|
|
Post by Frazzled Mom on Jun 11, 2021 17:19:45 GMT
Hi, I'm not sure if this is the right board to pose this question, but I'm thinking about getting a photo scanner for safeguarding decades worth of paper photos. Backstory: I live in a redwood forest that was almost completely destroyed by wildfire last year - literally in one of only two houses that survived on our street. This year the drought and water shortage combined with high temps already are causing officials to warn of another very dangerous fire season.
I was lucky that we didn't lose all of our family photos last summer and I'm scared to death we won't be as lucky this year. There have already been several flare ups in the area. Strangely enough both my children live in other areas that were also on alert to evacuate because of fires in their locations so storing photos with them isn't the answer. We're talking a LOT of photos - maybe 3 or 4 dozen shoebox sized photo organizer boxes filled with 4x6 photo books and negatives.
So I'm thinking of investing in a scanner that could handle large quantities of prints (mostly 4x6 with a few portrait sized items). We tried scanning batches of photos over 10 years ago when I was getting divorced and it was laborious and compromised the quality of the images.
I'm not a tech person so I don't have a clue where to start and cost will be a consideration since this past year has really stressed our finances, but I would really appreciate any help in where to begin the search. Thanks so much if you got through all that.  |
|
|
|
Post by LintRollerSkate on Aug 27, 2021 3:11:34 GMT
I’m sorry this is late, but I’m just seeing it.
I am so sorry about the fires and the fear of that. Fire terrifies me. I also have thousands of paper photos and negatives and some go back to my family in the late 1800s. While they’re irreplaceable, a scanned copy is much better than nothing.
I don’t know what your budget is, but if you’re just wanting to get this project done for peace of mind and have mostly printed photos to get scanned, perhaps a scanner like an Epson Fast Foto. It’s a feed scanner that kind of looks like a fax machine. For scanning negatives and getting high quality images of your printed photos, the Epson V-600 gets lots of praise.
Lots of people in the same situation as both of us with so many that want to get it done, but also need to do lots of negatives, opt for both scanners. Yes, it’s a sizable investment, but most people then sell them afterwards and recoup about 1/2 the cost and have gained massive peace of mind. Epson also sells refurbished products with the same warranty, but at discounted prices. Check out their site.
I hope this helps!
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Apr 18, 2024 2:14:19 GMT
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2021 17:14:43 GMT
Hi Frazzled Mom I don't know whether this might help. Instead of a scanner it is possible to duplicate photographs by using a camera or smart phone with something called a copy stand which is just a stand which holds the camera or phone at the right angle above the photograph that you want to duplicate. There are ones to buy commercially starting from £30 upwards or this link shows how to make a diy version. The new photos ( if taken with a phone ) could be stored online on apple or google photos lifehacker.com/create-an-iphone-document-scanner-from-cardboard-5324574 |
|
teppotama
One Post Wonder
Posts: 1
Aug 29, 2021 6:03:17 GMT
|
Post by teppotama on Aug 29, 2021 6:11:00 GMT
I use a flatbed epson scanner which cost under $100. The scanning software has enough options for my use. it'll scan an 8.5x11 document and if it's larger, I scan it in sections and use Photoshops Photomerge to put it together. As for archiving, I have a Pro Dropbox account which costs about $125/year and you get to store your images or any documents on a cloud server which you can retrieve through any device. You get at least 1 Tb of space.
|
|
