application that works on the tablet. Your options may be limited depending on what you use.
Decide what you need the photo organizer to do and determine your skill level in handling digital pictures. Some organizers will allow you to edit the photos within the organizer, and others will attempt to automatically improve the images for you. Many organizers will allow you to share pictures with your friends through email as well. If you aren't very comfortable using a computer, look for a photo organizer that is user friendly and has clear, easy-to-understand commands.
The price of the photo organizer is another consideration. Some options are free but do not give you much storage space, especially free online options. If you have thousands of digital pictures, you may want to get an upgraded version of the free model or a model that includes unlimited storage. People who take photo organization and editing very seriously may wish to pay several hundred dollars for a state-of-the art organizer.
You may wish to organize your photos physically. In that case, you may choose to invest in an acid-free photo box or a photo album. While photo albums have a slot for individual photos, most only hold a 100 photos or so. Photo boxes hold many more pictures, but you won't be able to casually flip through them.