Digitising Photos

securespark

securespark

Joined
11 Jan 2004
Messages
43,322
Reaction score
2,758
Country
United Kingdom
My parents in law have their 60th anniversary next month. We have a load of pictures that they want running on a screen in a loop.

I thought I could scan them using our Brother printer/scanner, but there is an awful lot and I'm not sure of the best approach.

Any ideas?
Thanks.
 
50 or a hundred photos is probably more than anyone will watch.

Start with a couple of dozen of their favourites.
 
More is often less.

Get a range of people in the photos and see how it goes

I’ve done a couple of these for funerals and yes it takes time but immensely satisfying
 
How old are the photos and from what size do they range?
I went through a big pile of pictures about 15 years ago, sorted them by size, colour and b/w separately, then fed them through a scanner. Some of them were from a single shoot so they could be scanned at once in a group, large singles by themselves. Sort them out and arrange a narrative from oldest-to-new if you plan to run them on a loop, then you can have a laugh at the way grandad's hair vanishes over time and the styles of clothes they wore. Fun for all the family.
I cleaned up some old pix and found details hidden on the original prints, like apples on the ground where my great-grandfather was luring a big pig along the yard. Or reassembling a torn photo in the scanner then cleaning up the edges in PSP. Do you have a paint shop to touch up the photo's?
 
The simplest solution is to photograph them with an iPhone, then create an album and use the Memories feature to create an animated video of the photos. You can then Screen share to a smart TV if you have one.
 
Don't take them to a professional if you have a decent scanner. Do it yourself and record the names of people, place and date whilst your family know who know where, what, when & who.
If you must use a professional check who will 'own' the copyright. It needs thinking about as it could cost you lots of money just to show them to someone outside of the family.

I had to do my families pictures some years ago for a cousin, she wanted them in a hurry then my dad went and lost his memory before I catalogued them. I have less than 5% catalogued, the rest is just guesswork.

And yes, creating a 'slide show' from such is a useful idea.
 
Last edited:
Diver Fred said:
Don't take them to a professional if you have a decent scanner. Do it yourself and record the names of people, place and date whilst your family know who know where, what, when & who.
If you must use a professional check who will 'own' the copyright. It needs thinking about as it could cost you lots of money just to show them to someone outside of the family.

I had to do my families pictures some years ago for a cousin, she wanted them in a hurry then my dad went and lost his memory before I catalogued them. I have less than 5% catalogued, the rest is just guesswork.

And yes, creating a 'slide show' from such is a useful idea.
Click to expand...
Just to comment on the IP part of this.. while generally a photographer will retain the intellectual property on his/her photos, in the case of copying an original to a new media, there is not a lot of Intellectual property to claim. You cannot withhold rights you don't have and you cannot assign rights that weren't yours.

Diver Fred said:
Several discs including storing one (or two) at a relatives.
Click to expand...

Optical R/W media has a life of about 5-10 years, though it might last longer depending on the media.

It might be worth sticking it in a google drive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top