Deciding which pictures are worth keeping forever
Sort a pile of similar photos down to the few that matter.
Most people do not have a photo problem. They have a sameness problem.
You took eleven pictures of the same grandchild on the same swing. One of them is the picture. The other ten are the road you walked to get there. Keeping all eleven does not double the memory. It buries it.
The useful question is not whether this is a good photo. It is whether anybody would go looking for it. A blurry shot of a face nobody else has is worth more than a sharp sunset that looks like every other sunset.
Key points
- Keep the picture somebody would go looking for.
- A burst of near-identical shots needs one keeper, not nine.
- Rarity beats sharpness every time.
- Screenshots and pocket shots are free to delete.
- Deleted photos wait about 30 days before leaving.
What to remember
- Choosing the keeper first makes deleting the rest feel like tidying, not losing.
- Rarity beats sharpness. Anything showing a person or place that is gone earns its space.
- Start with the junk that accumulated by accident. It buys room and costs you nothing.
Try this
Open your photos, scroll to any day with more than five pictures, mark one as a favorite, and delete the near-duplicates around it.
Practice: Deciding which pictures are worth keeping forever. Your first lesson is free, with no account or card; the rest are part of a Lantern plan. Interactive lessons require JavaScript.