Best method to scan and record photos?

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Jim

Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Jim » 05 nov 2007 01:06:25

I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and record
some information about. It seems very tedious to scan a photo, import it
into Word and then add some notes to it. Is there a better way?

The photos are various sizes, B&W, color, etc.

Also, do you have any tips for dealing with the photos themselves, such as
how to remove them from old albums if they're stuck in with tape, etc.?

Thanks.

Hugh Watkins

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Hugh Watkins » 05 nov 2007 04:46:37

Jim wrote:

I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and record
some information about. It seems very tedious to scan a photo, import it
into Word and then add some notes to it. Is there a better way?

I would save it in a folder with a good file name

and give it a long name including the date


The photos are various sizes, B&W, color, etc.

Also, do you have any tips for dealing with the photos themselves, such as
how to remove them from old albums if they're stuck in with tape, etc.?

don't disturb

scan or digital photograph them as they are

you can usefully back them up on Flickr
see my previous post in the group archives

HUgh W


--
For genealogy and help with family and local history in Bristol and
district http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Brycgstow/

http://snaps4.blogspot.com/ photographs and walks

GENEALOGE http://hughw36.blogspot.com/ MAIN BLOG

Rock Troll

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Rock Troll » 05 nov 2007 05:16:06

On Sun, 4 Nov 2007 18:06:25 -0600, "Jim"
<phoneguy@removethisstuffhawkeyerec.com> wrote:

I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and record
some information about. It seems very tedious to scan a photo, import it
into Word and then add some notes to it. Is there a better way?

The photos are various sizes, B&W, color, etc.

Also, do you have any tips for dealing with the photos themselves, such as
how to remove them from old albums if they're stuck in with tape, etc.?

Thanks.


I use Adobe PhotoShop and normally save all of the caption information
in the File > File Info section. This codes the information directly
in the file. Title, Author, Caption, Caption Writer, Copyright status,
etc. Most other photo manipulation programs can read this information.
I think that this information is saved in an Adobe PSD file, TIF and
JPG file (those are the ones that I normally use.) This information
stays with the graphic file from then on.

I then usually copy the file name and caption info into a Notepad
document which is plain text (norrmally anyone can read it on any
platform.) Just because I like keeping information like this in two
places just in case.

Importing the photo into Word is a really bad idea. Word (up until
2003 at least, I haven't used 2007) changes the file to a BMP format
(Microsoft's photo format.) Your nice compact JPG will grow up to 10
times larger. You won't be able to share it with others unless they
have a MS Word and the file will grow horribly big by putting just a
few photos into the Word document. I can't tell you how many times
I've cursed people who've sent me photos that would be relatively
small except they've saved it in a Word document.

I normally will just try and remove the photos from an album with my
fingers. If I feel anything that leads me to believe it won't come out
easily then I stop. I've had pretty good luck scanning the photo's
that won't come out of albums in the album itself. It's not worth it
to me to ruin the photo by trying to remove it when the tape or glue
is still strong.

Them's my thought's hope they help a little.

Christopher Jahn

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Christopher Jahn » 05 nov 2007 05:29:19

Rock Troll <rocktroll@nowhere.net> wrote in
news:us6ti3plmnqen3b31qkpnsaq2ah52fr2bt@4ax.com:

On Sun, 4 Nov 2007 18:06:25 -0600, "Jim"
phoneguy@removethisstuffhawkeyerec.com> wrote:

I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan
and record some information about. It seems very tedious to
scan a photo, import it into Word and then add some notes to
it. Is there a better way?

The photos are various sizes, B&W, color, etc.

Also, do you have any tips for dealing with the photos
themselves, such as how to remove them from old albums if
they're stuck in with tape, etc.?

Thanks.


I use Adobe PhotoShop and normally save all of the caption
information in the File > File Info section.

IrfanView also allows you to record this information, and it has
the added benefit of being free. You can also use the "text"
tool to add text to the photo directly in view.

Irfanview also allows you to move to the next photo in the folder
without having to minimize, find the file, double click to open.
Just 'arrow ahead' or 'page down.'

--
}:-) Christopher Jahn
{:-( http://soflatheatre.blogspot.com/

An idle mind is worth two in the bush.

Photon713

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Photon713 » 05 nov 2007 05:50:12

I'd recommend you check out FotoTagger. Allows you to add information
and turn it off and on on demand. Very simple and easy to use.

Bob

--
__________
lvMMMCCIX
http://www.raogk.com
Genealogy Volunteer
"Jim" <phoneguy@removethisstuffhawkeyerec.com> wrote in message
news:fgln35$rbu$1@news.netins.net...
I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and record
some information about. It seems very tedious to scan a photo, import it
into Word and then add some notes to it. Is there a better way?

The photos are various sizes, B&W, color, etc.

Also, do you have any tips for dealing with the photos themselves, such as
how to remove them from old albums if they're stuck in with tape, etc.?

Thanks.

David Rowell

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av David Rowell » 05 nov 2007 22:18:47

Jim wrote:
I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and record
some information about. It seems very tedious to scan a photo, import it
into Word and then add some notes to it. Is there a better way?

The photos are various sizes, B&W, color, etc.

Also, do you have any tips for dealing with the photos themselves, such as
how to remove them from old albums if they're stuck in with tape, etc.?

Thanks.


