WmLeeGriffin Loc: PA

Two problems, all with old photos . . .
My mother passed away last year and I have her journal she wants shared with the family. Along with amazing stories she has left me black and white photos, many are really old, taken in China in the 1930's.
Then I have a photo album from my grandfather, pictures taken in China while he was stationed there in the early 1930's. These photos are all of public executions and punishments, (yea, I know). My grandfather was military and there to monitor and document the changes that were going on.
My problem . . . I need to scan the photos from my mother and put everything into a book for the siblings and grandkids. I also have 3 siblings that have asked for copies of the grandfathers photos, (yea, I know). Is there a scanner I should consider for quality, something I can use when getting books made? With the grandfathers album, should I just scan and leave the photos digital on a memory card or thumb drive or have photos printed?

lbrandt79 Loc: League City, Tx.

I just recently did this very thing and used an Epson V500 scanner, did a great job, I then resized the scans as best I could to 'similar' sizes for a slide show presentation.

insman1132 Loc: Southwest Florida

How much have you budgeted for a scanner? Do you have any financial limits that will affect your selection

Morning Star Loc: West coast, North of the 49th N.

First: Can you safely open the album and the journal flat, for scanning? If not, I would consider taking photos of the pages. You'd have to set up, so that the lens is at right angles to the page, or the focal plane of the camera parallel to the page. Experiment with camera settings till you're satisfied. Since you have complete control over lighting and settings, once you have those settings, it should be easy to duplicate results.

If you can open the book and journal safely, and place it face-down without damaging it, I would suggest you look into the Epson line of scanners. They are excellent quality, and the software that comes with them is as well.

If you go the scanning route, also invest into a blower. Also a anti-static cloth (even two).
Work in as dustfree and area as possible.
Before scanning the pages or photos, first blow off any loose dust, then very gently wipe the photo/page with the anti-static cloth.
After every scan, use the second cloth to wipe the inside of the scanner lid, as well as the glass plate. It will only add seconds to your scans to do the wiping, but will save you many hours of editing out dust-specks on the scans. Don't ask me how I know ;^(

In spite of the subjects of your grandfather's album, it is certainly a piece of (family-)history that deserves to be preserved.
I would also like to suggest, that besides the albums for your family members, you also make a DVD with the images, and tell the family to keep up with technology: copy and replace the DVD every so often.

Mr PC Loc: Austin, TX

Computer guy chiming in. Most any modern scanner should have enough DPI to handle the job. My clients that are more into scanning pictures and slides all prefer Epson, if that helps at all.

WmLeeGriffin Loc: PA

Fantastic!! Thank you.

ole sarg Loc: south florida

I forgot the site but the US Army is collecting this kind of material and will put the collection on a disk and return the originals. Do so web searching.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

I agree. Epson has a LOT of experience building scanners. I have a couple of their cheaper ones, which are at least as good as the UMAX production scanners we used in the yearbook business a decade ago (and those were fine!).

The key is to explore and understand and USE all the controls in the Epson Scan driver!

An especially useful tool built into higher end scanners is Digital ICE. It will help eliminate dust, dirt, and scratches. But even the lesser Epson scanners do a fine job.

DragonTom Loc: California Central Coast

Also consider using Creatspace or one of the other book services to create a bound book of the pictures. Will probably last longer than a DVD.

John_F Loc: Minneapolis, MN

So much depends on the fragility of the materials. Are the pages stitched so that disassembling the pages destroys the album or whatever. Years ago a French Canadian geneologist used a hand scanner to copy a page from a 18th Century Parish record book for me. I have a Brookstone hand scanner but its width would not suit your needs. Also, I think archivists use transparent page sleeves for protection. If you live near a bigger library or college, you might try to talk to a library archivist for advice and where to get materials, like sleeves. Let us know what you learn worked and didn't work as your task is in no way isolated.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

It is posssible that these photos may have historical value. Before scanning them I would contact some one so as to find out. They may also be valuable financially, alot depends upon documentation.

castor canadensis

A good scanner is the way to go, and follow morning star's cleanliness tips too. You will nevertheless find that old photo emulsions erode and reveal the paper below which can appear as white specks. Likewise you will find that scratches and creases show up far more than you might like. Some of this can be mitigated by making a scanned preview and playing with your scanner settings before the final scan. You will also find it beneficial to restore contrast and brightness before you scan a good quality print. Scanning is just like taking a photograph - do the best job you can in taking the image. Depending on how meticulous you feel the need to be, you can import scanned images into Photoshop Elements or similar software and heal the wounds that the scanner reveals on old prints. You are lucky to be working with B/W prints; they survive the years well, unlike colour prints that fade to orange & are a real challenge..