Once I hyper-focus on a job, I’m identified to go ALL IN. And that’s precisely how I approached the large job of digitizing all of our outdated picture albums. We crowdsourced strategies, took some deep dives into message boards, and Googled the heck out of it. From there, I narrowed our choices to five picture digitization strategies that we examined for high quality, worth, and pace. There was one clear winner for us, but additionally numerous different good methods to go about it (even free ones!), relying in your private priorities. So I’m going to put out every part we tried, and why we had a transparent favourite.
As all the time, not one of the merchandise or strategies talked about have been sponsored or paid for. Every little thing was purchased and examined with our personal cash, and we’re sharing what we preferred finest for no different motive than: we actually did prefer it finest!
The Picture Digitization Strategies We Examined
We tried to select a variety of instruments and methods. Some free, some pricier. Some suspiciously quick, some extra intricate. They have been:
- My cellphone’s digital camera (merely taking photographs of images)
- A bulk picture scanning app for my cellphone
- The flatbed scanner in the printer we already personal*
- A particular picture scanner
- Mailing photographs to a third-party picture digitizing service
*Our printer from 2018 continues to be going sturdy, in order that hyperlink is the closest present mannequin.
I additionally filmed a fast, 90-second video of how technique #2 (the Photomyne app) and #4 (the Plustek scanner) function, since they’re the extra “new-fangled” methods we tried.
Word: You may as well view this video on YouTube.
In testing every of those, we paid shut consideration to the next standards:
- Price
- High quality
- Velocity
- Ease
- General comfort
That final one is essential as a result of, like most individuals, we have now OVER 1,500 outdated photographs to scan. So it’s straightforward to lose steam if digitizing them looks like a slog. So, for us, that grew to become the deciding issue for the general finest technique.
Our Check Photographs
Honest warning: you’ll see these pics of younger John and little Sherry A LOT on this publish. I used them to get apples-to-apples comparisons on high quality. I additionally selected this explicit shot of Sherry as a result of it’s just a little darkish, letting us see how these scanners deal with poorly lit photographs.
And except in any other case famous, I’m exhibiting these photographs right here WITHOUT EDITS or ADJUSTMENTS. This provides you an thought of what you’ll get straight out of the digital camera or scanner.
Greatest Worth ($0): Your Cellphone’s Digicam
Most of us already personal a cellphone, so it’s laborious to beat the $0 price ticket for this technique. So if price is your #1 precedence, you’ll be glad to know your cellphone’s digital camera is an efficient high quality possibility (I’m utilizing an iPhone 16 Professional). Nonetheless, this strategy takes time, endurance, and a few setup for the most effective outcomes.
When you go this route, right here’s tips on how to get the best high quality photographs of your photographs:
- Set your digital camera to its most decision (mine is 48MP)
- If attainable, use a tripod and your digital camera’s timer to reduce blur
- Organize your picture(s) on a white background, like a bit of poster board
- Shoot in a spot with good, oblique lighting, like a sunroom or porch on a cloudy day. It will decrease glare.
Taking pictures a grouping of prints collectively (like proven above) may be environment friendly, however you’ll lose some high quality. Discover how the left photographs are just a little blurry? That’s as a result of my digital camera is pulled again to seize the group. For the most effective outcome, {photograph} your photographs one after the other so that you may be nearer to every print.
General, this technique was approach too sluggish for me. Regardless that it solely took me 4 minutes to {photograph} 50 photographs, I spent practically 30 mind-numbing minutes cropping each into a person file. So, regardless of its execs (zero {dollars}! zero particular tools!), this technique was approach too inefficient.
VERDICT: Greatest technique for digitizing a small variety of photographs with out spending any cash, in any other case, skip this.
Greatest High quality: Flatbed Scanner
If high quality is your prime precedence, I used to be most glad with the flatbed scanner within the HP Envy printer we already personal… however solely simply by a hair. This technique price us $0 to strive, however a brand new one sells for about $99. That’s about 1/2 the worth of the particular picture scanner I’ll focus on in a second.
