Modify A Photo Storage Box For Square Photo Prints

Today’s post is oddly niche. I don’t know many people who have a small hoard of square photo prints to store. I also recognize that it isn’t 100% necessary to modify a photo storage box to organize square photos. It’s extra of me to do this. But being extra makes me happy and “happy people just don’t shoot their husbands, they just don’t.” Name the movie quote, “Like it’s hard?!” Show of hands, who had Legally Blonde?!

A modified standard, basic photo storage box with adding custom dividers to hold 4" x 4" square photos; black dividers within the box sitting on a wooden desk top with a collection of square photo prints around the open box

I collect square prints mostly for the kids’ annual birthday number tradition. Although, I also use them in their baby books and their school years’ memory books. Needless to say, I’ve started to amass quite the collection and it was no longer feasible to stack all the photos in my craft room cabinet.

The goal was to store the photos in a photo storage box. But did you know that there is no such thing as a photo storage box that perfectly fits 4″ x 4″ square prints from Parabo Press (my favorite!)? I searched high and low for a solution. I’m pretty certain I perused every single storage box that Amazon carries. It was not an easy feat! I found some solutions that would work but it wasn’t worth it for $25+ for a single box.

Fifteen stacks of square 4" x 4" photos with a white border from Parabo Press sitting on a desktop

Enter the modification solution for the Michael’s super sale special $3.99 photo box to create a custom, DIY square photo prints storage box. Gotta love a photo storage box hack!

Photobox Modification Tutorial

Supplies:

A standard-sized, black photo box sitting on a desk top unlabeled

Tools:

  • Scissors
  • Ruler
  • Pencil
  • Archival Pen (optional)
Tools and supplies for modifying a photo box to fit square prints; includes black 8.5" x 11" card stock, a tape runner, gold handled scissors, and a 12" long ruler

Measure The Box And Make A Plan

You know the old DIY saying, “Measure twice and cut once?” The same holds for this project. Except it’s more like “measure, measure, measure, and make a plan.” Mostly because not every photo box is created equal.

To start, I measured the interior dimensions of the box to get an idea of how best to lay out the photos inside the box. I wanted to maximize my space as much as possible. Ideally, the photo box would fit two rows of the 4″ x 4″ photos. Alas, it does not. So close!

Measuring the interior of a black photo box using a standard 12" wooden ruler; a collection of 4" x 4" square photo prints sits beside the box

Dry Fit The Photos

With a plan in place of one long row and two smaller rows running perpendicular to the main row of photos, I dry-fit the photos in the box.

Fitting square photo prints into a storage box with one long row of photos on the left side length of the box and two smaller rows of photos perpendicular to the long row

This is where I am extra. Most sane people would say, “Good enough,” and pack in their photos and call it good. Me?! I wanted official dividers within the box to keep photos from sliding all over and intermingling with other rows. I know, extra. But let me have my fun because a project like this is my idea of a good time on a Sunday afternoon.

Now that I see how the photos fit in the box, I can start making and attaching the dividers to the box.

Make The Long Divider

First, I made the longest divider. To do this I took a piece of black cardstock and folded it in half the long way. Once it’s folded in half, it just so happens that it fits almost perfectly within the box.

Folding a piece of black card stock in half the long way on a wooden desk surface; an open box sits in the background

Next, I folded wings where the divider would attach to the base of the box. You can do this by folding up each long edge of the paper about 1/3″ or 10mm approximately. You want each flap to be slightly wider than the width of your tape runner.

After making all the folds, here’s what the cardstock divider will look like.

Folding two small flaps on the long edges of a folded over piece of black card stock paper; an open box sits in the background

Don’t worry too much about getting it perfect. I know, it’s hard. Martha’s would be perfect. But you don’t see uneven or wonky folds once you pack the photos inside the box.

Next, apply the tape to the bottom of the folds. Again, it doesn’t have to be too perfect.

Applying tape using a tape runner to two small flaps along the long edges of a folded over piece of black card stock paper; an open box sits in the background on the work surface

Attach The Long Divider

With the divider prepped, it’s time to attach it to the interior of the photo box. I started by marking out where I wanted it to go. To do this, place your square photo prints inside the box and lightly mark the box where the edge of the photo is. Do this on both ends of the box.

A small stack of square photos is placed along one edge of a photo box and using a pencil, the edge of the photos is marked on the inside end of the box

Then grab the long divider, carefully get it into place in the box, and push the tape down onto the bottom to secure it. This step is a little tricky. Not only keep the divider centered and lined up with your guide marks, but it’s also hard to prevent the tape from sticking where it shouldn’t go. Hot tip, just commit and go for it. The divider is a little forgiving.

