My Photography Book

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Scanning Old Photos and Books

By Catie Blatt


When you figure out how to scan old photographs & books for preservation you can keep these items around for countless years. They can save on the wear and tear and harm from handling and keep them from being destroyed. It can also be used to make the information much easier to get to since you can have it electronically.

By doing this, you create a searchable database that can be used to store and look up the information that you want, and it will work equally well for both types. It makes it perfect for genealogy research to put faces to names or just to save the old and out of print books from being damaged by wear and tear of use.

There are different scanners that you can use. The most common of these is the flatbed, and this looks like a small version of a photocopier. The area that it can copy is about the size of a paper sheet, but you do have to take care not to damage the spine, since the top of the machine will lie along it. There are photo ones as well, and while any of these can do photographs, this has the benefit of being able to do both negatives and slides as well as including software to make the old pictures cleaner and better looking.

Sheet feeds are smaller than the flatbeds, but they take only one sheet of paper or photographic at a time. This will not work with the books, although the portable types will work the best for them since they only scan down each page, saving the spine from wear. When you choose which one to use get the one that will work the best for you and your own needs.

After you get the image to your computer, save it to a location that will be easy for you to find again. These are typically saved in a JPEG or PNG format since most people can use these the easiest. From here you can upload them to photo sharing sites for blogging or burn them to a disk.

Always take care when getting the images of the items onto your computer. While you want to protect them and save them from harm, you also want to keep the original in as good of shape as you can so that you can redo the process if you need to. By using caution with the items, you can ensure that they are protected with electronic copies as well as preserving the physical one.

When you scan books and photographs that you did not take, then make sure that you are able to scan them while complying with the copyright law that govern them. Some may not allow for you to share them, or even electronically copy them at all. This can save you a lot of legal trouble and still be able to save the items.

Knowing how to scan old photographs & books can give them an extended life. They can preserve your history and allow you an invaluable resource at the touch of a button. Protecting these items can save them from being destroyed or lost.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment

Popular Posts