Having recently finished a project involving some 5 computer paper boxes

of family photos here's my 2 cents worth:
1 - scan at a resolution of at least 300 dpi - 600 for the "good stuff"
(years ago I didn't and have had to find and rescan all of them) If
they're stuck in an album or frame scan them that way - I had to take
apart really old photo albums and reassemble them. I even had one
picture that was stuck to the frame's glass.
2 - save the resulting file to a format such as .tif which doesn't
remove content - any .tif compression scheme is OK but check with others
for readability
3 - give the file a meaningful name - if that means using names I'd
suggest family name given name order then year, if you KNOW it.
4 - personally I scan what were once b/w pictures as b/w rather than the
sepia they've faded to - makes for a smaller more easily edited file.
5 - Rock Troll suggested saving the file names and caption information
in a text file. I'll second that! But at the same time with a little
forethought and a decent editor you might save the filename first
followed by tabs. In that way you could sort the lines, paragraphs
really. I've used that method recording my recollections of the
people/places. For instance none of my family's younger generation know
what early farm operations and household chores were all about. Brief
notes help them understand what gggrandpa was doing.
6 - Get them all on data CD's or DVD's - spread them around - they're
too precious to lose
7 - Sit down with "the older generation" or at a reunion, review the pix
and see what the reaction is.

Michelle, Sabrina's Mom

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Michelle, Sabrina's Mom » 06 nov 2007 02:24:05

"David Rowell" <djrpublic@cfl.rr.com> wrote in message
news:472f88b8$0$25143$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
Jim wrote:
I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and record
some information about. It seems very tedious to scan a photo, import it
into Word and then add some notes to it. Is there a better way?

The photos are various sizes, B&W, color, etc.

Also, do you have any tips for dealing with the photos themselves, such
as how to remove them from old albums if they're stuck in with tape,
etc.?

Thanks.
Having recently finished a project involving some 5 computer paper boxes
of family photos here's my 2 cents worth:
1 - scan at a resolution of at least 300 dpi - 600 for the "good stuff"
(years ago I didn't and have had to find and rescan all of them) If
they're stuck in an album or frame scan them that way - I had to take
apart really old photo albums and reassemble them. I even had one picture
that was stuck to the frame's glass.
2 - save the resulting file to a format such as .tif which doesn't remove
content - any .tif compression scheme is OK but check with others for
readability
3 - give the file a meaningful name - if that means using names I'd
suggest family name given name order then year, if you KNOW it.
4 - personally I scan what were once b/w pictures as b/w rather than the
sepia they've faded to - makes for a smaller more easily edited file.
5 - Rock Troll suggested saving the file names and caption information in
a text file. I'll second that! But at the same time with a little
forethought and a decent editor you might save the filename first followed
by tabs. In that way you could sort the lines, paragraphs really. I've
used that method recording my recollections of the people/places. For
instance none of my family's younger generation know what early farm
operations and household chores were all about. Brief notes help them
understand what gggrandpa was doing.
6 - Get them all on data CD's or DVD's - spread them around - they're too
precious to lose
7 - Sit down with "the older generation" or at a reunion, review the pix
and see what the reaction is.

Wow, great suggestions! I have boxes full of old albums and pictures that
once were my mothers. I keep procrastinating about what I should do with
them.

hlmw

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av hlmw » 06 nov 2007 04:20:16

Michelle, Sabrina's Mom wrote:
"David Rowell" <djrpublic@cfl.rr.com> wrote in message
news:472f88b8$0$25143$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...

Jim wrote:

I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and record
some information about. It seems very tedious to scan a photo, import it
into Word and then add some notes to it. Is there a better way?

The photos are various sizes, B&W, color, etc.

Also, do you have any tips for dealing with the photos themselves, such
as how to remove them from old albums if they're stuck in with tape,
etc.?

Thanks.

Having recently finished a project involving some 5 computer paper boxes
of family photos here's my 2 cents worth:
1 - scan at a resolution of at least 300 dpi - 600 for the "good stuff"
(years ago I didn't and have had to find and rescan all of them) If
they're stuck in an album or frame scan them that way - I had to take
apart really old photo albums and reassemble them. I even had one picture
that was stuck to the frame's glass.
2 - save the resulting file to a format such as .tif which doesn't remove
content - any .tif compression scheme is OK but check with others for
readability
3 - give the file a meaningful name - if that means using names I'd
suggest family name given name order then year, if you KNOW it.
4 - personally I scan what were once b/w pictures as b/w rather than the
sepia they've faded to - makes for a smaller more easily edited file.
5 - Rock Troll suggested saving the file names and caption information in
a text file. I'll second that! But at the same time with a little
forethought and a decent editor you might save the filename first followed
by tabs. In that way you could sort the lines, paragraphs really. I've
used that method recording my recollections of the people/places. For
instance none of my family's younger generation know what early farm
operations and household chores were all about. Brief notes help them
understand what gggrandpa was doing.
6 - Get them all on data CD's or DVD's - spread them around - they're too
precious to lose
7 - Sit down with "the older generation" or at a reunion, review the pix
and see what the reaction is.


Wow, great suggestions! I have boxes full of old albums and pictures that
once were my mothers. I keep procrastinating about what I should do with
them.

Don't wait, do it now. No matter what method you use it will take a lot of time, but every mioment spent is worthwhile, especially to those who end up with a CD because of your intensive work. Congrats and keep going!
Lorna




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T.M. Sommers

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av T.M. Sommers » 06 nov 2007 05:13:14

Rock Troll wrote:
Importing the photo into Word is a really bad idea. Word (up until
2003 at least, I haven't used 2007) changes the file to a BMP format
(Microsoft's photo format.) Your nice compact JPG will grow up to 10
times larger.

As far as color photos go, the worst thing about BMP format is
that it is limited to a palette of 256 colors. That just isn't
good enough for a color photo.

--
Thomas M. Sommers -- tms@nj.net -- AB2SB

WGWhalley

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av WGWhalley » 06 nov 2007 13:47:06

David Rowell wrote:

3 - give the file a meaningful name - if that means using names I'd
suggest family name given name order then year, if you KNOW it.

Nice list. My suggestion: include a unique number as part of the file
name for each image.