A black, card stock photo divider is attached to the inside of a photo box running the entire length of the box; a handful of photo prints are placed inside the box; a tape runner and a pencil site beside the open photo box on the desktop

Make The Short Dividers

Before making the two short dividers, it helps to fill the left side of the box with photos. Then measure the distance between the edge of the box and the long divider. This measurement will be the length of the short dividers. It doesn’t hurt to measure in two spots just in case your long divider isn’t perfectly centered.

Measuring a gap inside a photo box using a wooden ruler to determine the size of the short dividers needed

Then fold another piece of black cardstock in half. Measure and mark the cardstock for the length of the two short dividers. Draw a cut line across the small dividers with a pencil which just so happens to show up lightly on black cardstock.

A piece of black card stock paper folded in half the long way with lines marked on the paper for cutting

Cut each divider using a pair of scissors. Fold the flaps and run the tape just like you did with the long divider.

Cutting a folded over piece of black card stock along pencil mark lines using a pair of gold handled scissors

Attach The Short Dividers

Same as before when you marked the location of the long divider. Grab a small stack of photos, place them in the box, and mark the inside of the box and the spot on the long divider where the edges of the photos land. This gives you a guide for installing the short dividers.

Placing a small stack of square photo prints inside a photo box and marking the edge with a pencil where the photo dividers will go

Then, using two hands, guide the short dividers into the box lining up each edge with your guide marks. Gently push down on the tape to secure the divider flaps to the bottom of the box.

Attaching the small dividers using both hands inside a photo box filled with square photos

Fill The Box With Photos

Fill your photo box with your square photos and you’re done! This whole project took me about 15 minutes to do if that. It took me longer to get the plastic packaging off the photo box than it did to make the dividers.

Filling a standard-sized photo box with photo dividers and square prints with one long row of photos and two small rows of photos running perpendicular to the long row; open box sitting on a wooden desk top

Hot Tips For The Custom Photo Box

Here are a few tips and suggestions for the box.

The Dividers Won’t Work If You Shake The Box

The dividers aren’t hard plastic but just a piece of cardstock. While they work great for gentle shifts, they will not hold if you violently shake the box or flip it around. If shifting is a problem, ball up a piece of packing paper or tissue paper and shove it in the gap to help secure everything.

Add Divider Tabs

If you want to be even MORE extra, make some tabs to sort the photos within the box by year, person, location, etc. Whatever your heart desires! At this point, I didn’t feel the need to organize the photos super well. I just wanted a clean, safe space to store them. But maybe someday…insert wheels inside head starting to spin.

Label Your Photos

While I was working on this project, I noticed that I was already forgetting the locations and sometimes even the people in some of the photos. In a few instances, I experienced difficulty in figuring out if it was a photo of baby Rowan or baby Beatrix. In my defense, they looked freakishly alike in their first year of life. Actually, they still do.

I used my favorite archival pen, a Micron Fineliner Archival Pen 01 Point Size, to label the photos. I’m trying to add the date, location, people, and any other pertinent info to each photo.

Labeling the backs of the square photo prints using a black archival pen to write the date and who is in the photo in small lettering in the top left corner of the photo back; three photos show the labeled back and one photo is flipped to the front; photos are sitting on a wooden desk top next to an open black photo box

Photo Capacity

Each photo box holds roughly 900 square 4″ x 4″ photos. And yes, I counted. It breaks down to about 160 in each small section and 580 in the large section. Also, I had no idea I had this many photos! It doesn’t seem like that many.

Label The Boxes

These photo boxes didn’t come with labels but it was easy to measure and make labels out of card stock. I only added the year to each box label since I’m organizing mine by the year.

Two black photo boxes stacked on top of each other labeled with the years for the photos included inside the box; the boxes are sitting on a craft room table with a stack of square prints beside it and art in the background

I love how this project turned out. It’s one I’ve been thinking about doing for a long time now and I finally bit the bullet during Michael’s recent organization sale. I snagged each photo box for $3.99 although their regular price is $7.99.

Random story incoming. I also grabbed some of those plastic photo storage boxes, the ones with a bunch of smaller boxes within the large box. I have intentions of using them to organize my massive and growing seed collection. I grabbed to handles to pop them in my rolling basket. Well…let’s just say both boxes were open and the smaller boxes went flying all over the store. Do you know how loud 32 plastic photo boxes are when they hit the floor?! No less than three sales associates came to ask if I was alright. Face…palm.

Now, to finish what feels like a never-ending process of labeling all

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