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I haven’t posted to my blog since Friday. Normally, I do the Surname Saturday, Saturday Night Genealogy Fun, and That’s Old News. But, this weekend I was possessed with scanning.
It was a chilly weekend for August, foggy and grey. I didn’t feel motivated to go do something outside, so I scanned. And, I scanned. And I scanned. It’s a tedious task to be sure, but a necessary one.
After my Dad died last year, there was some discussion of who gets what photographs. We’ve got a beautiful old photos like my Grandparents wedding portrait. In years passed, this would have been a source of contention. Everyone wants the same thing.
Today, we don’t have to fight over photographs. Once an old photograph is scanned, it can be shared in a myriad of ways. It can be printed, emailed, posted to a website, downloaded, put on CD, put on a flash drive. It no longer is that last one known to exist, but a treasure that everyone in the family can enjoy.
Here’s my goal. I have started by scanning the old photographs (pre-1960). This involves 6 or 7 photo albums and a box of photographs that is half sorted. I’m going to back them up on my flash drive and online. I’m going to upload them snapfish.com (or another free site I find one that does it better) to a share site and then everyone in the family will have access. They can do what they choose. They can download, print, or order copies. Whatever. In this way, the old photographs won’t get lost. They’ll be preserved.
I’ve got alot to do! I’m re-scanning many of the old photographs that I originally did in JPG format. As predicted, they are losing their quality. I’m scanning in JPG and TIFF format. One so I can upload to websites since the file size is smaller and the other for preservation. I’m sorting everything into folders on my computer. The folders are by family.
So, right now it’s all about the scanning. I’ve finished 3 photo albums in two weeks. 15-20 minutes a day really isn’t that much to set aside. And, it gets me closer to my goal.
If I ever finish…I mean, when I finish, I will work on my albums. I’ve had a love affair with the camera since I was a child. I must have 20 photo albums all my own tucked away and out of sight.
