How To Guide on Photos, Slides, Negatives & more

How to Digitize VHS Tapes

If you have been thinking of converting your stack of VHS tapes to digital formats, there are good reasons not to delay the project. Video tapes were not designed to last forever. The longer you wait, the more likely that they will get degraded and you will lose all the precious footage in them - from weddings, reunions, or just daily life moments. (more…)

How to Scan Slides and Negatives

When it comes to digitization, photographic film - mostly negatives and slides - is a different animal. But if scanned and processed the right way, it can yield much better images than prints. We all have archives of negatives that we can't afford to neglect. If you are looking to digitize your stash of film, be prepared for some challenges along the way. But whether you do it yourself or with professional help, this is a worthwhile and rewarding project for the photographer and family archivist.(more…)

How to Create Striking Photo Displays in Your Home

One drawback of digital photos is that we often forget we have them. Which means you could be missing out on a chance to showcase and relive many of your favorite memories. If you have spent time digitizing your collection of old photos, it would be a shame to not do anything with them. Now is a good time to rescue your photos from digital oblivion and place them in eye-catching displays around your home. An eclectic set of frames is still a time-tested method of making your images stand out. But with all the new age photo solutions out there, why not experiment with other cool and creative ways to showcase your prints? (more…)

How to Convert Old Kodachrome Slides to a Digital Format

If you have a collection of old family photos and slides, you are likely to see the ‘Kodachrome' name crop up as you go through it. Even if your slides are not stored in the original box, it is easy to identify a Kodachrome slide. The name is usually printed on the cardboard frame of the slide, establishing its authenticity. (more…)

Converting 8mm Film to Digital: A History and How-to Guide

If you are a keeper of family treasures, you likely have more than a few metal canisters filled with 8mm home movies. They may have labels like "Vacation 66" or "Danny's 8th Birthday". Those films are filled with clips that can transport you - to birthdays, reunions or just daily life moments from the past. It would be a pity to let these memories languish in spools of film that you can’t easily play. And so converting your 8mm film to digital is a project that you should tackle at the earliest. (more…)

How to Bulk Scan a Large Photo Collection

Boxes of old photographs and film are a common find during any spring cleaning operation. In the frenzy of organizing, we can get swept away with visions of scanning all of these and transforming them into digital gems. That is, until we realize just how many photographs have to be scanned and that we are not looking at a quick weekend project. It's hard to know where to begin and how much time we need to budget for the activity (more…)

The 3-Step Approach to Taming and Organizing Your Photo Clutter

In the days of film cameras, taking a picture was a measured activity that few got carried away with. Most people made three to four attempts at capturing an image, experimenting with a few shutter speeds and aperture settings in the process. The hope was that one of those attempts would yield the perfect shot. Times have definitely changed since those days of photographic moderation. Digital now allows people to take as many photos as there is space on their devices (more…)