Making progress
16 months ago
The album for my oldest sister is done, and the one for me is in progress. There are just sooo many pictures across all of Mom’s albums though, that this will be on the list for a long time!
How to scan the old family photos
It made me
Happy 
"Parents' pictures are done!"
How I did it: I bought a sheet-fed scanner, which was much faster than the flat bed I already had. Then I hired an unemployed friend to do the work for me. I still have to put some of the pictures back, the ones that were in the albums with the sticky pages and now need to be mounted with corner mounts onto scrapbook paper. The scanning itself, however, is done! Until my sisters dig up their pictures...
Lessons & tips: Do your research on scanning resolution and format, etc, particularly if you are researching before purchasing the scanner.
People doing this are also doing these things:
Entries
Working on mom's pictures
3 years ago
I have 587 files in the directory I’m scanning them to. I did all of the albums that had pocket style pages. The ones in the sticky pages are on my bookcase now (she hasn’t asked for them back, she knew I was going to scan “some” of her stuff while she was in Mexico) and I’ve been debating over how to tackle them.
My sister insists that mom will freak out if I take them out, so I have two options.
1. I photograph them through their plastic.
Pros: Less work, fewer fingerprints, no risk of damage from the removal itself.
Cons: Photos are still un-safe over time, possibly reduced quality or increased glare.
2. I take them out, scan then, then put them into something else. Probably a scrapbook for each one, or for each kind (my mom has an album for the wedding of each of her sisters, among other albums). I’ve long wanted to do a scrapbook where I’d have two copies of some pictures. I’d apply a coloring book filter and write in the names of people on their outline, and mom and dad could identify the people I can’t name.
Pros: Photos are safe, people can be identified for us and future generations, scrapbooks are cooler than photo albums.
Cons: Lots of work for something that might just make mom angry instead of happy. Very time consuming, I’m sure she’d wonder where her albums are by then, I might have to do one small one to sell her on the idea then go back and do the rest.
