How To Convert Old Photos To Digital

Buying a digital camera doesn't mean your old prints, slides, or negatives are obsolete. You can easily convert them with a scanner to bring them into the 21st century.

To complete this how-to, you will need:

Photos, slides, or negatives
A computer
A flatbed scanner with attachments for slides and negatives
A soft photography or makeup brush
A lint-free cloth
Isopropyl alcohol
Photo editing software

Step 1: Organize your photos

Before scanning, organize your photos -- and slides and negatives, if you have them -- into logical groups. This will make renaming and labeling them much easier later on.

Step 2: Clean your photos

Using a soft photography or makeup brush, gently clean your photos. Any dirt or smudges will be visible in your scans.

Step 3: Clean the scanner

Using isopropyl, or another cleaning agent that won't leave residue or streaks, and a lint-free cloth, wipe any dust, smudges, and fingerprints off the scanner's glass bed.

Turn on the scanner's light to reveal any overlooked smudges, fingerprints, or dirt.

Step 4: Select your DPI based on your image use

For images you intend to print, a DPI (or dots per inch) of 300 is recommended. Slides or negatives need a DPI of at least 2,400. For use on the Web, a DPI of 72 is acceptable.

Step 5: Scan your old photos

Using the software that came with your scanner, scan each photo into your computer.

Step 6: Rename your digital scans

Your scans will likely have numerical names that tell you nothing about the content of the scanned image. Rename each file.

Step 7: Edit your images

Using photo- editing software, view each image, cropping out bits you don't want, straightening slightly crooked images, and using color correction where necessary.

Step 8: Backup your images

Photo library software makes organizing and viewing photos on the computer simple, but you should also burn your scanned photos to a CD, DVD, or an external hard drive for safekeeping. You can typically save about 1,200 images on a CD and close to 7,000 on a DVD when you save them as JPG files.

You can get a scanner the size of a ballpoint pen, meant for scanning single lines of text.

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[MitchZer0II]

Now I can keep my porn collection forever!

[OfficialPubeMuppet]

one word. PHOTOSHOP

[GoPhotocom]

You can also just fill up a box and send them to GoPhoto.com and we'll scan them for you, right here in the U.S.

[vickster1199]

umm i like the add better than the stupid video... lol

[Rickingsh]

Do I need photos? I thought I needed toilet-paper... :\

[Dymtra]

"You will need photos" really?

[alohajosie]

hello i have a problem it says subscribers but it wont let me look at them i have about 130 subscriber :(

[wareamino12]

Step 1: make new photos

[legofreak1109]

shit i got photos in back and white. what do i do

[AgentJohn1]

Nice!!