converting old photos to electronic version

[ghworker2010]

I starting my travelling back in 1995 when there was no internet and obviously had many kodak moments. I now seek to have all my photos in my website.

Im sorting through old boxes and found many printed photos from kodak film. Is my only option to scan the printed photos? Any new technology or brands that you can recommend? Whats the quality like?

[Chicog]

http://www.pcmag.com/reviews/scanners

[RichCor]

There are a variety of methods for digitizing Pos & Neg Film Strips and Printed Media.

I've used both dedicated Slide Scanners, Base-lit overhead digitizers, and standard color scanners with film adapters.

I like the dedicated Slide Scanners the best for their clarity, correct x/y axis profile, and higher resolution. But the process is dead slow (actually SCANS the slide, buzzz, buzz, buzz, buzz).

My preference would be a lit base with high-speed overhead camera digitizer.

Suggest you look at digital photography forums and see if they have any media conversion sections.

[Daffy D]

Most modern day scanners are pretty good, obviously one with a higher optical resolution (pixels) will give more give more detail.

For older photos I would suggest some sort of imaging processing software to brighten up old and faded photos.

http://www.engelmann.com/en-us/photomizerscan.php?affChecked=1

I used their Photomzer Pro on my old slides and it really brought the sparkle back to them

[ghworker2010]

I appreciate all the comments.

How would I find out if the following scanner is mac compatible:

Epson Perfection V550 Photo Color Scanner

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2430106,00.asp

[RichCor]

http://m.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/jsp/Product.do?sku=B11B210201&utm_referrer=direct%2Fnot%20provided

Epson site shows it "compatible", but you should Google the model + "Mac forum" to read reviews and issues.

[ETatBKK]

I appreciate all the comments.

How would I find out if the following scanner is mac compatible:

Epson Perfection V550 Photo Color Scanner

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2430106,00.asp

I have the Epson Perfection V550, good scanner for general purpose scanning but very clumsy and not so good for film scanning.

if budget allows and you have time, go for the dedicated film scanner !

[Tywais]

I have the Epson Perfection V300 for a few years and it does a good job with slides/film but if you have a lot of them it is time consuming. You really want to scan the film and not the photos if you have them available as the photos have an additional granularity to them that is very difficult to post process out. If scanning film/slides it is critical to make sure they are very clean using camel hair brush and/or compressed gas (air/nitrogen). YouTube videos available to show the best way to clean them including liquid cleaners.

Worse comes to worse, use a good digital camera on a tripod and proper lighting and photograph the photos.

Here is a scan using my V300 of a slide I took in 1968 near Utapao.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/105272568@N06/12535188793/sizes/c/

[Tywais]

BTW, when you get them converted feel free to join us in the Photography forum to show us them. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/forum/84-photography-and-the-arts/

[masuk]

I had a problem before moving to Thailand: I had 50 years worth of slides, black and white and colour photos, and did not want to put these into storage.

I bought a Canon scanner, which scanned 5 x 35mm slides at a time. I had to dust and clean each slide, and then colour corrected each one using photoshop.

The system worked fine and all 4000+ slides were scanned over 3 months, numbered and titled.

The scanner also came with negative holders, which printed colour and B & W negatives and gave a 'right way around' (positive) images.

Finally, my prints in albums were scanned.

It was a slow job over winter, and I had many backups, before the originals were eventually scrapped. A tough decision.

The last chore was to make DVDs for each of the family, and send these off.

[lostinisaan]

I have the Epson Perfection V300 for a few years and it does a good job with slides/film but if you have a lot of them it is time consuming. You really want to scan the film and not the photos if you have them available as the photos have an additional granularity to them that is very difficult to post process out. If scanning film/slides it is critical to make sure they are very clean using camel hair brush and/or compressed gas (air/nitrogen). YouTube videos available to show the best way to clean them including liquid cleaners.

Worse comes to worse, use a good digital camera on a tripod and proper lighting and photograph the photos.

Here is a scan using my V300 of a slide I took in 1968 near Utapao.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/105272568@N06/12535188793/sizes/c/

Thanks for sharing. Just found some old photographs, I thought that were destroyed by the nasty flood. Will give it a try.

P.S. Was that a Black & White photo before? Cheers-

Edited March 30, 2015 by lostinisaan

[Tywais]

P.S. Was that a Black & White photo before? Cheers-

No, they actually had color back in the old days.