Allen

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Allen » 06 nov 2007 16:31:18

David Rowell wrote:
Jim wrote:
I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and
record some information about. It seems very tedious to scan a photo,
import it into Word and then add some notes to it. Is there a better way?

The photos are various sizes, B&W, color, etc.

Also, do you have any tips for dealing with the photos themselves,
such as how to remove them from old albums if they're stuck in with
tape, etc.?

Thanks.

Having recently finished a project involving some 5 computer paper boxes
of family photos here's my 2 cents worth:
1 - scan at a resolution of at least 300 dpi - 600 for the "good stuff"
(years ago I didn't and have had to find and rescan all of them) If
they're stuck in an album or frame scan them that way - I had to take
apart really old photo albums and reassemble them. I even had one
picture that was stuck to the frame's glass.
2 - save the resulting file to a format such as .tif which doesn't
remove content - any .tif compression scheme is OK but check with others
for readability
3 - give the file a meaningful name - if that means using names I'd
suggest family name given name order then year, if you KNOW it.
4 - personally I scan what were once b/w pictures as b/w rather than the
sepia they've faded to - makes for a smaller more easily edited file.
5 - Rock Troll suggested saving the file names and caption information
in a text file. I'll second that! But at the same time with a little
forethought and a decent editor you might save the filename first
followed by tabs. In that way you could sort the lines, paragraphs
really. I've used that method recording my recollections of the
people/places. For instance none of my family's younger generation know
what early farm operations and household chores were all about. Brief
notes help them understand what gggrandpa was doing.
6 - Get them all on data CD's or DVD's - spread them around - they're
too precious to lose
7 - Sit down with "the older generation" or at a reunion, review the pix
and see what the reaction is.
Very good advice! I've been confronted with scanning many old photos and

have enjoyed it immensely. My mother came from a truly fun-loving
family, all with great senses of humor. She started taking pictures when
she was 12 (in 1912) with a Kodak folding camera and had a vast array of
photos that revealed a great deal about the family. I'm sorry to say
that pictures from my father's family are almost non-existent--until my
mother starting photographing them.
About backup--I have everything on hard disc and on CDs at home, and a
set of CDs in my safe deposit box at the bank. I would recommend CDs
instead of DVDs, as the CDs have a track record of better life span than
DVDs; of course, that leads to a rather large stack of CDs, but so what?
As to number 7: sorry, I can't do that; I AM the "older generation". And
another thing I would add: my daughter has prints of several of my scans
framed and hanging in her house. That daughter is also an artist and she
gave me a very nice framed pencil drawing of my mother (who died before
her birth) that she made from one of thsoe prints.
Allen

Jim

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Jim » 06 nov 2007 18:42:53

7 - Sit down with "the older generation" or at a reunion, review the pix
and see what the reaction is.

Once when I was video taping my Dad, telling some of the old stories, etc.,
we set out a few of the old photos and got him to identify them and tell the
stories about who was in the picture, etc. It was a good topic starter. He
soon forgot the camera was aimed at him.

Another time, I set up my laptop with my scanner at the kitchen table, along
with a box of photos. I scanned a photo, then put it on the table and Dad
told us the history behind it, who was in it, etc. While he talked, I
recorded the information he had into a word document, trying to match it up
to the photo. Now, with some of the earlier suggestions, I will try this
again. However, since Dad is no longer with us, I will suggest a new #1 in
Davids' list: Do it _now_ while you have someone around that knows even part
of the history. Even if it's you!

Jim

Rock Troll

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Rock Troll » 07 nov 2007 07:54:32

On Tue, 06 Nov 2007 17:42:53 GMT, "Jim"
<phoneguy@removethisstuffhawkeyerec.com> wrote:

7 - Sit down with "the older generation" or at a reunion, review the pix
and see what the reaction is.

Once when I was video taping my Dad, telling some of the old stories, etc.,
we set out a few of the old photos and got him to identify them and tell the
stories about who was in the picture, etc. It was a good topic starter. He
soon forgot the camera was aimed at him.

Another time, I set up my laptop with my scanner at the kitchen table, along
with a box of photos. I scanned a photo, then put it on the table and Dad
told us the history behind it, who was in it, etc. While he talked, I
recorded the information he had into a word document, trying to match it up
to the photo. Now, with some of the earlier suggestions, I will try this
again. However, since Dad is no longer with us, I will suggest a new #1 in
Davids' list: Do it _now_ while you have someone around that knows even part
of the history. Even if it's you!

Jim


I would second the advice to start now. I spent a frustrating week
with my wife's mother and father (both in their 80's) last year. I
brought my tablet PC and my scanner. They were wonderful on bringing
out all of the photos that they had. Even the photos that were passed
on from my wife's grandmother who lived to 102. Some of the photos had
names and dates written on the back and most didn't. Memory on a
particular photo sometimes was great, they knew who was in the photo,
what the activity was, where it was taken and approximate date. But a
lot of the photos had no memories or clue who they were associated
with them.

Two things I took a way from that experience was to mark the photos
that I've taken with who, what, where, and when. The second was to
start talking to family members NOW!! They may be gone before you
realize it.

Good luck on your scanning project.

singhals

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av singhals » 15 nov 2007 02:59:00

Allen wrote:

DVDs; of course, that leads to a rather large stack of CDs, but so what?
As to number 7: sorry, I can't do that; I AM the "older generation". And

Hint: Often people your age or younger have photos just like
yours only with IDs. (g) My GGF's sister labelled all her
photos, so I know that the picture of two little boys
staring wide-eyed at the camera are my GF and his brother.

Also, it seems to be "normal" for different family members
to hear different memories (my next sister kept hearing
about the corset and I heard about the lipstick) from the
same source.

Cheryl

Sir Creep

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Sir Creep » 15 nov 2007 14:55:06

On Nov 5, 4:18 pm, David Rowell <djrpub...@cfl.rr.com> wrote:
Jim wrote:
I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and record
some information about. It seems very tedious to scan a photo, import it
into Word and then add some notes to it. Is there a better way?

