The safety of personal photographs and prints is difficult to ensure, but a sound method for digitizing photos can make the process of preserving them easier. Paper is something that can perish over the years, but digital files can endure for all time when cared for properly.
Some might be surprised by this claim, since it is obvious that digital devices do wear out with time and usage. The key is to know how to create and backup image files properly, and to have a strategy for redundancy that ensures that there will always be at least one surviving digital copy of each of these images.
A quality scan
Getting the best scan is the key to successful archiving. Many people simply use their home scanners to create digital copies of each photograph. Others with a lot of photographs to scan might choose to pay others to do the scanning for them. It really does not matter as long as a good scan of each image is obtained.
Quality matters because these images may eventually be used to create a new print of a photograph. Though small image files require far less storage space to house, they also have far less resolution. That means that it is impossible to enlarge them sufficiently to obtain the quality print most users will demand.
Proper storage
The resulting images should be stored on a permanent drive. Though some people choose to use DVDs or compact discs for this storage, those media types are subject to scratching, warping, and a host of issues that can result in the loss of this important data. Use an external hard drive of some sort and dedicate it for just this purpose.
One last step is necessary to provide an additional layer of security: online backup. This will help to ensure that even if the home burns to the ground, those photographs will still exist in cyberspace. With this system for digitizing photos, every photograph can be safely protected for eternity.
Some might be surprised by this claim, since it is obvious that digital devices do wear out with time and usage. The key is to know how to create and backup image files properly, and to have a strategy for redundancy that ensures that there will always be at least one surviving digital copy of each of these images.
A quality scan
Getting the best scan is the key to successful archiving. Many people simply use their home scanners to create digital copies of each photograph. Others with a lot of photographs to scan might choose to pay others to do the scanning for them. It really does not matter as long as a good scan of each image is obtained.
Quality matters because these images may eventually be used to create a new print of a photograph. Though small image files require far less storage space to house, they also have far less resolution. That means that it is impossible to enlarge them sufficiently to obtain the quality print most users will demand.
Proper storage
The resulting images should be stored on a permanent drive. Though some people choose to use DVDs or compact discs for this storage, those media types are subject to scratching, warping, and a host of issues that can result in the loss of this important data. Use an external hard drive of some sort and dedicate it for just this purpose.
One last step is necessary to provide an additional layer of security: online backup. This will help to ensure that even if the home burns to the ground, those photographs will still exist in cyberspace. With this system for digitizing photos, every photograph can be safely protected for eternity.
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