Scanning, editing and saving photo questions?

10 years ago

I've got tons of old photos in albums (that are falling apart and lost their "stickiness" years ago), shoe boxes, zip lock baggies, etc., etc.

They are all different sizes and some have been damaged or are discolored. They aren't in any particular order any longer. I was overwhelmed last night just sitting in a pile of photos trying to sort them into groups, "wedding", "Epcot trip", "baby photos", "2016 family camping trip" ...

I want to organize them, scan them, edit them and print them out on new quality photo paper, all in the same size, and put them into new albums - saving the backups on a disc.

This Brother MFC-9120CN printer that Raven recommended is fine for work projects and .pdf files, but it's a pain trying to scan individual photos and cropping them to size and the print quality of photographs is terrible.

Questions: What type of photo albums do you store your photos in?

Is there a good, smaller, printer I can add that just prints good quality 4x6 photos?

Featured Answer

Alisande

10 years ago

You need a good photo printer or a good printing service. I use both. I have a large (massive) Canon photo printer--probably overkill for your purpose--and also I use Mpix.com and Adoramapix.com for my printing. I usually wait for their sales, which I learn about when they send out emails. Good ink is pricey, and it's often cheaper to have it done online. I avoid Shutterfly and other mediocre print services.

I think you're smart to want to print. Long after we're gone, I'm pretty certain our descendants are not going to gather round a monitor to view old family photographs. Printing is the way to go.

For years I put my prints in albums I bought at Target. I still like them a lot (acid-free, with spaces to write captions), but lately I've been using Itoya Art Profolios. They come in all sizes. Here's a nice 4x6:

Itoya Art Profolio

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Comments (7)

User
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
There are commercial services that will scan the photos for you.

However - let me offer a suggestion: if any of those photos are awful (out of focus, too yellowed, etc) just throw them away. They won't do anyone any good at all in the future. Are they labeled? Do you know who every person is? Are there shots of landscapes or flowers or trees (my grandmother took thousands of photos of her yard - which we threw away after she died... they weren't worth anything to any of us).

Sort through them and ONLY keep the ones that have true meaning.

Not sure why you want to scan & print. I'd just keep three identical backups digitally. Printing that many photos will cost a LOT of money. So will scanning them all.

It's a lot cheaper to print them through Walgreens or CVS than printing them yourself.

Good luck!
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angelaid_gw
Original Author
10 years ago
I am tossing awful photos, unwanted photos and photos of people we don't even know as I go along. Some of them aren't as damaged, as much as they are just dark and need the lighting/contrast adjusted. Husband doesn't use a computer, nor do some of the people I want to share the hard copies with. I've got loads of pictures of our group of "besties" hanging out BC (before children) and afterward, as their children were growing up. They are all grandparents now and I think they would be tickled to share the photos of "mommy/daddy when she/he was your age" with their grandkids. A lot of them aren't on the computer. I'll send them copies and keep mine on a disc.

Husband loves going through the old albums, especially family hunting and camping trips with his (now deceased) father, some of the trips we have taken over the years, family weddings and get-togethers. I want to put those photos back in albums for him.

I think I will scan the photos and have a professional print the ones I want hard copies of.
angelaid_gw
Original Author
10 years ago
Alisande, will you share the model of your printer, please?
Alisande
10 years ago
last modified: 10 years ago
Sure.

Canon Pro 9000 Mark II

I've had mine over 4 years. Note that Amazon lists a newer, wireless version for less money.
angelaid_gw thanked Alisande
caflowerluver
10 years ago
I think it is great you want to save your old photos. So many of my family's early years somehow got tossed. A lot of my childhood photos are gone.

Have you thought about using a Wand Photo Scanner? I have seen them demonstrated and it seems quicker and easier to scan a lot of photos. I would put them on a DVD and make prints from the ones you really want to keep. I use Costco for my prints. You might even want to make Photo Books out of the really special ones like all the baby pictures.
angelaid_gw thanked caflowerluver
wanda_va
10 years ago
I have an HP Scanjet G4050 flatbed photo scanner--have had it for several years, and very happy with it. It scans slides, negatives, photos or documents. You can scan 16 slides at a time, or 4 4x6 photos. Here's info on it: https://www.amazon.com/HP-SCANJET-G4050-L1957A-Scanjet-G4050-Photo-Scanner/dp/B000LZIGIC

If you want the photos printed, I would recommend using CVS, Rite Aid, Wahlgreens, etc. -- much better quality than on a regular home printer, and they often have specials, so the prints are very inexpensive. You can order the prints over the internet, or take the pictures on a flash drive to the store. Easy...

And don't forget to make backups of the pictures on the computer. I routinely make DVD copies, plus flash drive backups.

Scanning, editing and saving photo questions?

Alisande

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