How to Scan Old Photos to Digital

Scan old photos to digital to archive them.

If you have shoeboxes full of old photographs spanning the decades, instead of allowing these precious memories to gather dust in the attic, consider archiving them on a computer. Even under the best storage conditions, old photographs will fade and lose quality. Preserve these old photos by scanning them to a digital format on your computer. After scanning them, you can then store copies on your hard drive or print them out from the photo files.

Things You'll Need

• Photo wipes
• Flatbed scanner

Instructions

1. Organize the old photos you wish to archive. Place them in order by date or by subject to prepare them for scanning.

2. Use a photo wipe to clean any photographs with smudges or lint while you organize them. Clean the scanner glass according to the scanner instructions, if necessary, to ensure that the scanner bed is clean before scanning photographs.

3. Set the scanner's resolution for scanning. If you want to print the photos out, the standard resolution is 300 dots per inch (DPI). If you will not be printing the photos, but rather uploading them to the Internet, select a lower resolution with the scanner.

4. Place a photograph onto the flatbed of the scanner, positioning it in the proper place on the flatbed for scanning (according to the specifications of your scanner). Scan the photograph by pressing the proper button and wait while the scanner proceeds through the process to scan the photo. The higher the DPI, the slower the scanning process.

5. Repeat the same process with each photograph until you finish scanning each one.

6. Save the photographs you scanned as JPEG files, selecting the highest-quality resolution setting. Name each photograph with a number or a name that identifies it and press "Save."

References

• Basic Digital Photography: A Guide to Scanning and Digitizing Your Old Photos