10 Tips to Prepare for Photo Scanning

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We’re going to jump right to the assumption that your photos are organized and now you’re ready to drop them off or ship them to a professional scanning company for digitizing. My first recommendation is to do some research before shipping your photos to a scanning company. You only want to do this one time. Take a look at reviews and maybe call and talk to a team member so that you know what to expect as a final delivery.

To maximize digitizing results for your printed photos here at Photo Archivers, we have some recommendations for you. This article is primarily focused on printed photos but you can apply most of this information to other materials like memorabilia, slide and negatives.
  1. If possible, remove tape and/or place a divider between sticky photos so they don’t stick each other.
  2. Remove photos from albums that you’d like us to scan. For those tricky sticky albums, we can do this step for you. Especially if you think removing them might cause damage to the photos.
  3. Use a 4×6 index card or paper to divide and label your groups of photos. Photo Archivers will use this information to create your digital folders and name your digital files.
  4. Place your photos in a shoebox or other temporary container for transfer. This will also help you gauge how many photos you’ve got.
  5. Consider if you want us to digitize the backs of photos with handwriting, date stamps or other information.
  6. Decide if you’d like us to rehouse your scanned photos into archival boxes.
  7. If there are any photos that require special handling or that you’d like additional restoration work, isolate those and let’s discuss at your drop off appointment
  8. Measure your stacks of photos so you know what you’ve got. One inch of photos, equals about 100 photos. Nobody likes surprises and this tips helps you decide if you need to do further curation before dropping off for scanning.
  9. If your photos are dirty or dusty, use a soft cloth to gently wipe the surface of the photos.
  10. Schedule a drop off appointment with Photo Archivers using the Contact Form below or by giving us a call.
If you’re feeling annoyed reading this list because I assumed that your photos are already organized, don’t be discouraged. We can help get you organized. We have families drop off those chaotic boxes of photos all the time. We are so much more than just a scanning company and we’d be honored to help you get this done!