The photos are various sizes, B&W, color, etc.

Also, do you have any tips for dealing with the photos themselves, such as
how to remove them from old albums if they're stuck in with tape, etc.?

Thanks.

Having recently finished a project involving some 5 computer paper boxes
of family photos here's my 2 cents worth:
1 - scan at a resolution of at least 300 dpi - 600 for the "good stuff"
(years ago I didn't and have had to find and rescan all of them) If
they're stuck in an album or frame scan them that way - I had to take
apart really old photo albums and reassemble them. I even had one
picture that was stuck to the frame's glass.
2 - save the resulting file to a format such as .tif which doesn't
remove content - any .tif compression scheme is OK but check with others
for readability
3 - give the file a meaningful name - if that means using names I'd
suggest family name given name order then year, if you KNOW it.
4 - personally I scan what were once b/w pictures as b/w rather than the
sepia they've faded to - makes for a smaller more easily edited file.
5 - Rock Troll suggested saving the file names and caption information
in a text file. I'll second that! But at the same time with a little
forethought and a decent editor you might save the filename first
followed by tabs. In that way you could sort the lines, paragraphs
really. I've used that method recording my recollections of the
people/places. For instance none of my family's younger generation know
what early farm operations and household chores were all about. Brief
notes help them understand what gggrandpa was doing.
6 - Get them all on data CD's or DVD's - spread them around - they're
too precious to lose
7 - Sit down with "the older generation" or at a reunion, review the pix
and see what the reaction is.


All that works fine and dandy for photo albums, which I know I
know ...it's the topic of the post. But my lame family (primarily in
the 1955-75 era) decided to eschew photos for the wonderful media
known as SLIDES....now how the HELL am I supposed to get the slide
photos into a CD format? Ugh. In fact, I just inherited antoher 3
boxes (!) of slides from my uncle/aunt on my mom's side. Yup, the same
'family slide shows' of them on their trip to FLA I saw when I was 7.
Enough time has passed (I'm 44) that they may be interesting to view
once more LOL, but honestly, once I choose the 3% that I might want to
document, how would I get a slide projector photo into a usable
format?

Thanks for letting me go O.T. a tad.
Patrick

Gene Y.

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Gene Y. » 15 nov 2007 16:04:53

Sir Creep wrote:
On Nov 5, 4:18 pm, David Rowell <djrpub...@cfl.rr.com> wrote:
Jim wrote:
I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and record


Enough time has passed (I'm 44) that they may be interesting to view
once more LOL, but honestly, once I choose the 3% that I might want to
document, how would I get a slide projector photo into a usable
format?

Thanks for letting me go O.T. a tad.
Patrick

Look for a scanner with a slide adapter.

--
Gene Y.
n2kvs
Researching Young, Zies, Harer & Cox.
http://h1.ripway.com/egptech/

Graeme Wall

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Graeme Wall » 15 nov 2007 16:25:59

In message <473c601c$0$19801$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>
"Gene Y." <please.ask> wrote:

Sir Creep wrote:
On Nov 5, 4:18 pm, David Rowell <djrpub...@cfl.rr.com> wrote:
Jim wrote:
I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and record


Enough time has passed (I'm 44) that they may be interesting to view
once more LOL, but honestly, once I choose the 3% that I might want to
document, how would I get a slide projector photo into a usable
format?

Thanks for letting me go O.T. a tad.
Patrick

Look for a scanner with a slide adapter.


Or, if you have a lot to do, there are dedicated slide scanners available,
including one that claims to do batches of up to 100, Braun Multimag, works
with Mac OSX or W2000. Not cheap though.

--
Graeme Wall

My genealogy website <www.greywall.demon.co.uk/geneology>

Sir Creep

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Sir Creep » 15 nov 2007 18:51:13

On Nov 15, 10:25 am, Graeme Wall <Gra...@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
In message <473c601c$0$19801$4c368...@roadrunner.com
"Gene Y." <please.ask> wrote:





Sir Creep wrote:
On Nov 5, 4:18 pm, David Rowell <djrpub...@cfl.rr.com> wrote:
Jim wrote:
I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and record

Enough time has passed (I'm 44) that they may be interesting to view
once more LOL, but honestly, once I choose the 3% that I might want to
document, how would I get a slide projector photo into a usable
format?

Thanks for letting me go O.T. a tad.
Patrick

Look for a scanner with a slide adapter.

Or, if you have a lot to do, there are dedicated slide scanners available,
including one that claims to do batches of up to 100, Braun Multimag, works
with Mac OSX or W2000. Not cheap though.

--
Graeme Wall

My genealogy website <www.greywall.demon.co.uk/geneology>- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Hey thanks!
Will begin looking into options. I figured it may be cost-
prohibitve...but this shouldn't be a unique problem....didn't everyone
else's parents, etc create slides and invite unwitting relatives over
to show them to as if they had ANY interest? LOL

dave

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av dave » 15 nov 2007 20:10:28

I recently saw an ad in the newspaper for a slide/negative digitizer. I
believe the price was about $99. Unfortunately don't remember/have the name
of the company. If memory serves, it 'looked' like a one-at-a-time gizmo.
The newspaper was the Washington Post and was about a week ago.


"Sir Creep" <sircreep@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:f68b3dcd-8717-4b7b-8479-6a56841df549@b40g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 15, 10:25 am, Graeme Wall <Gra...@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
In message <473c601c$0$19801$4c368...@roadrunner.com
"Gene Y." <please.ask> wrote:





Sir Creep wrote:
On Nov 5, 4:18 pm, David Rowell <djrpub...@cfl.rr.com> wrote:
Jim wrote:
I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and
record

Enough time has passed (I'm 44) that they may be interesting to view
once more LOL, but honestly, once I choose the 3% that I might want
to
document, how would I get a slide projector photo into a usable
format?

