I love old pictures. Who doesn’t? They are an insight into our relatives’ past that words can’t always express or may provide an illustration to a family story. You get to see what clothes they wore, cars they drove, places they went, and family resemblances. You can also see the towns and cities as they would have known them, the buildings that existed, and what businesses they used to be. You can also see the love that their families shared and that is something we can relate to through the time and space that separates us. It can connect us to a relative long gone.
However, there are things that are a nemesis to pictures. Some are obvious. Things such as water, sunlight, and extreme heat/cold can destroy old photographs. Also things like paper clips and staples, if attached to photographs can, over time, leave rust marks on photographs and ruin then. If pictures have been glued into an old photo album it makes it hard to scan them and can warp them. The worst are things like curling, flaking, and cracking. If you do have some pictures with these issues there are experts out there that can help to alleviate some of those problems and restore the picture.
If you have pictures, make sure when you store them they are in a temperature controlled area and in acid free holders. Be sure to label them. Names, date, ages, and maybe a bit of what the photo is of: graduations, parties, confirmations, baptisms, birthdays, etc. That way, when you go back to view them at a later date you will know exactly what and whom you are looking at.
We live in a wonderful time where we have the ability, rather inexpensively, to make as many copies of a picture you want (or can afford). It is easy to scan the pictures, upload them to photo websites (like Snapfish or CVS), make copies, and put into a picture book or make other products.
When you create a photobook, make sure to put labels so you know who is who. You can also add in family stories or a narrative to go with the picture. Then you can get many copies so everyone in the family can have one. Sometimes the pictures are small and they do not enlarge very well, but with home printers you can easily print out customs sizes. Then you can make family trees, jewelry, or many other projects with the pictures while preserving the original. Never cut or mark up the front of the original. There is no need when copies can be made for anywhere from $0.01 to $0.29 cents. An original photograph cannot be replaced for all the money in the world.
If you are scanning be sure to check the backs for writing. If there is any, scan that too. It can be a nice touch to a photo book to have the label in that person’s handwriting. Also, even if you do not know who the person is, you may find information that makes that label make sense later in your research.
It doesn’t just have to be pictures that you scan you can do letters, postcards, birthday cards, drawings, patches. Anything that you don’t have multiple of and fit on a scanner, it may not be the same as having the actual item, however it does make it easy to share. There was a time before photography and I worry that, even in today's world where it is estimated that in 2014 humans took more pictures in that one year then in all the years since photography was invented, that our relative's one hundred years from now will not have photographs of this generation. Even though someone may take a thousand selfies in a year, if they do not print out some of the pictures and keep them in albums or save them via hard drive to print at a later date, when the phone gets lost or broken, those pictures will be gone with it. So be sure to stay current with the pictures so that there is a complete history.
photography was invented, that our relative’s one hundred years from will not have photographs of this generation. Even though someone may take a thousand selfies in a year, if they don’t print out some of the pictures and keep them in albums or save them via hard drive to print at a later date, when the phone gets lost or broken, those pictures will be gone with it. So be sure to stay current with the pictures so that there is a compete history.
Happy researching.
However, there are things that are a nemesis to pictures. Some are obvious. Things such as water, sunlight, and extreme heat/cold can destroy old photographs. Also things like paper clips and staples, if attached to photographs can, over time, leave rust marks on photographs and ruin then. If pictures have been glued into an old photo album it makes it hard to scan them and can warp them. The worst are things like curling, flaking, and cracking. If you do have some pictures with these issues there are experts out there that can help to alleviate some of those problems and restore the picture.
If you have pictures, make sure when you store them they are in a temperature controlled area and in acid free holders. Be sure to label them. Names, date, ages, and maybe a bit of what the photo is of: graduations, parties, confirmations, baptisms, birthdays, etc. That way, when you go back to view them at a later date you will know exactly what and whom you are looking at.
We live in a wonderful time where we have the ability, rather inexpensively, to make as many copies of a picture you want (or can afford). It is easy to scan the pictures, upload them to photo websites (like Snapfish or CVS), make copies, and put into a picture book or make other products.
When you create a photobook, make sure to put labels so you know who is who. You can also add in family stories or a narrative to go with the picture. Then you can get many copies so everyone in the family can have one. Sometimes the pictures are small and they do not enlarge very well, but with home printers you can easily print out customs sizes. Then you can make family trees, jewelry, or many other projects with the pictures while preserving the original. Never cut or mark up the front of the original. There is no need when copies can be made for anywhere from $0.01 to $0.29 cents. An original photograph cannot be replaced for all the money in the world.
If you are scanning be sure to check the backs for writing. If there is any, scan that too. It can be a nice touch to a photo book to have the label in that person’s handwriting. Also, even if you do not know who the person is, you may find information that makes that label make sense later in your research.
It doesn’t just have to be pictures that you scan you can do letters, postcards, birthday cards, drawings, patches. Anything that you don’t have multiple of and fit on a scanner, it may not be the same as having the actual item, however it does make it easy to share. There was a time before photography and I worry that, even in today's world where it is estimated that in 2014 humans took more pictures in that one year then in all the years since photography was invented, that our relative's one hundred years from now will not have photographs of this generation. Even though someone may take a thousand selfies in a year, if they do not print out some of the pictures and keep them in albums or save them via hard drive to print at a later date, when the phone gets lost or broken, those pictures will be gone with it. So be sure to stay current with the pictures so that there is a complete history.
photography was invented, that our relative’s one hundred years from will not have photographs of this generation. Even though someone may take a thousand selfies in a year, if they don’t print out some of the pictures and keep them in albums or save them via hard drive to print at a later date, when the phone gets lost or broken, those pictures will be gone with it. So be sure to stay current with the pictures so that there is a compete history.
Happy researching.
RSS Feed
