Hi Reader,

A little over 10 years ago, my dad passed away. I was there to take care of him for 5 months, and then I had to settle his estate.

Because he was a retired engineer who built computers for fun, I discovered he had 11 computers across three operating systems (PC, Mac, and Linux). Each one had photos scattered across the hard drives.

I spent days going through every machine, opening every folder, trying to piece together which photos were where. Some were duplicates. Some were organized. Most weren't.

It was overwhelming. And it made me realize something important:

If my dad had used photo organizing software to organize his collection, I wouldn't have even been able to see his albums unless I knew what software he had used.🤯

All the work he might have put into organizing his photos? It would have been invisible to me, or at least a whole lot more work to get what I could get. And if I didn't know which software he'd used, it would have been lost forever.

That experience changed how I think about photo organizing software — and it's why I'm cautious about recommending it to most people.

Let me explain.

The Problem with Photo Organizing Software

There are a lot of photo organizing programs out there: Apple Photos, Google Photos, Amazon Photos, Mylio, ACDSee, Excire, and others.

They all promise to help you organize your digital photos. And in many ways, they do — you can create albums, add keywords, tag faces, sort by date or location, and more.

But here's what most people don't realize:

All of that organization only exists inside the software.(Think of it like sticky notes inside a binder—you only see them if you open that exact binder.)

If you lose access to the software — because the company goes out of business, or because the person who inherits your computer doesn't know how to open it, or because you can no longer afford the subscription — all of that organizational work disappears.

For cloud-based software such as Amazon and Google, even downloading the photos can strip all the work you’ve done from them, as well as the original snap dates of the photos. For computer-based software, your photos will still exist somewhere on your computer. But the albums? The keywords? The face tags? Gone.

Folders vs. Albums: Why This Matters

This is one of the most important distinctions I can teach you, and most people don't know it:

Folders and albums are NOT the same thing.

When you create a folder on your computer (like "2024 Family Vacation"), your photos actually live inside that folder. If you copy that folder to a thumb drive or send it to someone, all the photos go with it. The folder is a real container.

When you create an album in photo organizing software (like Apple Photos, Google Photos, Mylio, etc.), you're not actually putting photos into a container. You're creating a virtual collection that points to where the photos are stored (The Library in Apple Photos, The Media Vault or Cabinet in Historian, and so on). The album only exists inside that software.

This means: If someone grabs your photos off your computer without opening that software, they won't see any of your albums. The organization disappears.

And here's the thing: Many Mac and iPhone users don't even know their photos are locked inside a program. They just think "my photos are on my computer." They have no idea they're living in a software environment where all the organization is invisible to anyone who doesn't open that specific app.

What About Metadata?

It gets worse.

Most photo organizing software stores metadata (keywords, descriptions, date changes, edits, etc.) separately from the photo itself — usually in a small file that sits next to the photo.

For example, if you have a photo called Christmas2005.jpg that you edited, changed the name and added family names with keywords or tags, the software might create a file called Christmas2005.xml that contains all that organizational information. (It's often called a “sidecar” file with extensions like .xmp or .xml.)

If you or your grieving grown children don't know what those .xml or .xmp files are and accidentally delete them while cleaning out your computer, all that work is lost forever.

Most software can export photos with the metadata embedded into the file. But you have to know to do that. And your loved ones may not (they also will have enough to deal with at that time). And remember: the export still won’t have the albums.

My Wake-Up Call

When I realized this after my dad died, I looked at my own photo collection.

I'd been organizing my photos in Historian since 2005 (it's a photo organizing software for PC that was known as Memory Manager from Creative Memories, but is now owned by Forever). I had lovingly created what were originally albums (later they changed to categories and tags) — years of work. I had over 20K photos in Historian at that time.

But my daughter is an Apple user. If I suddenly left this earthly plane, she wouldn't be able to install Historian on her Mac, and she might not think to open it on my computer. All she'd see is a folder with 65 subfolders full of random photos and .xml files.

All my organizational work? Useless to her.

That's when I decided: I needed a method that was software-independent.

Now I organize my photos in folders on my computer — all inside a top-level folder called "Ruff-Wagner Family Digital Photo Hub." My daughter can grab that folder, copy it to a thumb drive or put it in Google Drive, and she'll be able to see all my organizational work on her computer. No software required. ✅

​Link to my previous email explaining this: Folders vs. Albums​

So Should You NEVER Use Photo Organizing Software?

Not necessarily.

There's one situation where I do recommend photo organizing software — and that's only if you use Forever as your Digital Photo Hub.

