Take an
Extra Step Before You Scrapbook
Written by
Annette Yen
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.
Article by:
Annette Yen is the owner of the website
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.
Article Source:
www.ladypens.com |