Thanks for letting me go O.T. a tad.
Patrick

Look for a scanner with a slide adapter.

Or, if you have a lot to do, there are dedicated slide scanners
available,
including one that claims to do batches of up to 100, Braun Multimag,
works
with Mac OSX or W2000. Not cheap though.

--
Graeme Wall

My genealogy website <www.greywall.demon.co.uk/geneology>- Hide quoted
text -

- Show quoted text -

Hey thanks!
Will begin looking into options. I figured it may be cost-
prohibitve...but this shouldn't be a unique problem....didn't everyone
else's parents, etc create slides and invite unwitting relatives over
to show them to as if they had ANY interest? LOL

Robert

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Robert » 16 nov 2007 03:04:52

I have an Epson 4180 Photo (Flat Bed) scanner that does a fine job of
scanning slides. In fact I was even able to scan "super Slides".

Bob

"Sir Creep" <sircreep@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:69f80a6d-1f96-47e0-adc0-500c17b87edd@w73g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 5, 4:18 pm, David Rowell <djrpub...@cfl.rr.com> wrote:
Jim wrote:
I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and
record
some information about. It seems very tedious to scan a photo, import
it
into Word and then add some notes to it. Is there a better way?

The photos are various sizes, B&W, color, etc.

Also, do you have any tips for dealing with the photos themselves, such
as
how to remove them from old albums if they're stuck in with tape, etc.?

Thanks.

Having recently finished a project involving some 5 computer paper boxes
of family photos here's my 2 cents worth:
1 - scan at a resolution of at least 300 dpi - 600 for the "good stuff"
(years ago I didn't and have had to find and rescan all of them) If
they're stuck in an album or frame scan them that way - I had to take
apart really old photo albums and reassemble them. I even had one
picture that was stuck to the frame's glass.
2 - save the resulting file to a format such as .tif which doesn't
remove content - any .tif compression scheme is OK but check with others
for readability
3 - give the file a meaningful name - if that means using names I'd
suggest family name given name order then year, if you KNOW it.
4 - personally I scan what were once b/w pictures as b/w rather than the
sepia they've faded to - makes for a smaller more easily edited file.
5 - Rock Troll suggested saving the file names and caption information
in a text file. I'll second that! But at the same time with a little
forethought and a decent editor you might save the filename first
followed by tabs. In that way you could sort the lines, paragraphs
really. I've used that method recording my recollections of the
people/places. For instance none of my family's younger generation know
what early farm operations and household chores were all about. Brief
notes help them understand what gggrandpa was doing.
6 - Get them all on data CD's or DVD's - spread them around - they're
too precious to lose
7 - Sit down with "the older generation" or at a reunion, review the pix
and see what the reaction is.


All that works fine and dandy for photo albums, which I know I
know ...it's the topic of the post. But my lame family (primarily in
the 1955-75 era) decided to eschew photos for the wonderful media
known as SLIDES....now how the HELL am I supposed to get the slide
photos into a CD format? Ugh. In fact, I just inherited antoher 3
boxes (!) of slides from my uncle/aunt on my mom's side. Yup, the same
'family slide shows' of them on their trip to FLA I saw when I was 7.
Enough time has passed (I'm 44) that they may be interesting to view
once more LOL, but honestly, once I choose the 3% that I might want to
document, how would I get a slide projector photo into a usable
format?

Thanks for letting me go O.T. a tad.
Patrick

Lesley Robertson

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Lesley Robertson » 16 nov 2007 11:32:28

Just a quick reminder since there seems to be a few beginners reading this
thread. Don't rely on long term storage on CD-Rs. I found a batch of 4
yesterday, all of which are unreadable. Fortunately I have all my CDs backed
up to an external harddrive, so it's easy to burn more. DVDs are more
stable. If you have to use CDs, make duplicates from different
manufacturers. The reason all 4 of mine failed at the same time is because
they all came out of the same box, and thus presumably the same batch. At
least different batches should fail at different times!
Lesley Robertson

cecilia

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av cecilia » 16 nov 2007 11:47:20

On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:59:00 -0500, singhals <singhals@erols.com>
wrote:

[...] Often people your age or younger have photos just like
yours only with IDs. (g) My GGF's sister labelled all her
photos, so I know that the picture of two little boys
staring wide-eyed at the camera are my GF and his brother.
[...]

My aunt was a keen, and very good, amateur photographer. After her
and her husband's deaths, some lovely photographs of her parents came
my way, that their son, my father, had never seen. On the back were
neither the names (no problem) nor the date and place (which would
have been good) but details of the aperture and exposure
<frustration>..

singhals

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av singhals » 16 nov 2007 17:29:23

Lesley Robertson wrote:

DVDs are more
stable.

So far.

:}

Cheryl

Michael Kenefick

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Michael Kenefick » 16 nov 2007 23:00:23

And now the powers that be are trying to get rid of regular DVDs in favor of HD
DVDs or Blu-Ray DVDs or time limited downloads. A music show (on PBS?) stated
that CDs are out and that every one wanted MP3 players. That show claimed that
Wal~Mart and Target are going to stop CD sales in 2008? All I can say is unless
your DVD or CD breaks it should be readable in the future. HDDs fail. Web
sites close. MP3s have varying quality. I like having hard copies of many things.

Mike in Ohio

singhals wrote:
Lesley Robertson wrote:

DVDs are more stable.


So far.

:}

Cheryl

Doug Chadduck

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Doug Chadduck » 17 nov 2007 00:05:59

cecilia wrote:
On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:59:00 -0500, singhals <singhals@erols.com
wrote:

[...] Often people your age or younger have photos just like
yours only with IDs. (g) My GGF's sister labelled all her
photos, so I know that the picture of two little boys
staring wide-eyed at the camera are my GF and his brother.
[...]

