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Memory Keeping
updated: Oct 18, 2012, 3:30 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

Yesterday's Lookout Fire reminded me of something I've wanted to do ever since the Gap and Jesusita fires, and have just kept putting off, and I could use some suggestions from Edhatters. Every time I've had to evacuate for a fire, in addition to packing up my two cats in the car, I've schlepped 30 full-sized photo albums out of the house and into the trunk, including family pictures dating back to 1955 and 8 albums of comprehensive, annotated photos from foreign travels. Every time, I swear I'm going to have them scanned onto a CD or a thumb drive so I can make the job a lot easier, in addition to being able to store them in a safe deposit box or something I know it's a labor-intensive job and therefore an expensive one, and I have neither the knowledge nor the patience to do it myself so I'm looking for an outfit that will do a good job. I'm not saying money is no object, but it's important enough to me that I'll pay to have a good job done. Any suggestions would be welcome.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 332974	2012-10-18 03:41 PM
It is labor intensive. I've tried to do it myself before,--not much luck there. Maybe call Samy's and ask them. Their photo/tech department does excellent work.
COMMENT 332985	2012-10-18 04:03 PM
In the meantime what about keeping them in a wheeled suitcase so you only have to schlep one thing instead of thirty?
COMMENT 332995	2012-10-18 04:10 PM
You want to do it yourself with only an iPhone or compact camera? Checkout the Steady Stand 300 from Modahaus.
CHERIDIANE	2012-10-18 04:16 PM
My problem too. During the Tea and Jesuita Fires, being on standby evacuation, I also schlepped 17 albums to the trunk of the car. Heavy things too, with their sheet protectors and all. I have done nothing further about the problem, but the Lookout Fire brought up the issue again. I must think what to do. Color Services on Cota off Garden Street might be another place to go. That is a lot of scanning.
NATURE BOY	2012-10-18 04:20 PM
You can scan them and put them on CDs, and send a copy of the CDs to a relative/friend who lives elsewhere and keep a copy of each CD for yourself. It's labor-intensive, especially with that many photos, for sure. There are people on Craig's List offering the service, usually for much less than what a brick & mortar shop would charge (which can be anywhere from $.50 to $1.00 per photo). Search "photo scanning" on CL and you might find some good deals.
COMMENT 333013	2012-10-18 04:31 PM
I would love to help! I have done this before! And I have my own scanner! I could use the extra income! And, we can do a test scan, so you can see how you like the pictures! I also know how to put pictures onto a CD! Let me know! I don't know if an unpaid commenter is allowed to write the name. But if not, maybe I can email my info to edhat...if you're interested! Let me know!
MIKESHINN	2012-10-18 04:32 PM
ScanMyPhotos.com has a great service out of Irvine. Subscribe to their site and they will send you occasional deals including prepaid boxes. Fill the prepaid box to the brim with all of your photos and send it to them. They will send you the box back with a DVD of all of the high-quality scans. Now that you have the photos, they need to be backed up. A local backup is good. A secondary cloud-based solution like carbonite.com is better. Have the pictures in 2 places minimum.
COMMENT 333061	2012-10-18 06:42 PM
I subscribe to an online storage system that updates my computer files to its servers every two minutes; this is in addition to my own external hard drive. You might consider this for your files. That way, it's always safe. (I use Crash Plan and have been very happy with their service.)
COMMENT 333064	2012-10-18 06:53 PM
Scanning photos is not a super high tech task. Many teen age kids with access to a scanner could do the job. Estimate how many photos you need to have scanned and start you search, either commercial or local. I have scanned about a thousand photos and enjoy the copies on my computer plus the security of the off site record.
COMMENT 333086	2012-10-18 08:22 PM
ichick dot com is a great local digital concierge service, they can help with all your needs.
YPYETR	2012-10-18 09:28 PM
The new line of Canon Pixma $100-120 line ( aprox) All-In-One printers have excellent scanning, moderate resolution capabilities, and a great software package that you can use to get the results you want to achieve. I used one to blw up a 1950's era sepia and white baby picture of my mother to 24X30“ from 2X3“ print. You'd have never known that the poster wasn't the original print. No pixlation or loss of detail. Email me at hotmail if you want more info.
COMMENT 333135	2012-10-19 07:48 AM
Not to sound non-nostalgic, but this is the very reason I do not keep old photo albums. Any picture taken in the past 10 years is saved digitally, and any photos that are really special get scanned, but that's it. No hard copies. I like living in the present and looking towards the future. To me, when I see a bunch of old people sitting around telling the same old stories and dragging out the same old photo albums, I feel sad because I know that subconsciously they are just trying to stave off dementia.
COMMENT 333172	2012-10-19 09:14 AM
Excessive exclamation points are excessive! 135: I've enjoyed looking through old photos since I was a kid. Pretty sure I wasn't staving off dementia then, neither were my parents. It's fun to look through old albums of family & friends. 064: I'm not sure I'd trust a non-professional to do something like this. Stick to someone who has insurance, just in case. Plus, I'd assume a high school kid doesn't have the same equipment as a business, and I would think that scanners vary quite a bit in quality.
COMMENT 333181	2012-10-19 09:21 AM
135 - you'll be sorry when your media degrades. They all do eventually. CD's have a fungus that attacks them, magnetic drives go bad, etc.
COMMENT 335848	2012-10-26 10:10 AM
I know this thread is dead, but I'm hoping the OP sees this - scanmyphotos has a groupon right now. $29 bucks gets you 500 4x6" images scanned into 300 or 600 dpi images.

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