Here's why Forever changes everything, even though it’s cloud-based photo organizing software:

1. Your photos stay in Forever after you're gone.

Forever guarantees your photos will be stored and accessible for your lifetime plus 100 years - you buy your storage, not rent it through a subscription. You can assign an Account Manager (like your children and/or siblings) who will inherit your account when you die. There's no "grab the photos off the device before it's gone" scramble. They simply log in and it’s all there.

2. Forever has a built-in metadata switch.

In your Forever account settings, there's a switch called "Enable Download with Updated Metadata." When turned on (default is off), any keywords, descriptions, or date changes you make in Forever get embedded into the photo file itself when photos are downloaded, not stored in separate files. Your loved ones won't accidentally delete the organizational work.

3. Your organization is shareable online.

Photos on Forever can be shared with family and friends online. They can see your albums and organization without needing access to your computer or any special software. And you have very fine control over who can see what.

4. Forever is legally protected.

When I am gone and my daughter, who is my account manager, inherits my Forever account, she will not be able to delete any of my photos. She can organize, share, and even add to the collection. But all my work will be protected.

Also, if Forever were to go out of business (which is extremely unlikely), the Forever Guarantee Fund — where they deposit the money you pay for storage — has strict legal restrictions. They're required to keep your photos accessible for at least several years while they notify you or your account manager and give enough time to download everything. (See section 4.2 of their Terms of Service)

Because of all this, I will recommend purchasing Historian (for PC users) ONLY if you also use Forever storage. And, if you’re a long-time Historian user like me, I’ll support you in using it whether or not you buy Forever Storage.

Historian for PC Users with Forever Storage

If you're on a PC and you use Forever as your Digital Photo Hub, Historian is a great organizational tool.

Here's how it works:

Historian uses Categories (like "Vacations") and Tags (like "Disneyland," "Summer Camp," "Lake Isabella") or Face Tags (if you used the facial recognition software) to organize your photos instead of folders.

When you upload photos from Historian to Forever, you recreate your organizational structure: Categories become top-level albums in Forever, and Tags become nested albums within them.

The process:

1. Create the album structure in Forever that matches your Categories and Tags
2. Upload photos from one Tag at a time to the matching Forever album
3. Turn on "Enable Download with Updated Metadata" in your Forever settings so that anyone you share photos with gets that organizational information when they download what you’ve shared.

Now your photos are organized in Forever, and your loved ones will inherit that organization when they inherit your account.

What About Mac Users?

Apple Photos doesn't integrate directly with Forever (because Apple doesn't play well with others).

So if you're a Mac user, it's a 2-step process:

1. Export your photos from Apple Photos to your Mac's file system
2. Upload them to Forever

I recommend using a tool called PowerPhotos to do the export. It converts your albums into folders and embeds the metadata into the photos so you don't lose your organizational work. (Yes, that means your album names become folder names—super helpful for handoff.)

And even if you don't use Forever storage, PowerPhotos is useful for getting your photos out Apple Photos software and into your operating system or on an external hard drive — where your loved ones can actually find it and view the photos on their own devices.

Using Other Photo Organizing Software?

If you're using software other than Historian or Apple Photos — programs like Mylio, ACDSee, Excire, Google Photos, Amazon Photos, or others — you'll need to check your software's help documentation to find out how to export your photos with metadata embedded.

Most photo organizing software has this capability, but the process is different for each one. Look for terms like "export with metadata," "embed metadata," or "write metadata to files" in your software's help menu or support documentation. Just understand that the export will not have your albums - it may be in date order. (That’s okay—albums can be rebuilt after you’ve planned your folder structure.)

Once you've exported your photos with the metadata embedded, you have two options:

Option 1: Upload them to Forever, where they'll be preserved and accessible for your lifetime plus 100 years — and where your Account Manager(s) will inherit them when you're gone.

Option 2: Create a Digital Photo Hub in a folder on your computer or external hard drive. Give it a clear name (like "Smith Family Digital Photo Hub") and organize your photos inside it using folders. This way, your loved ones can recognize and grab that folder and see all your organizational work on their computer without needing any special software.

Either approach ensures your organizational work survives you.

The Bottom Line

If you want to leave a meaningful photo collection for your descendants, you need to think about how you organize it.

Organizing inside software is fragile. It depends on someone knowing which software you used, having access to that software, and understanding how to export everything properly.

Organizing in folders (or in Forever) is durable. Your loved ones can see the organization without needing special tools or knowledge.

I know photo organizing software is tempting. It's shiny. It's convenient. It promises to make your life easier.

But ask yourself: Will my loved ones be able to see this work after I'm gone?

If the answer is no, it's time to rethink your approach.

Next email, I'll be talking about photo gifts — meaningful ways to celebrate and share your memories with the people you love. 🎁

Until then, if you have questions, just hit reply. I'm here to help. Truly.

Warmly,

Fancy

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