Maybe 2012 is when you’ll catch up on organizing photos from 2011. And 2010, 2009, 1999, 1959 …

The good news in our digital era is that even phones can snap decent quality pictures, sometimes even print worthy. But now we’re taking more photos than ever, and we’re hanging on to the bad ones.

And that’s starting to weigh on people. Mary Ellen Vincent, a professional organizer from Kansas City, Mo., says staying on top of the tsunami of photos is one of her clients’ biggest challenges.

“They’ve got boxes and drawers full of slides and photos, plus all these digital pictures,” Vincent says. “It’s really emotional.”

Like many of us, photographer Ali Lomshek grew up looking at photo albums — not an endless stream of photos on a computer or phone screen. She wants her three children to enjoy the same tangible experience.

“I love looking at everyone at different ages,” says Lomshek, a mother of three. “There’s one where my younger brother is clowning around in a group shot, but he’s super serious in the next one. It’s so hilarious. Photos tell stories. They help us remember life as it was.”

Our pictures are probably the first thing we’d rush to save if our homes were on fire.

We’re here to help eliminate photo organizing frustration so you can easily enjoy them for years to come.

EDIT RUTHLESSLY

Vincent’s recent organizing newsletter takes a bold stance: “Improve your life story by purging your photos.”

“But it’s true,” Vincent says. “I toss photos of myself that look unflattering. My 4-year-old daughter, Eve, always looks good, so those are harder.”

Also go through photos and eliminate ones that look similar. Vincent sets limits for events, such as the best five.

“When you have thousands of pictures, similar ones lose their impact,” she says. “Be brutal, and then you’ll be happier with the final results.”

Jennifer Ford Berry, author of Organize Now! (Betterway Home, $16.99), tackles the task by making three piles: toss, keep, doubles for friends and family.

“People feel like they have to hold on to every picture and feel guilty throwing them away,” Berry says. “But if it’s been five years and you still have kindergarten pictures of your son after you’ve kept a few copies and given them out to family and friends, throw the rest away. It’s OK.”

Also for the heave-ho pile: photos that have heads or major limbs cut off, show mostly people’s backs, are too dark or too bright, are fuzzy, are too far away or too close, are unflattering of loved ones (caveat: unless they make you laugh).

DIGITIZE OLD PHOTOS

Scan slides and old photos onto your computer. If you don’t have time to tackle it, consider going to a photo store and paying for scanning. “That way people can put their color slides into different (computer) folders and create albums or make prints in the sizes they want,” says Bill Thomas, who discusses organizing as part of photography courses he teaches at Kansas City Art Institute. “Otherwise the slides are just collecting dust.”

Editing software that allows you to crop images and eliminate red eye is another great way to keep up with your visual story. Some programs contain folders as well as keyword tags, so it’s easy to pull up all the photos of a particular person. Free software often comes with your computer. But there are nifty updates for photo software that cost about $80 to $100. Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 has a facial recognition feature for automatic labeling. And it automatically adds the location of each photo if your camera contains GPS. If your camera doesn’t have GPS, the map sites can be manually added.