Boxes of printed photographs and photo albums are common in many household closets and storage spaces. While people don’t access them frequently, they want to keep them because they represent the family’s history and memories. However, unless photographs are properly preserved, they will degrade over time. That’s why many people opt for digitizing old photos. While digital photography (and digital clutter) might be the new norm, converting your physical photographs to digital ones isn’t always as easy as it seems.

Organize Your Old Photos

You don’t want to waste time and money scanning “bad” photos. And by bad, I mean blurry, out-of-focus pictures and unflattering ones. So, the first step in the process is to organize all your physical photographs. Basically, gather them together, and sort them into categories. Then you can work on digitizing your pictures one group at a time.

Remove Photos from Albums – Maybe

If you can easily remove pictures from the album without damaging them, remove them only when you’re ready to digitize them. This will help keep them organized and protect them from damage.

If you think they will rip, tear, or crack when you remove them, leave them in the album and consider scanning them using a flatbed scanner.

What’s in a Name? Everything!

Before you dive into digitizing old photos, determine a file name methodology. My preferred system uses the date and a description. I suggest the YYYY-MM-DD format for the date because the images will be in chronological order within the folder. The description should include the location, the event, and the people in the photo. For example, you would have file names like:

• 1972-12-25-Christmas-ChuFamily-123MainStreetHome.jpg
• 1985-07-01-CanadaDay-ChuLinda-StanleyPark.jpg
• 1991-09-02-ChuFamilyReunion-Laverne-Shirley-Lenny-Squiggy.jpg

See my post on file naming conventions for some quick tips on how to name your digital files.

Choose a Scanner

Technology changes all the time, so I’m not going to mention any specific scanners or apps. However, I will provide a quick guide on what to look for. Firstly, the equipment you need will depend on the size and number of pictures you have and the digital image quality (print quality, colour correction, etc.) you want to have.

Many people already own an all-in-one printer/scanner. These can produce good-quality digital photos. Flatbed scanners are great for photos stuck to albums because you can lay the book down on the glass to scan the pictures. However, if the photographs are loose, digitizing them one by one on a flatbed scanner is very time-consuming.

Some scanners have an auto-feed function which can speed up the process. But the rollers in the auto-feed could make them bend around and cause damage. Ideally, invest in a straight-feed scanner to accommodate all your photos, from wallet size to 8×10 portraits.

You can also get specialty scanners that convert negatives and slides to digital images. If you have many of these items, one of these scanners will save you time and energy.

Choose the Software

Most scanners come with photo-scanning software for multiple platforms. However, some are Apple-only, and some are PC-only, so it’s best to verify it before buying it. Look for useful built-in features such as:

• automatic image restoration (brightness, exposure, colour correction)
• straightening/de-skewing (to correct if the image passes through the scanner slightly crooked)
• customized automatic naming convention
• support for multiple file types (jpg, tiff, png, pdf)

Of course, the software should be intuitive for you to use. Many companies offer a free trial version, so you can scan a few pictures and see how you like it.

Set Your Scanning Parameters

Digital photo quality or resolution is measured in DPI or dots per inch. To illustrate, when you scan a photo at 300 dpi, the printed image would contain 300 dots of ink every linear inch. This is sufficient to view the images on a screen or print small pictures (e.g., 4×6 inches). Scanning at 300 dpi is fast, and the file size is relatively small.

On the other hand, if you want to print posters or professional-quality portraits, you should scan your photos at 600-1200 dpi. It takes much longer to scan at this resolution, and the file sizes are much larger.

If you scan at a higher resolution, you can always downsize but can’t upsize if you scan at a lower resolution. But you don’t have to scan everything at a high resolution. For example, when digitizing old photos, you could scan family portraits at a 1200dpi and your annual Labour Day BBQ photos at 300 dpi.

Digital Photo Storage

Next, you’ll need a place to store all the digital images you create. While you can store some of them on your computer hard drive, I suggest using an external hard drive for long-term storage. Buy the one with the largest storage capacity that you can afford. For most family photo collections, a 2TB drive would be sufficient. However, if you are a family historian/genealogist with photos from several generations, consider a 4TB external drive. Alternatively, a cloud drive would be a great option, especially if you have high-speed, unlimited home internet.

Of course, you want to protect your digital photos. Experts suggest using the 3,2,1 method – make three copies on two different media and store one copy off-site. For instance, you could keep one copy on a cloud drive, one on an external hard drive on your desk, and store another external hard drive at a sibling’s home (or a safety deposit box). Remember to check your backups annually and ensure you can still access the contents. Nothing is worse than having your primary copy fail only to find that your backup drive is corrupted.

Working With Your Digital Pictures

Naturally, you’ll want to share your digital pictures with family and friends. And you may want to modify them – resizing, cropping, adding captions, etc. Don’t edit the original. Make a copy and edit the copy.

Hire a Professional Photo Manager

Digitizing old photos can be time-consuming. And quality equipment is expensive. Then there is learning how to use the software and image restoration. Consider hiring a professional photo manager to do the work for you. They already have the equipment, experience, and, more importantly, the time to scan your family treasures. Professional photo managers can also provide valuable information on preparing your photos for digitization and storing your physical photographs once the process is complete.

Thanks to Georgina Forrest, CPO^®, a Photo Managers Certified Pro, for her wisdom and advice in preparing this article.

Image by Karolina/Kaboompics on rawpixel.