37
votes
What is an efficient way to digitize a family photo collection?
Your DSLR can do it in about 5 seconds each.
You need a tripod, a piece of glass and a decent light.
Try to come up with a way to work at table height. Aim the camera straight down.
Put a flat board ...
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30
votes
What is an efficient way to digitize a family photo collection?
For large collections (in the 1000s) outside services can be very expensive. Especially if you: A) want decent quality, B) don't want them shipped to another country for cheaper processing, and/or C) ...
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16
votes
What is an efficient way to digitize a family photo collection?
An alternative...
If you have considered Sherwood Botsford's answer and it seems like a lot of work...well, you are not wrong, especially for larger archives.
Consider finding a service to do this ...
- 12.6k
6
votes
Accepted
Why do 'Print File' film storage pages say "Insert Emulsion Side Down"?
Simple: so that when looking at the front of the print file sheet, the image appears correctly.
The emulsion side of the film was the side facing the lens, the side receiving the image to expose. By ...
- 33.3k
3
votes
Accepted
What quality can be expected from a flatbed scanner and will a more expensive one be better?
Is this normal?
It might be "normal" in the sense that your hardware isn't broken, but you'll very likely get a better result with better equipment.
Am I overthinking this and these "defects" are ...
- 31.7k
3
votes
Lossy archival compression for 16-bit TIF images
May I suggest HEIF?
HEIF is the replacement for both JPEG and JPEG2000. It is effectively a single H.265 frame.
Don't store single-frame H.265 movies! Instead, use the proper file format that has ...
- 6,855
2
votes
I need advice organising and digitising old photos
I'm not really sure what you need as an answer here.
To answer exactly what you asked,
Yes to scanning, sorting would be a premium. Probably better to do that yourself.
You would probably be far ...
- 23.4k
1
vote
How can I find out what the printed numbers mean on the back of an older photo?
The photofinishing industry begun automating film developing and printing starting well before 1940’s. Worldwide, these were not mini-labs, they were regional labs located in principal cities. By 1960 ...
- 39.7k
1
vote
What quality can be expected from a flatbed scanner and will a more expensive one be better?
You've too many questions to answer easily, but generally speaking, I'd have to say YES to all of them. I think Caleb had the best approach. I have been scanning for many different types of jobs, and ...
- 93
1
vote
What quality can be expected from a flatbed scanner and will a more expensive one be better?
I can not recommend any scanner. It has been some time since I use one.
But one thing to keep an eye on would be dynamic range. This will give you the ability to see details on the shadows and avoid ...
- 25.4k
1
vote
Photo organisation and archiving in a household with multiple devices
The solutions depends on your usage and acceptability to pay fees.
If you are a heavy photographer, you'll end up having more than 200 GB of data, so that means you must rely on the 2 TB plan, which ...
- 401
1
vote
Photo organisation and archiving in a household with multiple devices
I think there are a lot of solutions, but I can't say I know the best one.
As you use Apple devices mostly I'll describe the full Apple solution below.
You indicate that this seems like a bad idea. ...
- 8,763
1
vote
Lossy archival compression for 16-bit TIF images
Specifically with reference to JPEG2000, this page lists several other alternatives. I've used jasper some, but haven't played with the rest, so I can't specifically recommend any particular one.
- 5,158
1
vote
What is an efficient way to digitize a family photo collection?
While I'm sure a proper photo scanner like the ones bucknljake suggests are significantly better in terms of quality, I've archived a bunch of old photos just by putting them in the feeder of one of ...
- 273
1
vote
How to format a 4TB hard disk for photography files?
Format the drive using any file system that can be read and written by the operating systems you intend to use to access it. Consider using exFAT. It has widespread support across devices since it was ...
- 27.1k
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