Blog

Why Fall Is the Perfect Time to Start Your Photo and Video Digitization Project Written by: Brandon Harris, Smooth Photo Scanning Services

The holidays have a way of making us pull out the boxes. Suddenly, you are looking through old family photos, finding forgotten VHS tapes, or discovering a stack of slides from a trip you barely remember.  With Thanksgiving and the...

Creating a Family Media Inventory: How to Catalog What You Have Before You Digitize Written by: Brandon Harris, Smooth Photo Scanning Services

You can’t digitize what you can’t find. Before you send a box of old photos or tapes to a scanning service, take one simple step: make a family photo inventory. You do not need to identify every picture perfectly. You...

What to Do With Original Photos, Tapes, and Film Reels After Digitization? Written by: Brandon Harris, Smooth Photo Scanning Services

When you finish digitizing a box of family photos, VHS tapes, slides, negatives, and film reels, it is tempting to clear the shelf and throw everything away. Don’t.  The safest answer to what to do with old photos after scanning...

How to Digitize Church, Synagogue, and Community Organization Archives Written by: Brandon Harris, Smooth Photo Scanning Services

Decades of community history can sit quietly in filing cabinets, closets, storage rooms, and old boxes.  A congregation may have photographs from its first building, printed bulletins from major milestones, directories filled with names, and videos of dedication ceremonies.  Community...

Grandparents’ Day Gift Guide: Digitize Their Photo Collection and Preserve Their Legacy Written by: Brandon Harris, Smooth Photo Scanning Services

The best Grandparents' Day gift may already be sitting in a closet. Old albums, loose prints, slides, negatives, and home videos can hold decades of family stories, but physical media can fade, tear, get lost, or become difficult to play....

How to Spot Early Signs of Tape Degradation: A Visual and Sensory Guide Written by: Brandon Harris, Smooth Photo Scanning Services

Your old videotapes can look perfectly fine on a shelf while the tape inside slowly breaks down. If you know what to look for, you can stop risky playback and get important footage transferred while it is still recoverable. The...