My aunt was a keen, and very good, amateur photographer. After her
and her husband's deaths, some lovely photographs of her parents came
my way, that their son, my father, had never seen. On the back were
neither the names (no problem) nor the date and place (which would
have been good) but details of the aperture and exposure
frustration>..

My favorites are the pictures of my grandfather's parents, aunts and
uncles etc. At least that's who I presume. On the back of many of them
is my grandfathers name as the person the photograph was given to.
Arrrrgh!

Hugh Watkins

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Hugh Watkins » 17 nov 2007 00:53:06

"Doug Chadduck" <dchadduck@comcast.net> skrev i en meddelelse
news:GPCdnaA52cfKv6PanZ2dnUVZ_sHinZ2d@comcast.com...
cecilia wrote:
On Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:59:00 -0500, singhals <singhals@erols.com
wrote:

[...] Often people your age or younger have photos just like yours only
with IDs. (g) My GGF's sister labelled all her photos, so I know that
the picture of two little boys staring wide-eyed at the camera are my GF
and his brother.
[...]

My aunt was a keen, and very good, amateur photographer. After her
and her husband's deaths, some lovely photographs of her parents came
my way, that their son, my father, had never seen. On the back were
neither the names (no problem) nor the date and place (which would
have been good) but details of the aperture and exposure
frustration>..

My favorites are the pictures of my grandfather's parents, aunts and
uncles etc. At least that's who I presume. On the back of many of them is
my grandfathers name as the person the photograph was given to.
Arrrrgh!

One family album from Wales turned up in Australia

I was sent an email which I lost
then my new MacBook Pro broke
and the email with attachments was recoverable on my old machine before I
went on line

I saved the attachments and uploaded them to Flickr as a set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hughw36/se ... 208069623/


scanned from a negative
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hughw36/se ... 137231641/

Hugh W

Allen

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Allen » 17 nov 2007 03:27:39

Lesley Robertson wrote:
Just a quick reminder since there seems to be a few beginners reading this
thread. Don't rely on long term storage on CD-Rs. I found a batch of 4
yesterday, all of which are unreadable. Fortunately I have all my CDs backed
up to an external harddrive, so it's easy to burn more. DVDs are more
stable. If you have to use CDs, make duplicates from different
manufacturers. The reason all 4 of mine failed at the same time is because
they all came out of the same box, and thus presumably the same batch. At
least different batches should fail at different times!
Lesley Robertson


In the audio and video ngs, the conventional wisdom is the opposute: VDs

have a better life expectancy than DVDs. Only one thing favors the DVD:
thicker, tougher back coating.
Allen

Gjest

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Gjest » 17 nov 2007 10:21:40

Sir Creep wrote:

On Nov 15, 10:25 am, Graeme Wall <Gra...@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
In message <473c601c$0$19801$4c368...@roadrunner.com
"Gene Y." <please.ask> wrote:





Sir Creep wrote:
On Nov 5, 4:18 pm, David Rowell <djrpub...@cfl.rr.com> wrote:
Jim wrote:
I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and
record

Enough time has passed (I'm 44) that they may be interesting to view
once more LOL, but honestly, once I choose the 3% that I might want
to document, how would I get a slide projector photo into a usable
format?

Thanks for letting me go O.T. a tad.
Patrick

Look for a scanner with a slide adapter.

Or, if you have a lot to do, there are dedicated slide scanners
available, including one that claims to do batches of up to 100, Braun
Multimag, works
with Mac OSX or W2000. Not cheap though.

--
Graeme Wall

My genealogy website <www.greywall.demon.co.uk/geneology>- Hide quoted
text -

- Show quoted text -

Hey thanks!
Will begin looking into options. I figured it may be cost-
prohibitve...

Dedicated slide scanners come indeed at a price, but Epson (and others) have
very modestly priced flatbed photo scanners, which do quite nicely,
provided you do not want to print to more than page size dimensions

Herman Viaene


but this shouldn't be a unique problem....didn't everyone
else's parents, etc create slides and invite unwitting relatives over
to show them to as if they had ANY interest? LOL

--
Veel mensen danken hun goed geweten aan hun slecht geheugen. (G. Bomans)

Lots of people owe their good conscience to their bad memory (G. Bomans)

VMills

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av VMills » 17 nov 2007 15:23:35

Is it just me, or are all the replies on this message board at the
bottom of the email? There are also a lot of extra characters, such
as > in the email. Just checking to I can try to resolve with my
service if I'm alone in this.

Thank you,



On Nov 17, 2007 3:21 AM, <herman.viaene@thuis.be> wrote:
Sir Creep wrote:

On Nov 15, 10:25 am, Graeme Wall <Gra...@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
In message <473c601c$0$19801$4c368...@roadrunner.com
"Gene Y." <please.ask> wrote:





Sir Creep wrote:
On Nov 5, 4:18 pm, David Rowell <djrpub...@cfl.rr.com> wrote:
Jim wrote:
I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and
record

Enough time has passed (I'm 44) that they may be interesting to view
once more LOL, but honestly, once I choose the 3% that I might want
to document, how would I get a slide projector photo into a usable
format?

Thanks for letting me go O.T. a tad.
Patrick

Look for a scanner with a slide adapter.

Or, if you have a lot to do, there are dedicated slide scanners
available, including one that claims to do batches of up to 100, Braun
Multimag, works
with Mac OSX or W2000. Not cheap though.

--
Graeme Wall

My genealogy website <www.greywall.demon.co.uk/geneology>- Hide quoted
text -

- Show quoted text -

Hey thanks!
Will begin looking into options. I figured it may be cost-
prohibitve...

