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Simple Steps to Preserving Family Photos (A Six Sentence Story)

Photo: A black-and-white image of my great-grandmother, Edna Anna Hunt, as she holds two babies and stands in front of an antique car. 

 Do you have boxes of old photographs or slides that you intend to get around to digitizing someday? You are not alone; although I have scanned and saved some pictures to my computer, the process takes time and I have so much more to do that it is easy to feel overwhelmed. The other day, however, I discovered a fast, easy, and free way to save my old images: I went to a Family History Center that has equipment to scan photos, slides, and documents. In less than two hours, I had successfully saved over 900 images! To check to see if the Family History Center in your area has the necessary tools: first, follow this link to locate your nearest FHC: https://www.familysearch.org/locations/centerlocator?, then look on their website to see if they have photo scanners. You might need to give them a call or make an online reservation to reserve a time to use the machines, but that call or online booking is simple and could save you a lot of time!

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This has been a Six Sentence Story. Follow the link to read other entries for this week's prompt word (simple). 

Comments

  1. Clark FarleyJune 27, 2019 at 4:22 PM

    surely a help for those with old photos... the kind on paper
    ... are you sure that's an antique car? lol

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    Replies
    1. KristiJune 27, 2019 at 4:33 PM

      Back in the day the car wouldn't have been antique! (You have no idea how much time I spent trying to figure out what make (assume Ford) and model (T?) that car is, before I just settled on "antique"!) :-)

      Delete
  2. messymimiJune 27, 2019 at 6:31 PM

    What a great service to offer, thank you for posting this, and you did a great job turning it into a story!

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    1. KristiJune 27, 2019 at 8:29 PM

      Thank you! I hope you can find a Family History Center in your area that has a photo scanner. (They have all sorts of free, useful tools for family history research, too!)

      Delete
  3. GirlieOnTheEdgeJune 27, 2019 at 6:32 PM

    Wow! That is a remarkably clear and detailed photo for being so old. I love looking through old photos of times past and especially if they are of family. Very cool :)

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    1. KristiJune 27, 2019 at 8:30 PM

      The scanner did an amazing job! I love old photos, too!

      Delete
  4. Pat BJune 27, 2019 at 11:28 PM


    When I went to the link, I think all ours has is just a black and white photo scanner. Did the scanner you used allow you to feed a stack of photos or did you feed them one by one? Did you just save them on a flash drive?

    Great informative SSS.

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    Replies
    1. KristiJune 28, 2019 at 7:56 AM

      There were multiple kinds of machines at the center I used. One was a large flatbed scanner, good for documents, large (or tiny) photos, or books. Another photo scanner did allow for feeding stacks of photos at a time, although I mainly fed them one by one (in batch scanning mode, so as soon as I put a photo in the feeder, it went through). It was super fast! Another machine allowed me to digitize slides. I'd put a stack of slides in, and it would automatically digitize each one. And yes, I just saved them all on a flash drive.

      Delete
  5. Lisa TomeyJune 28, 2019 at 3:15 AM

    What a helpful six! I'm going to see if ours offers this.

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    Replies
    1. KristiJune 28, 2019 at 7:58 AM

      I hope it is available in your area. I read a blog post from 5 years ago saying that there were 2800 locations in the US that had the scanners, with international locations getting them soon, so I assume they are readily accessible.

      Delete
  6. Susan ZutautasJune 28, 2019 at 7:09 AM

    Thank you for sharing this info. Such a good way to do it too!

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    Replies
    1. KristiJune 28, 2019 at 7:59 AM

      Thanks. I think the Family History Centers fill a need for a lot of people.

      Delete
  7. Josie Two ShoesJune 28, 2019 at 8:37 AM

    I do have a box of photo, and it sounds like you've found a great way to save them efficiently! Thanks for the info. Family photos are a treasure for future generations!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiJune 28, 2019 at 9:54 AM

      I feel better knowing that the photos are now digitally preserved. My next step is to add them to family history websites, such as Family Search and Ancestry, so that other relatives can have easy access to them. I hope you can find a Family History Center in your area; it sure makes digitizing quick and easy!

      Delete

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