storing 6 rubbermaid tubs of photo albums?

[camper19709]

I am going fulltime and have nowhere to keep them or a place to leave them. Considering using my digital camera and taking a picture of each picture. That way all the pics would be on a small SCANDISK. I can then download them into a computer and/or I can put the SCANDISK in a plastic baggie with a note telling me when/where the pictures were taken.
I know pictures can be scanned directly into the computer( I do not have the equipment for that). And then as a backup I can download them onto a thumb drive.
but, I think I like the SCANDISK idea better.
whatdaya think?

[2gypsies1]

The best way is to first weed out your 6 tubs of photos. Just keep the very best ones of each subject. If you have old vacation photos of just scenery, save one or two if they're really important to you but I'll bet since you're full-timing you'll be going back to many of the same places and with the new camera your new pictures will be much better.

Then scan the pictures and put them into a photo editing program (some are very easy to use) and you'll be able to enhance them greatly. Then save to disk. Make disks for your families, also. Don't try to take photos of them.

[cruisingat60]

Speaking as an archivist, if the originals are important to you get them out of plastic. It off gasses and that just isn't good for anything of value.

I go along with a tripod mount or other kind of copy stand and a digital camera set to its highest resolution. Zoom it in so your photo fills the frame. If the photos won't lie flat a small piece of glass placed on top will do the trick. Just be sure to keep reflections off it. Save your new photos in several places: on the computer, an external drive, thumb drives, DVDs, memory cards. Not only will having them stored in several places prevent the disaster of losing your only copy, it increases your chances of one of them being able to be read in the future if you forget to migrate to new technology. Oh, and don't forget to migrate to new technology.

[Free_Range_Huma]

Not buying a scanner is penny wise and pound foolish, as they say.

We're also preparing to go FT and I'm not just scanning all our photos, but ALL our paper. Why would anybody carry around paper or discs in this day and age?

For the things that still need to be physical (certified birth certificates and passports) we have a small fire-safe lockbox. Everything else (photos, music, movies, receipts) is in digital format.

Even the Scandisk is a bad idea, as you won't necessarily be able to read those in the future. Keep everything on your laptop with a backup somewhere (either on a large--4 GB+--external drive in a fire-safe box, or backed up online somewhere).

I've got a flatbed scanner so that I can even copy small books I want to keep that aren't replaceable in a digital format.

[arhayes]

We're full-timing starting next month and scanned all of the memory pages my wife has done over the years, plus any stray photos and slides. We also digitized all of the CHS and CVHS tapes that we've taken over the years - as well as old family 8mm and 16mm films I had done professionally. Took a lot of effort, but now not only do we have it, but all of the kids and extended family got a copy.

[SCVJeff]

For old pictures, done correctly you will never know the difference between scanned and taken with a camera vs. the original. When I have done it, I use an articulated tripod whose vertical arm can drop horizontal over the picture so the camera I'd dead centered and doesn't move. And use FLAT light! no flash. It's so much easier and less a headache than using a scanner.

[Bumpyroad]

I copied a lot of old photos and the results were excellent. I used a copy stand and could zoom in on various photo sizes. I figure if the pixel count was adequate to take a picture covering virtually miles of width, that taking pictures of 5x7 or whatever inches would be adequate. many of them were taken with an old 750,000 pixel ??? sony that took them on a 3 1/2 inch floppy.
better cameras gave images that weren't appreciably better.
and you didn't have to wait for the image to be scanned, instantly copied.
bumpy

[ed6713]

We went down that road two years ago. Went through tons of old photos. We sifted through with the determination to reduce several hundred photos to 100 that best represented our favorite memories. I mean, how many pictures of dear old Uncle Elmer do you really need??
Then we took them to Walgreens and for not very much, had them transferred onto a DVD. We had a copy made for each of our children as a Christmas gift. Now anytime we feel the urge to see Uncle Elmer, we just pop him in the computer. :B

Worked well for us.

Have fun.

A scanner also works once you reduce your "treasures" to a reasonable pile.

[mikebreeze]

Walmart and Costco have scanning services for pictures. But they are not cheap. I bought a $69 4 in 1 printer and have been slowly scanning my pictures onto an external hard drive. There are also small USB type dedicated scanners that you could use in your RV if you are full time. I would not go with taking a picture of a picture as you will lose quality that way.

[sch911]

Scanners are cheaper than you think. There is a learning curve, and it will take time. But no way would I ever consider carrying all those tubs in my rig. Good luck...

[HappyKayakers]

I don't think you'd be happy with the results of taking pictures of pictures. If you don't want to buy a photo scanner and take the time, you could find an office supply store or maybe even camera shop that might scan all those pix for a price. The downside to that, other than the price, is you'll have to rename and organize the pix when they're done.