Most of us do not have the time to slowly scan the boxes and boxes of photos we have stacked in our closets. Scanning them one-at-a-time sounds a little like this: eeeeee-oooooo-uuuuuhhhh. One down, 872 to go. Fortunately, there are some great resources out there for digitizing your photos as well as some wonderful full-service companies
Local option: Leave a Legacy (http://www.leavealegacytoday.com/) is an excellent local option for turning those old photos, VHS tapes, and more into high-quality digital files! Dr. Marsha Knackstedt and her staff do a fine job and their prices are fair. Tell her “FreeUp” sent you!
Do-it-yourself option: Have you ever tried to “scan” a photo by taking a photo of it with your phone? Although it’s a good solution in a pinch, the end result can be blurry or have glare spots. The folks at Google have fixed this with a free app called Google PhotoScan (https://www.google.com/photos/scan/). It captures several shots at different angles, which removes the glare circles and straightens the image.
Send-away option: I have personally used Southtree (https://southtree.com/) with great results. I was nervous about sending away my old VHS tapes, but the quality of the finished product was worth it. It is important not to wait to digitize your old media, though, as it will deteriorate over time.
Whatever you decide, I recommend only digitizing the photos you truly care about. It costs money and time to digitize your photos, so you’ll want to choose beforehand which ones are truly worth saving. This can be a fun and fulfilling project and a nice excuse to take a trip down memory lane.
Andrea Bazoin (say “BahZwah”), owner of FreeUp (www.freeupme.com), helps technology users to delight in their digital lives by offering one-on-one and group coaching on organizing your digital files, managing online accounts and passwords, creating and sharing digital keepsakes, and preparing your digital estate. Call (970) 459-7400 for more information.