Dedicated slide scanners come indeed at a price, but Epson (and others) have
very modestly priced flatbed photo scanners, which do quite nicely,
provided you do not want to print to more than page size dimensions

Herman Viaene


but this shouldn't be a unique problem....didn't everyone
else's parents, etc create slides and invite unwitting relatives over
to show them to as if they had ANY interest? LOL

--
Veel mensen danken hun goed geweten aan hun slecht geheugen. (G. Bomans)

Lots of people owe their good conscience to their bad memory (G. Bomans)

-------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ALT-GENEALOGY-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Sir Creep

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Sir Creep » 17 nov 2007 15:50:07

On Nov 16, 5:32 am, "Lesley Robertson" <l.a.robert...@tnw.tudelft.nl>
wrote:
Just a quick reminder since there seems to be a few beginners reading this
thread. Don't rely on long term storage on CD-Rs. I found a batch of 4
yesterday, all of which are unreadable. Fortunately I have all my CDs backed
up to an external harddrive, so it's easy to burn more. DVDs are more
stable. If you have to use CDs, make duplicates from different
manufacturers. The reason all 4 of mine failed at the same time is because
they all came out of the same box, and thus presumably the same batch. At
least different batches should fail at different times!
Lesley Robertson

Thus the beauty of the 1G (or now 4G?) thumb drive. Virus free too!

Gene Y.

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Gene Y. » 17 nov 2007 15:59:57

VMills wrote:
Is it just me, or are all the replies on this message board at the
bottom of the email? There are also a lot of extra characters, such
as > in the email. Just checking to I can try to resolve with my
service if I'm alone in this.

Thank you,




It is the historically accepted method of replying to a post by adding your comments either at the

bottom, called bottom posting, or interspersed throughout the original post. These methods make it
easier to follow the point being discussed. It is also considered good manners to trim away
anything not related to your response. The > symbols indicate the text of the original post. >>
indicates that it is text that has bee quoted twice.

Gene

Allen

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Allen » 17 nov 2007 16:21:48

Gene Y. wrote:
VMills wrote:
Is it just me, or are all the replies on this message board at the
bottom of the email? There are also a lot of extra characters, such
as > in the email. Just checking to I can try to resolve with my
service if I'm alone in this.

Thank you,




It is the historically accepted method of replying to a post by adding
your comments either at the bottom, called bottom posting, or
interspersed throughout the original post. These methods make it easier
to follow the point being discussed. It is also considered good manners
to trim away anything not related to your response. The > symbols
indicate the text of the original post. >> indicates that it is text
that has bee quoted twice.

Gene
Yes, the normal form in conversation is question, followed by answer,

except in "Jeopardy!".

T.M. Sommers

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av T.M. Sommers » 17 nov 2007 22:54:15

Allen wrote:
Gene Y. wrote:
VMills wrote:

Is it just me, or are all the replies on this message board at the
bottom of the email? There are also a lot of extra characters, such
as > in the email. Just checking to I can try to resolve with my
service if I'm alone in this.

It's not a message board, it is a Usenet newsgroup.

It is the historically accepted method of replying to a post by adding
your comments either at the bottom, called bottom posting, or
interspersed throughout the original post. These methods make it
easier to follow the point being discussed. It is also considered
good manners to trim away anything not related to your response. The
symbols indicate the text of the original post. >> indicates that
it is text that has bee quoted twice.

Yes, the normal form in conversation is question, followed by answer,
except in "Jeopardy!".

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read
text.
Q: Why is it such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

--
Thomas M. Sommers -- tms@nj.net -- AB2SB

Doug Chadduck

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Doug Chadduck » 17 nov 2007 23:36:28

T.M. Sommers wrote:
Allen wrote:
Gene Y. wrote:
VMills wrote:

Is it just me, or are all the replies on this message board at the
bottom of the email? There are also a lot of extra characters, such
as > in the email. Just checking to I can try to resolve with my
service if I'm alone in this.

It's not a message board, it is a Usenet newsgroup.

It is the historically accepted method of replying to a post by
adding your comments either at the bottom, called bottom posting, or
interspersed throughout the original post. These methods make it
easier to follow the point being discussed. It is also considered
good manners to trim away anything not related to your response. The
symbols indicate the text of the original post. >> indicates that
it is text that has bee quoted twice.

Yes, the normal form in conversation is question, followed by answer,
except in "Jeopardy!".

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is it such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?




Grin




Exactely




HUH?

Jim Elbrecht

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Jim Elbrecht » 18 nov 2007 01:03:45

On Sat, 17 Nov 2007 06:47:57 -0800 (PST), Sir Creep
<sircreep@hotmail.com> wrote:

-snip-
Thus the beauty of the 1G (or now 4G?) thumb drive. Virus free too!

Corsair makes a 32GB -- and for a *lot* of money Kanguru makes a
64.[that they claim will retain data for 10 yrs].

But I would think you could pass viruses around on a thumb drive as
easily as with a floppy. Did I misunderstand you, or is one of us
mistaken?
Jim

JD

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av JD » 14 des 2007 16:16:06

Sir Creep <sircreep@hotmail.com> wrote in
news:bd215be2-73b5-4318-adab-b52d1a07f050@c30g2000hsa.googlegroups.com:

On Nov 16, 5:32 am, "Lesley Robertson" <l.a.robert...@tnw.tudelft.nl
wrote:
Just a quick reminder since there seems to be a few beginners reading
this thread. Don't rely on long term storage on CD-Rs. I found a
batch of 4 yesterday, all of which are unreadable. Fortunately I have
all my CDs backed up to an external harddrive, so it's easy to burn
more. DVDs are more stable. If you have to use CDs, make duplicates
from different manufacturers. The reason all 4 of mine failed at the
same time is because they all came out of the same box, and thus
presumably the same batch. At least different batches should fail at
different times! Lesley Robertson

Thus the beauty of the 1G (or now 4G?) thumb drive. Virus free too!

