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How to Scan and Digitize Old Photos?

Posted on the 21 August 2023 by Jitendra Vaswani @JitendraBlogger

What is better than memories? One way of keeping memories with oneself is to click a picture of that moment. One might want to know how to preserve old photos for a long time. The answer is “digitize them”. So, how to scan and digitize old photos becomes an obvious question?

So, in this article, we will tell you how to scan and archive your old printed photos? or what are the easy ways to digitize and preserve your old photos? And just in case, you wanted to watermark the photos, see this for watermarking the photosSo, let’s get started with the same. Here we go:

How to scan and digitize old photos?

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Method 1: Using scanner.

You can easily scan and digitalize your old photos and keep them safe for a longer period. You can easily make use of a scanner to do this task. For this, the prerequisites are a scanner, a computer system which is compatible with your scanner and photos which are to be digitalized.

Once you are up with all the mentioned, then you are good to get started with the process. For the ease of comprehension, we have divided this method into sub-parts which will ultimately help you achieve the needful.

Set up the scanner.

Step #1: At the first place, you need to check switch on the computer system and the scanner. Also, make sure that they are connected well with each other. Take a look as if you won’t have any loose cable connection as it will interrupt the process.

Step #2: In this step, you need to get to your scanner’s interface. If you are using windows, then click on start and type “scan”. In a general case, you will get the appropriate result. Click on it.
If you are using Mac, then navigate to the scanner icon and once found then click on it.

Also, you might need to press the scan button positioned at your printer or scanner.

Scan the image.

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Now, this is the most crucial step, and you will now actually scan your old images to digitalize them.
It is advised you to wipe out the dust from your old pictures as it will lead you to better digital images. It may happen that your scanner bed is also prone to dust. So, make sure to wipe out the dust from the scanner bed as well.

Step #1:  Now, you require placing the image on the scanner bed. To do this, make sure to place the image face down the scanner. Once you are done placing the images, you are now required to close the lid of the scanner and hit the scan button of your device.

The moment you are done with the mentioned, you are good to go to the next steps.

Step #2: Now, by making use of the computer system, you can choose the preferences. You can choose the color of the image. You will also get to choose the format in which you want to save your pictures like JPEG, or tiff.

You can also preview the image as if how it is going to look after the scan process is complete. You can also choose the resolution of the image. It is sometimes said that 600 dpi in tiff format is ideal for archived images. However, it also depends on the original picture. So, go for the one which suits best to your needs.

Step #3: Now, finally all that you need is to click on “scan” or “finish”. This will begin the scanning process. Depending on your device, the system may or may not save the pictures scanned to a particular location. However, you can always be able to change the default save location.

Method 2: Using Smartphone

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New age Smartphones are capable of capturing documents and images so well that they have now become an alternative to scanners. Alternatively, there are certain applications like CamScanner, which helps you to scan your pictures and documents.

However, in this method, we will make use of the camera application of your Smartphone.
Step #1: Wipe out the dust from your pictures. Make sure to keep the picture on a stable surface which is exposed to light also.

Step #2: Now, you are required to launch the camera application of your Smartphone. Once the application opens up, you now need to place the camera directly above the picture. Focus on the picture and click.

Step #3: Once you have clicked the image then open any photo editing application and crop the picture as you wish.

This way you can quickly scan photos using your Smartphone and digitalize them. With little photoshop skills, the old photos can turn out to be really great pictures. Here is how to Photoshop pictures. Just add your skills and turn the good pictures into the best one.

[Additional Information]: How to choose a photo scanner?

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Just in case if you might be interested in knowing how to choose a photo scanner then this section is especially for you. In this section, we will tell you about the things you need to know before selecting a photo scanner.

1) Decide on what type of pictures you will scan.

This is primarily important as if you are to scan a particular kind of picture then it would be better to go for the scanner which is built especially for that one.
Just like for general public users, flatbed scanners are recommended while for the professionals, Film scanners serve the best.

2) Resolution.
Get an idea of the resolution. For normal images, 300 dpi will do the needful. For larger photos, you might need 3200 dpi or higher.

3) Budget.
The cost may vary from type to type. So, it would be better to be aware of how much you can spend. This will make things lot more clear and will refine and filter your search even more.

This brought us to the end of this article on “How to scan and digitize old photos?” We hope that using the above-mentioned methods, you will easily be able to preserve your old memories by digitizing them.

You can also download and print the Instagram photos. Here is how to save Instagram photos.

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