How to Upload Photos For Which I Have No Digital Copies to Online Storage for High Quality Prints Later?

November 29, 2012 6:37 PM

Best Way to Scan/Store Print Photos Without Digital Copies?

I have an online photo storage system that I really like for our family photos. However, I have some photos that aren't digital: some older family portraits and my kid's school pictures. How can I best transfer these to online format for the best possible quality prints? I can scan them, but won't they be grainy? Is there another option I'm missing?

posted by white_magnolia to Technology (3 answers total)

I've had a a lot of negatives scanned by Scancafe and it's relatively cheap (especially if you wait for one of their discounts) and they scan prints, too. I've been really happy with the quality of scans they do - and it is so worth not doing the scanning yourself.

But if you do - you can get good scans if you have a decent scanner, scan at a good resolution and keep the scanner clean - google for scan tips which should help you.
posted by nightwood at 7:35 PM on November 29, 2012

It depends on what resolution you scan the photos at. When I was doing older photos, I scanned them at a very high resolution - you could zoom in until they were grainy, but given the resolution scanner pixels were smaller than the original photographic paper grains.

Also: you do need to keep the scanner clean. I wipe any smudges or dust off our scanner with a clean cotton cloth, after every few photographs.
posted by jb at 10:56 AM on November 30, 2012

I can't recommend any specific services, but I would suggest getting your negatives (if you have them) scanned by a professional service. Scanning a negative will give you a higher quality image than scanning a print will.
posted by inertia at 11:22 AM on November 30, 2012