Your family history needs to be preserved. After all, the years pass by quickly. Before long, you may lose those older members of your family who share those precious histories or explain who is in that old photo. So where better to preserve your history than in a family history book? The problem for some people is: Why not put everything in a scrapbook? When faced with a huge pile of photos to scan, the idea of a printed photo book instead of a scrapbook may seem daunting. However, it will be worth your while to put in the time for a photo book instead of a scrapbook.
Scanning Saves Photos
When it comes to preserving your family history, digitizing your photos and records will be better in the long run. Photos fade, or turn yellow, or can even damage under certain conditions. And keeping one copy of a photo is never a good idea in case something goes wrong.
But it’s the prospect of scanning that tends to send new genealogists and hopeful photo book makers running. However, it’s easy to do in small doses, and once you’re done, you can rest easy knowing that your photos will be safe.
Don’t have a scanner?
Try apps like CamScanner to help you save time. Even Google Drive has a scanner with optimal text recognition.
You can also outsource this part of your project to specific companies if you’re short on time. Services like ScanDigital not only scan your photos, but Photoshop out dust, scratches, and discoloration often found on old photos. Then they send you the finished digital files on DVD for easy uploading to your computer.
Finally, when all else fails, you can take careful photos of the originals with a digital camera to be uploaded.
Easily Share Digital Photos
Once you’ve gotten through the task of scanning all your photos, naturally you’ll want to share them! Not only will it be easy to email specific images, photos are best stored in cloud sites like Dropbox. You can share these files with your whole family using these sites, and no one has to miss out or lose those memories.
Photo books are also easily shared with your family. It’s as easy as ordering one more book, or five, or however many you need to share memories with your whole family.
Personal Info
Just scanning your photos and documents still won’t be enough. Simply titling a photo leaves a lot to be desired, especially for people in your family less familiar with your ancestors. That’s where photo book websites and software like MyCanvas come in handy. Creating your personal photo book lets you add text boxes and documents that tell your family’s story, in your own words. This way, you never lose information about who is in a photo, when it was taken, and what is happening. Conventional albums, on the other hand, may have their information separated from photos all too easily. It’s much easier to type your story in a format that everyone will be able to read and that will stick with the photo forever.
Customization
Okay, scanning documents is probably the best way to preserve them and their information. But what about customization? Some of the pleasures of scrapbooking come from choosing fun backing paper, stickers, ink colors, and more to create a handmade work of art.
MyCanvas allows you to do all this and more! You can choose backgrounds, fonts, colors, and frames to decorate or complement your photos. What’s more, you can upload images if you have specific pictures, artwork, or records you want placed on a page. It’s easy to flesh out your ancestor’s story with images and your own personal style, which means that a photo book can become a work of art just as easily as an album.
Plus, after you’ve finished scanning everything, who says you can’t make a handmade photo album, too? It’s easy to have both: a printed book to preserve your memories or to give to your family, and a scrapbook to keep the originals in for as long as you want.
