How to Clean Up Your iPhone Camera Roll to create a Photo Year Book in 3 Easy Steps

Image by cottonbro studio at Pexels

Your iPhone camera roll is like a treasure chest of memories—but let’s be honest, it’s probably a pretty cluttered mess of a treasure chest. Sorting through thousands of photos can feel overwhelming, but with a few top tips, you can tame that Camera Roll and take the most precious photos from the yar and transform them into a beautiful annual photo book. Here’s how to clean up your camera roll and streamline your memories, with practical tips for getting your annual photo book done.

As ever, when doing any work in your iCloud and Camera Roll, ensure your library is synced. This means any work done on your phone is replicated across all your devices, but also that mistakes can be undone using the 'Recently Deleted' tool.

Step 1: Declutter Your Camera Roll with Ruthlessness

Start by asking yourself, what do I want to preserve in this year's photo album and in my digital photo archive. I guarantee you it is not pictures of shopping lists, Evri returns labels and memes sent to you via Whatsapp. The new iPhone updates have made it super easy to clear up the clutter on your phone with some smart new settings in Photos

• Screenshots - screenshots naturally build up on our phone throughout the year with constant ideas for home decor, reminders to do errands and in-jokes you've sent to your other half. Scrolling to 'Media Types' and clicking into Screenshots will show you all the screenshots in your Camera Roll. Click the 'Select' button and simply select then delete any you don't need any more! You can also use this opportunity to add any that are important longer term to an Album so you can find them easily. Click 'Select' again, select the photos you want to add to a Folder, click the icon in the bottom left corner and scroll down to 'Add to Album'. You can create a new album called something like 'Important Info' or 'House Inspo' so you know exactly where to find them when the need arises

  
  
  
  

• Selfies - a culprit of iPhone clutter, particularly if you have children is the Selfie. Sure, some of them will be lovely and you'll want to include them in your Photo Book for the year. The chances are that the majority (if you have children) are chin shots or large amounts of 'duck-face' posed photos. Although some are a sweet memento of an innocent, un-self-aware time, they all add to digital clutter and no doubt aren't the top shots of the year. Be ruthless - select and delete.

  
  

  One issue with adding selfies to photo books is that rear-facing cameras are not as good as front-facing, so you won't necessarily be able to make a clear full-page spread with a cherished selfie. Fear not, they can still be included, just as a smaller size on the page.

  
  

• Duplicates - found under the 'Utilities' section in the Albums tab of Apple Photos, 'Duplicates' handily pulls out exact duplicate photos that are taking up space on your phone. Use Select and Delete to make sure you're only holding one version.

  
  

• Whatsapp Messages - whether you have your settings on to download everything you receive via Whatsapp to your camera roll (lethal for camera roll clutter) or just download favourites as you receive them, everything from Whatsapp goes into its own Album called 'Whatsapp', so you can quickly identify those to keep and those to cull.

  
  

  A quick note on photos downloaded/received through Whatsapp. All data within the image is erased when it is sent to you, including the date and the location where it was taken. This is invaluable information when making your annual year book and indeed when adding the photos to your photo library, so try to remember to edit the image information when you download it to your Camera Roll to make sure the correct information is preserved

  
  

Step 2: Delete, Darling, Delete

In a world that takes 1.9 trillion images a year, we need to get smarter at deleting. Professional photo managers use an ABCs Method to decide what to keep and what to delete.

• A-Photos - these are the stand-outs, the framers, the ones you can't quite believe you managed to take. These are also ones you would be broken-hearted if you lost. Whilst you may not want to put them all into your final year book, it makes sense to highlight these as your 'Best'. Use the Heart icon to Favourite them in your Roll and make them easy to find.

• B-Photos - these photos support the story in your 'A' photos but aren't necessarily photo-book-worthy. It could be a multiple of a single shot that you can't part with, or group shots from a night where you also got some great portrait shots. If you want them to tell the story in your photobook, pop a heart on them too to easily identify them. If not, just leave them in your roll.

• C-Photos - blurry shots, almost identical shots where you kept your thumb on the capture button, poorly composed or exposed photos, you can do it - delete, darling, delete. These don't add value, take up valuable storage space and add to your digital 'noise'. Hit Delete

• S- Photos - storytelling, sentimental, significant, 'S' photos are those that don't fall into the A, B or C category but are invaluable to you. They may not be perfect photographically speaking, but they are perfect to you. They stay. Don't worry

One thing to note when deleting from your Camera Roll, as long your iCloud is connected and syncing, deleted photos and videos will go into the 'Recently Deleted' folder where they stay for 30 days. If you get a bit click-happy or have deleters-remorse, they can be rescued if you act quickly. It's a great safety net.

3. Organize Photos into Albums

Now that your camera roll is pared down, you can go a step further to make photo book creation an absolute breeze.

• Group photos by month or event: Create albums for specific occasions, like “Summer Holiday 2024” or “Mel's Birthday Drinks.” Use the 'For You' tab and let AI help suggest some albums to you to get started and then just edit the names

• Use smart folders: If you’re an iPhone user, leverage AI-powered features like People, Places, and Pets to quickly group similar images. Get your Face Recognition set up - it's a game changer!

• Label your albums: Give your albums clear names so they’re easy to find when it’s time to design your photo book.

And there you have it! If you haven't done any organising this year, this task my take you some time, but you will have a beautifully curated set of your most special photos from the year to create your bespoke year book. Next year, why not set a monthly or quarterly reminder in your phone to de-clutter your camera roll so it's not a rush at the end of the year.

If this all sounds to much, we offer a digital declutter solution here at Shutterbug Studio where we can do all this hard work for you. Get in touch today for a free 30 minute consultation to see how we can help you with your declutter dream.