Once I say “high quality,” I imply that the scans have been the clearest and most vibrant outcome with none edits or changes (see beneath). It additionally dealt with non-photo scans the most effective, just like the greeting playing cards and letters I discovered in one among our albums. So if I have been judging on versatility, this might most likely win too.
I acquired related outcomes on the darker, indoor picture of Sherry. The recordsdata from my flatbed scanner have been probably the most “able to go” straight out of the digital camera/scanner. Once more, the Plustek was a really shut second.
Just like the iPhone, the massive downside to this technique is pace. I wasted quite a lot of time arranging photographs on the glass, ready for the scan, after which straightening & cropping the scans into particular person picture recordsdata. This was the slowest technique by far, so I wouldn’t advocate it if in case you have numerous photographs.
VERDICT: Greatest for scanning a small variety of photographs you need on the highest high quality. Doubtless will drive you loopy and also you’ll by no means end if in case you have a considerable amount of photos.
Greatest For Velocity: Plustek ePhoto Scanner
Once we requested for picture scanner suggestions on Instagram, the Plustek ePhoto Scanner was the clear favourite – and we are able to see why! We have been just a little hesitant to spend $200 after we already owned a flatbed scanner, however over 1,000 folks really useful it so we went for it… and I’m so glad we did. The pace and comfort it affords are lifesavers for an enterprise like this.
Simply place a photograph facedown into the scanner, and it routinely feeds by way of in seconds. A second later, an already-cropped file seems within the accompanying software program, prepared to save lots of. I breezed by way of 50 photographs in lower than 5 minutes, making it waaaaay sooner than the 2 strategies above. Plus, it was so easy I may’ve carried out all of it day.
VERDICT: Greatest for quick & straightforward scanning of enormous batches of photographs with out sacrificing good, high-quality outcomes.
Getting The Greatest High quality Out of Plustek
I used to be really fairly sad with the standard of my first few Plustek scans. They have been darkish and took quite a lot of adjusting to look…simply okay. However after enjoying with some settings within the “Preferences” menu, I solved my downside! So earlier than you dive in, do just a few check scans and noodle settings till you’re completely satisfied.
You possibly can see my most well-liked settings beneath – a very powerful was turning on the ICC Profile. I preferred “Picture Scanner (M21)” the most effective.
Right here’s an instance of what my scans seemed like at first (left) and after I turned on the ICC profile (proper). You possibly can see how a lot brighter and extra vibrant they’re on the best.
The ePhoto software program that comes with the scanner additionally contains some built-in picture & colour adjustment instruments, however I discover them to be just a little clunky. Fortunately, most of my scans come out simply tremendous with out further work.
Greatest For Velocity (Runner Up): Photomyne App
If shopping for an additional gadget is a non-starter for you, an app like Photomyne is an efficient different. It supercharges your cellphone’s digital camera by auto-cropping your photographs (see beneath), making it a lot sooner than your iPhone alone. It’s not free ($60/yr) and a few modifying options are behind extra paywalls, however there’s a 3-day free trial you should utilize to check drive it.
As I famous above with the iPhone Digicam, capturing an enormous group without delay can scale back the standard of the person images – however you’ll additionally lose among the “magic” the app affords by capturing photos one-by-one.
I didn’t splurge for any of the paid modifying options, however among the free ones appeared extra gimmicky than really helpful. For example, an AI facial-sharpening software tended to make everybody look just a bit…. off. You possibly can see what it did to teen Sherry beneath. Word from Sherry: “these are another person’s tooth in my mouth.”
General, I assumed Photomyne did an excellent, fast job of scanning – even a smidge sooner than the Plustek. However the bodily technique of arranging & photographing issues was extra cumbersome and vulnerable to error than merely feeding prints by way of a scanner. I additionally felt the standard left one thing to be desired (just a little uninteresting & blurry). So among the effectivity could be misplaced in having to edit and regulate all of them afterwards.
VERDICT: Second finest for pace when you don’t need to buy a scanner.
