Our big renovation project just kicked off this week, but I’ve already started another long-standing task: digitizing all our old printed photos. It may not have the immediate drama of a renovation, but it’s been on my list for years and I’m excited to finally make progress—and share the process so others buried in photo clutter can follow along.
I’ll be experimenting with several approaches, testing their speed, cost, image quality, and ease of use. Along the way I’ll share practical tips for backing up, organizing, and turning the best images into new, slim photobooks so the memories survive without the bulk.
Why Digitize Old Photos?
We have three main goals with this effort:
1. Safeguard memories
Converting printed photos to digital files lets us create multiple backups (including cloud copies) so those images aren’t lost to fire, water damage, or a misplaced album. A digital archive also makes sharing and restoring photos far easier.
2. Free up storage space
Our old, puffy albums take up a surprising amount of room—much more than the photobooks we’ve made recently. By digitizing and selectively printing highlights into slimmer photobooks, we can reclaim shelf and closet space while keeping the photos that matter most.
3. Pare down the collection
Not every snapshot deserves a permanent place in our archive. We’ve found entire pages dedicated to things like my high school lava lamp and random neighborhood fireworks. Those made us laugh—and then go straight into the shredder. We’re treating old albums like a camera roll: delete the blurry, duplicate, and irrelevant shots and keep the meaningful ones.
How We Are Digitizing Our Photos
I asked for recommendations and received a lot of repeated suggestions, so I’m testing the most commonly recommended methods. I’ll evaluate each approach for speed, image quality, cost, and convenience. The methods I’m trying are:
- Using an iPhone camera for quick captures
- Using an iPhone plus a dedicated photo-scanning app for faster batch processing
- A dedicated photo scanner that many people recommend for high throughput
- The flatbed scanner built into the printer we already own*
- A professional third-party digitization service for large batches or fragile prints
I’ll document pros and cons for each option and report back with practical recommendations for people who want the fastest, cheapest, easiest, or highest-quality results. Right now it looks unlikely there will be a single best choice for everyone, which is fine—different methods suit different needs.
What We’re Doing With Our Digitized Photos
After digitizing, our plan is threefold:
- Keep a primary archive on an external hard drive (where we already store recent family photos).
- Store copies in a cloud photo service so images are safe, searchable, and shareable; we’ll edit dates where needed so everything sorts chronologically.
- Print selected photobooks to replace some physical albums, while letting less meaningful photos exist only digitally.
I’ve started recreating a few albums as hardcover photobooks, but that process is time-consuming—so we’ll prioritize which albums are worth the effort.
One Last Tip
Consider reaching out to a professional photo organizer if you want hands-on help; many professionals offer free tips and courses on scanning, organizing, and backing up photos. I’m gathering notes as I go and will publish a detailed follow-up that includes cost comparisons, workflow recommendations, and the tools that worked best for us. If you’re ready to begin now, start by sorting and culling—removing duplicates and obvious rejects will save hours during scanning.
*Our printer’s flatbed scanner is still working well after several years; the model we own is no longer sold exactly as-is, but similar models remain available if you prefer to scan at home.
This post originally disclosed affiliate links in the source version; links and purchasing details have been omitted here. The advice and descriptions reflect our real, in-progress experience digitizing decades of printed photos.