Our big renovation project just kicked off this week (Sherry’s been sharing behind-the-scenes peeks on Instagram Stories), but I’ve already started another long-awaited project: digitizing our old photos.
It may not have the same dramatic reveal as a renovation, but I’m genuinely excited to get this done. Photo clutter is something lots of people deal with, so I’ll document the process: testing different digitization methods, sharing tips, and explaining what worked and what didn’t.
Why Digitize Our Old Photos?
We have three main goals for digitizing our collection:
1. Safeguard memories
We want to back up our physical photos to a cloud photo service so these images aren’t lost to fire, flood, or simple deterioration. Digital copies make it possible to preserve family memories even if the originals are damaged or misplaced.
2. Free up storage space
Our old, padded photo albums take up a lot of room. They’re several times thicker than the photobooks we now make, so converting older photos into slimmer photobooks (like our annual yearbooks) will free shelf space for games, keepsakes, and future books.
3. Pare down the collection
Not every snapshot deserves permanent storage. We found entire album pages devoted to things like my high school lava lamp and neighborhood fireworks — we had a laugh and shredded those. We’re also removing blurry, dark, or duplicate images, treating old albums the same way we’d clean up a phone camera roll.
How We Are Digitizing Our Photos
I’m experimenting with several approaches. After asking for recommendations on Instagram, a few methods kept coming up, so I’m testing the most common suggestions to compare quality, speed, and cost. The methods I’m trying are:
- iPhone camera
- iPhone camera plus a dedicated scanning app
- A popular, dedicated photo scanner many people recommended
- The flatbed scanner on the printer we already own*
- A third-party digitization service
*Our printer has lasted seven years; I referenced the current model on the market since ours is no longer sold.
I’ll evaluate each option’s pros and cons and share recommendations for different priorities — speed, cost, ease, and image quality. From what I’ve seen so far, there probably won’t be a single best choice for everyone, which is actually helpful: more options let people choose what fits their needs.
What We’re Doing With Our Digitized Photos
After digitizing everything, we plan to take three main steps:
- Back up the files on an external hard drive (where we already keep recent family photos).
- Store copies in the cloud, likely Google Photos, which lets me edit upload dates so images sort chronologically.
- Print photobooks to replace a selection of physical albums — some photos will be kept only in digital form.
I’m prioritizing digitization first; assembling photobooks is more time-consuming. I’ve started recreating a few albums using a popular photobook service and will decide how many are worth the effort as I go.
One Last Tip
This post is an initial overview because many people asked for details. I’m taking notes and will publish a full follow-up with step‑by‑step guidance, price comparisons, and detailed pros and cons. If you’re eager to start now, many readers recommended a professional photo organizer who shares free tips and offers courses on scanning, organizing, and backing up photos. I plan to reference a few expert resources as I finalize the process.
*This post contains affiliate links; we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.