Actually, it's possible to get a virus from ANY media! (Just gotta be
careful of the source).

And, I think any media also has a "shelf life" and/or conditions that
would corrupt the data. I saved a 2gb thumb drive for someone who's
pictures & info were "lost" because the electrical contacts got broken
off.

Anyhow... I think everything should be backed up and/or duplicated
periodically if it's important to you. Duplicate DVD's that get checked &
re-burned every 5 or 10 years (whatever you're comfy with) is the way to
go, imo.

JD

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av JD » 14 des 2007 17:01:34

"Jim" <phoneguy@removethisstuffhawkeyerec.com> wrote in
news:fgln35$rbu$1@news.netins.net:

I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and
record some information about. It seems very tedious to scan a photo,
import it into Word and then add some notes to it. Is there a better
way?

All of the replies have GREAT suggestions! I just wanted to throw in that

the jpg format (and I think maybe tif, but it's more obscure) allows
embedding various bits of user info into the picture file itself, which is
really nice. The only caution is that I've seen MANY photo software
programs that tend to ignore this extra info and remove it, so be careful
by never editing an original photo file unless you know the software is
"lossless" for the image data as well as the EXIF/IPTC data (the comments,
notes, camera info, etc.). Most software that allows you to embed your own
comments/info is likely to preserve any existing data though. Btw, jpg
quality is only as bad as the original amount of compression used, plus the
compression used when saving after an edit and/or your tolerance for file
size.

There are a number of programs like IrfanView, ACDSee, etc. that add/edit
this data, so the question becomes which one to use for ease of tagging, as
well as displaying (and to whom). The FotoTagger looks very nice, but I've
not used it before. Some info, & thought starters about EXIF/IPTC can be
found here:
http://jalbum.net/forum/thread.jspa?thr ... 5&tstart=0

The photos are various sizes, B&W, color, etc.

Also, do you have any tips for dealing with the photos themselves,
such as how to remove them from old albums if they're stuck in with
tape, etc.?

I don't know the best ways to avoid damage, but I do know that if you don't

look at the back you're likely to miss some GREAT clues!

Maybe an acceptable option in SOME cases (judgement call reqd.) would be a
sharp X-Acto knife that NEVER touches the photo, and an operator that NEVER
sharply bends the photo either??
Thanks.


Steve Hayes

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Steve Hayes » 14 des 2007 18:25:10

On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:01:34 GMT, JD <jd4x4@<del.this>verizon.net> wrote:

"Jim" <phoneguy@removethisstuffhawkeyerec.com> wrote in
news:fgln35$rbu$1@news.netins.net:

I have a large number of old photos that I would like to scan and
record some information about. It seems very tedious to scan a photo,
import it into Word and then add some notes to it. Is there a better
way?

All of the replies have GREAT suggestions! I just wanted to throw in that
the jpg format (and I think maybe tif, but it's more obscure) allows
embedding various bits of user info into the picture file itself, which is
really nice. The only caution is that I've seen MANY photo software
programs that tend to ignore this extra info and remove it, so be careful
by never editing an original photo file unless you know the software is
"lossless" for the image data as well as the EXIF/IPTC data (the comments,
notes, camera info, etc.). Most software that allows you to embed your own
comments/info is likely to preserve any existing data though. Btw, jpg
quality is only as bad as the original amount of compression used, plus the
compression used when saving after an edit and/or your tolerance for file
size.

For archival purposes TIFF is better than JPEG, because JPEG is lossy.

It's OK to copy JPEG files, but opening and resaving them loses data.


--
Steve Hayes
E-mail: hayesmstw@hotmail.com (see web page if it doesn't work)
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/famhist1.htm
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7783/

Michelle, Sabrina's Mom

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Michelle, Sabrina's Mom » 12 jan 2008 13:02:59

"Lesley Robertson" <l.a.robertson@tnw.tudelft.nl> wrote in message
news:9f73e$473d71bc$83b4502b$21671@news1.tudelft.nl...
Just a quick reminder since there seems to be a few beginners reading this
thread. Don't rely on long term storage on CD-Rs. I found a batch of 4
yesterday, all of which are unreadable. Fortunately I have all my CDs
backed up to an external harddrive, so it's easy to burn more. DVDs are
more stable. If you have to use CDs, make duplicates from different
manufacturers. The reason all 4 of mine failed at the same time is because
they all came out of the same box, and thus presumably the same batch. At
least different batches should fail at different times!
Lesley Robertson

That's helpful advice, thanks Lesley

Allen Prunty

Re: Best method to scan and record photos?

Legg inn av Allen Prunty » 18 jan 2008 16:31:41

Michelle, Sabrina's Mom wrote:
"Lesley Robertson" <l.a.robertson@tnw.tudelft.nl> wrote in message
news:9f73e$473d71bc$83b4502b$21671@news1.tudelft.nl...
Just a quick reminder since there seems to be a few beginners reading this
thread. Don't rely on long term storage on CD-Rs. I found a batch of 4
yesterday, all of which are unreadable. Fortunately I have all my CDs
backed up to an external harddrive, so it's easy to burn more. DVDs are
more stable. If you have to use CDs, make duplicates from different
manufacturers. The reason all 4 of mine failed at the same time is because
they all came out of the same box, and thus presumably the same batch. At
least different batches should fail at different times!
Lesley Robertson

That's helpful advice, thanks Lesley


Plus when you burn always burn with the verify option... and choose the

"close session" option... if you leave the session open you can burn
more data on the CD's but if you upgrade software down the line that
does your burning or get a new computer you may not be able to read the
older discs. ALWAYS ALWAYS close the session when you are sure you want
to keep the files.

Allen

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