The Important Extra Step In Scrapbooking Your Photos

Ten years ago my best friend died of cancer. It all happened
very fast and was pretty unbelievable. In a whirlwind her
husband was charged with the terrible task of picking out a
grave plot, a headstone and planning a funeral. All that on top
of caring for two young girls and making sure he didn’t lose his
full time job.

About two days after she passed away my husband and I stopped
by his house to drop off a meal. He was in the dining room,
photographs spread all over the table, sobbing. ” I want the
right ones,” he was saying, “I want the ones where people will
see her… the real her.” He was intent on getting a video of
various photos of his young wife’s life together for the
funeral so that everyone would remember what a wonderful woman
she was. Back in those days that was no easy task.

Photographs hold powerful memories. That’s why we all have so
many of them in boxes in our closets, under our beds and in our
basements.

And that’s why the scrapbooking trend continues to grow at an
enormous rate. People want to keep their photos for
generations. They want those family memories to stay alive for
their progeny and beyond.

If you’re like my friend and like me, many of your photos are
bent, old and just plain tired looking. It’s estimated that
there are billions of photographs stuck in shoe and other boxes
all over the world because people want to hang onto them. But
shoeboxes are not the best places for your photos. At the very
least, you should have your pictures in archival boxes and
preferably in archival safe photo albums and scrapbooks.

But did you know that there’s another way now to keep your old
print photos safe. With all the digital imaging companies out
there and scanners, the best way to insure that those photos
are kept for many generations to come is to store them
digitally. Several companies on the Internet will convert your
print pictures to digital and there are even companies that
will store copies of the digital images in vaults for a
lifetime. Before you take the time to scrapbook them, you’d be
wise to take this additional step in photo archiving.

But don’t just trust your hard drive or CDs. Hard drives can
crash and CDs can break or be scratched. Make sure you find a
good lifetime storage company so that those memories will be
easy to access should something happen with your computer.

Another great benefit to digitizing your old paper prints is
that they can be easily shared with others. Once you’ve scanned
and uploaded them to an online photo sharing site, you can email
those photos to loved ones all over the world. Imagine all the
smiles and joy as the memories of days pass are rekindled for
friends and family alike. Most of these companies also allow
you to make not only prints but products with those pictures as
well. And even a DVD like my friend wanted for his wife’s
funeral.

Many scrapbook instructors encourage their clients to start
scrapbooking from the current pictures and move backward in
time, so the task doesn’t seem so overwhelming. I’d like to
suggest for a project like this, that you start from the
beginning - your oldest paper photos - and move forward. Take a
15-minute time slot one day a month and work through 20, 50 or
even 100 pictures, turning them into digital imagines and
archiving them. Imagine the joy you’ll have as you remember old
times, old friends and fun memories.

Take the time to save your photos. Your children’s
great-grandchildren will be glad you did.

About The Author: Annette Yen is the owner of the website
http://www.familymemoriesalive.com where she encourages
families to record memories in word and photo. Get free digital
prints and sign up for her free family memories ecourse when you
visit her site today.