Sometimes doing something is better than doing nothing at all.
I have a significant amount of family pictures, papers, and other items that I may never get property scanned. Some of the items will be difficult to scan given their age, original paper, how long they’ve been folded, their condition. etc.
Taking pictures of items with my phone is significantly faster than manually scanning each item. It is also less potentially damaging for those items that will not lay flat or are fragile. Pictures are also great for artifacts that are not “naturally two-dimensional.”
I have quite a few photograph albums. In some of these the photos can be easily removed. Other albums have the photographs affixed in a way that makes removing them difficult if not impossible. Taking pictures of the album’s photographs is faster than removing them and does not do any damage. Then I can take my time to slowly deconstruct the albums if necessary. If I never get that task accomplished, at least I have made digital copies of the pages and the photographs.
5 Responses
Great tip! I’ve been doing more and more of this type of “quick scanning” with my phone or ipad. Time is certainly a factor over sitting and scanning. Getting the items identified and labeled is what is most important; not only for remembrances but also for willing or personal bequeaths. Thanks for reminding us to just get it done!
just curious as to why you think Elmer was the giver?
I’ve used my phone to take pictures of letters, documents, and photos at two different family members homes in two different states this year. Some I never saw before.
A common dilemma. Thank you for your advice.
You are welcome!