If you’re faced with a box or trunk of old black and white photos from decades gone by, feel lucky. Many people would love to have such a treasure trove, even if it means taking the time and spending some money in order to preserve these photo treasures forever. Even if family photos have been lovingly placed in albums or scrapbooks, it is important to digitize them (and it’s also important to make sure that albums are archival quality so that photos are not damaged).
Digitizing photos isn’t difficult to do, but if you’re new to the process, there will be a bit of a learning curve. To help you do the job right, here are three gadgets and programs that you can buy to hasten the process and help you save and store valuable family heirlooms:
Adobe Photoshop Essentials
For about $100, you can buy this Adobe program that allows you to scan multiple photos at the same time—simply fill the scanner bed with as many photos as will fit. Once scanned, the photos can be divided and saved as individual files. This saves tons of time, since you will not have to scan each photo individually.
Canon CanoScan 8600F
Most flatbed scanners do a pretty decent job with photographs, but there is a scanner that is specifically created to scan photos, negatives, and slides. At $180, the Canon scanner is designed to get clear, sharp images.
Scanning Services
If you do not have a scanner or are not interested in investing in Adobe Essentials, you can always use the services of a batch-scanning service. Such services use large, very fast scanners to reduce your pile of thousands of photos into CDs or DVDs in a very short time. The only downside to using batch-scanning services is that you will need to entrust your precious pictures to the mail service or a shipping company. Research any batch-scanning company thoroughly and when you have decided on a reputable company to use, take advantage of their shipping guarantee. Costs for batch-scanning can be very reasonable.
The team at Legacy Tree is thrilled to help people dig up their fascinating family history and genealogical records from a number of resources. Whether you’re new to genealogical research or are stymied by obstacles, we’re here to help you dive into where you come from. Visit our Home page to get started today.
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Great article. My Dad spent the better part of a year scanning all of his parents’ photographs and the photographs from my childhood and that has been a priceless gift. I use those digital images constantly, for our monthly family newsletter, for personalized paper birthday cards, for fun vintage birthday greetings on Instagram, and of course in my genealogy research.