How to save and include audio files in your photo library
As a photo organizer, I often find audio files on client hard drives that they didn’t even know were there. Or when gathering together all of their various tapes for conversion, they come across one of those mini cassettes used in answering machines (remember those?). Or they may say that they’ve been saving a voicemail on their phone because they don’t want to delete it but don’t know what to do with it. If you keep them separate from the rest of your photos and videos, you’ll forget that they exist, or will forget where they are which does you no good. Most photo organizing software can’t handle audio files, so what do you do with them?
I have a simple solution for you.
Turn them into video files! Determine who the voices are in your audio. Then find a photo in your library of that person and add it to the audio file using iMovie (included with Mac and iOS devices), ClipChamp (Windows 11), Canva’s free plan, or any other video maker. Save the combined file as MP4.
That’s it! Now you have a movie of your audio file that can be added to Apple Photos, Google Photos, or any other photo organization software. Add a caption or keyword to identify who is speaking so you can easily find it later. Now you won’t forget where it is, and you’ll be able to enjoy it.
How to export a voicemail from your phone
These days most audio files will come from your phone, and most likely from your voicemails. It’s quite easy to export the voicemail from your phone so that you can turn it into an MP4 file to save in your photo library.
On an iPhone
On an iPhone, simply tap the share button on the voicemail (just like you would share a photo) and choose Save to Files to save it on your phone, or email it to yourself to save it on your computer. That’s it!
Once you have the voicemail saved, import it into iMovie or other video making software, add a photo (in this case my mom 😁, and export as MP4. I would add a keyword with her name (or mom), and another for voicemail. If I have a lot of them I might add a caption with a little more information about what the conversation was about.
On an Android phone
The process is similar on an Android phone. Tap on the voicemail you would like to save. Then tap on the top three dots and choose Export to File or Share and email it to yourself. From there it’s the same process as above.
Voice memos from old tapes
If you have old answering machine tapes, or tapes from voice recorders, or regular cassette tapes, you’ll need to convert the tape to MP3 before you turn it into a movie. If you have the equipment you can do it yourself - you need something that can play the tape - most people don’t have these players any more. But you can send it to someone like Arrange Wander Focus or a business in your area that can convert them for you. The MP3 can then be used to create an MP4.
Do you have any audio files to add to your photo library?