An Alternate Picture Scanning App
I selected to check Photomyne due to its capability to scan and crop a number of images without delay. Nonetheless, one other fashionable digitizing app is PhotoScan by Google Photographs. It solely does 1 picture at a time, however makes use of an fascinating method to get rid of glare – even with the flash on! The app guides you to place a circle over 4 white dots in your display screen, taking a scan at every nook. Then it stitches the a number of captures collectively seamlessly.
My outcomes have been blended, nonetheless. Some makes an attempt have been blurry, and others nonetheless had glare. Plus, the method of taking a number of photographs to get 1 scan was tedious. So I wouldn’t use this for bulk tasks like mine. However it’s free to make use of and hyperlinks on to a Google Photographs account!
Greatest For Ease: LegacyBox
LegacyBox is a third-party scan-by-mail service that digitizes each photographs and movies in quite a lot of codecs (prints, 35mm negatives, slides, DVD, VHS, and so on). They ship you a field, you ship it again with photographs inside, they digitize every part, after which return the originals to you. You possibly can obtain your remaining recordsdata by way of cloud obtain, thumb drive, or CD. My order continues to be processing, but it surely’s laborious to think about a better, extra hands-off course of than this!
I’ll replace this publish as soon as I’ve obtained my remaining recordsdata, so I can’t converse to high quality but. However I’m fairly sure LegacyBox will lose handily on each price and pace (it’s costly and takes some time).
I snagged a vacation low cost to digitize 50 photographs for $25, however after taxes, charges, transport & dealing with, and transport safety, my whole was nearer to $55. Certain, there could be economies of scale if I despatched a much bigger batch, but it surely shortly turns into the priciest possibility listed right here (500 photographs will set you again about $350).
As for pace, LegacyBox says normal processing takes 4-6 weeks, which doesn’t embrace the time to ship the field forwards and backwards. So whereas it could not require quite a lot of your private time, it’s not an excellent possibility when you’re in a rush. And when you get the digital recordsdata, keep in mind you continue to should put them right into a photobook and get that printed, in order that they don’t make your entire course of hands-off.
VERDICT: Greatest if in case you have time and wish a simple outsourced choice to get the job carried out – particularly if cash is not any object.
Our Ultimate Verdict: The Greatest Picture Digitization Methodology
In any case my testing, I’ve digitized a whole bunch of photographs – however nonetheless have a whole bunch extra to go. And the tactic I’ll be persevering with with (if it wasn’t already apparent) is… the Plustek ePhoto Scanner!
It’s just about the ONLY technique I can think about utilizing for such a big assortment of photographs. There’s no tripod, no transport, no fastidiously arranging prints on a white backdrop or scanner pane. The Plustek is simple to set-up, easy to make use of, and even makes the method considerably (dare I say?) enjoyable. So when you can spare the $200ish to snag this scanner, I feel you’ll be very glad that you simply did. I do know we’re! And now I do know why over 1,000 folks really useful it to us when Sherry requested for strategies on Instagram.
What’s Subsequent For Our Digitization Challenge?
I’m grateful we’ve landed a digitization technique, however there’s nonetheless loads of work forward! Along with scanning every part, we need to ensure every part is backed up (regionally & on the cloud) after which print a number of photobooks to exchange our cumbersome albums.
You possibly can see beneath how photobooks can maintain a whole bunch of photographs in a MUCH thinner format than the outdated puffy albums above. Every of the skinny books beneath holds about 450 photographs whereas the puffy ones above maintain about 225. To place it one other approach: that’s ten years of photographs (round 4,500!) beneath in these a lot thinner books, and fewer than 5 years of photographs (round 1,125) in these puffy albums above, which take up about 4X more room.
In abstract, we’re thrilled to be reclaiming some further cupboard space after we end this undertaking! And we’ll really feel much more safe as soon as we have now all our photographs securely saved in a number of locations (most of the photographs in our outdated puffy albums exist solely there… so if one thing occurred to our home, they’d be misplaced endlessly).
As soon as we’ve completed this complete picture digitizing journey (what is that this, The Bachelor?) I plan to jot down a remaining publish with all of our ideas & classes discovered from this enterprise. And I’ll be sure you deal with what we’re doing with the outdated photographs we’re conserving. Don’t fear, we’re not throwing every part away!
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