Photos are a way for grandparents and older adults to remember their childhood and those special moments in their lives. There were no smartphones or internet back then. The only way to capture special events and milestones in their lives is by taking pictures.
However, these old photos tend to fade and get damaged due to exposure and improper storage. Also, they are prone to being lost and misplaced. That’s why digitizing them is a wise idea. But that is not the only reason why you must digitize the old photos of your grandparents and family members. This article will explain the advantages of digitizing old pictures and ways on how you can create their digital copy without spending anything.
Advantages Of Digitizing Old Photos
Contrary to common knowledge, digitizing old photos is more important and easier than they seem. If you’re still undecided whether its essential for you to digitize old pictures of your grandparents or not, here are 4 reasons why:
Albums, physical pictures, and framed photos take a lot of space
Grandparents and older adults love to look at pictures to remind them of their youth and special milestones. And these physical pictures take a lot of storage space which some might not have.
Physical photos are easy to get damaged or lost
Pictures are prone to discoloration, tears, water damages, and loss. To make sure memories and photos last longer, digitizing them and storing them in computers or the cloud is a wise idea.
Family pictures are for all members to enjoy
Digitizing old pictures means everyone in the family can access their favorite childhood photos anywhere, anytime.
Digital pictures can be edited
If you’re planning to make a banner for Grandparents Day or your grandparents’ birthday, having a digital copy of their old pictures is a good idea. Also, you can send digital photos to Memorialize Art to create a customized grandparents painting.
How To Digitize Old Photos
Aside from working with professionals, there are two easy ways to digitize old grandparents’ pictures. Note that these 2 methods can be time-consuming but totally free and easy to do.
Taking Pictures Of Old Photos
Smartphones and cameras are accessible these days. And for sure, you have a smartphone yourself. There are also phone applications where you can edit photos for free. You can save the photos on your smartphone or send it to other family members via email.
However, the quality and clarity of the digital copy will depend on the camera of your phones. Smartphones will capture shadows and glares while skipping finer details of the old pictures.
Scanning Old Pictures
Compared to taking pictures of your grandparents’ old photos, scanning them is faster and easier. Also, the digitized photos are better quality depending on the scanner you use. However, you’ll need a dedicated scanner which minimizes glare and distortion. These scanners have a higher resolution compared to cameras and phone cameras which helps capture finer details on old photos.
The problem is, these gadgets are expensive. For those you are on a tight budget, this is not a good option. But there are ways and applications to scan old pictures without spending anything. To help you scan higher quality and clearer images using your phones, take advantage of free phone applications. Here are the top 2 free phone photo scanning applications you can check out.
Google PhotoScan
This app is pretty straightforward and easy to use. It is available for both Android and IOS users. However, you will be scanning old pictures individually making it time-consuming. If you’re scanning a lot of photos, take note it will take hours if you’re using this app.
To ensure the scanned photo is clear and good-quality, you are required to take multiple pictures of the same old photo. Then, the app will stitch them together to create a clearer and better quality digital copy.
It produces better digital copies compared to taking pictures of old photos. But PhotoScan is not that effective when scanning black and white pictures.
Microsoft Lens
This is a popular app for scanning documents, business cards, and pictures. Lens is easy to use and produces clear and quality digital copies of old pictures. Just make sure you select Photo Mode, arrange old grandparents photos in the viewfinder, and click Scan.
You can take individual photos or scan multiple pictures at once. However, scanning multiple pictures requires you to save it as PDF which is not ideal unless you’re making a collage.
Lens comes with built-in filters and basic photo editing tools. But it captures glare, shadows, and lighting changes.
Takeaway
There are many advantages and reasons why you must digitize your grandparents’ and family’s old pictures. It might take a long time but digitizing them is a great idea. Everyone in the family can view and look at them when they miss each other or some family member. Also, digitized copies will last longer than physical photos.
Remember, you don’t have to digitize all the old photos in one sitting. Just create a digital copy of a few images at a time. There’s no need to stress about it. Let other family members help out and it can be a family gathering. There will surely be a lot of funny stories that come up while digitizing old pictures.