I think she was nervous, but she trusted us to take care of this priceless album and its contents. We offered to digitize her one and only copy of the album, and gave her our sworn promise that we would return the book in its entirety.

Old photos can lose their meaning if their stories don’t get documented, so you should store your photos in a safe container and put them in a safe place, but also label them so that if they are discovered by future generations, the finder will know their relevance and significance in the family’s heritage.Ī few years ago, my husband’s elderly aunt allowed my husband and I to take possession of her extraordinary heritage photo album, which documented her family’s life in Haiti and Germany during the First and Second World Wars. Let’s talk about what those terms mean, and how to do each of them – and I’ll also tell you the story of a photo album that my husband and I “rescued” a few years ago.ĭigitizing is the process of using a photo scanner to capture a photo print as a digital file.Īrchiving is labeling your photos properly and storing them in an album or a box that is constructed of materials that will protect them from deterioration or loss. The solution is to digitize and archive the photos and the albums. I’m happy to report that there is a solution! You can still enjoy viewing the heritage photos in an album, sharing them with family, and preserving them for generations to come. Is there anything you can do to rescue these precious memories? You painstakingly, carefully, and lovingly created these albums. None of this is good for your sentimental prints! Your photos might be deteriorating, yellowing, or falling out of your albums. Photos on old black paper pages, even with photo corners, might not be faring well, either. If you used “magnetic” pages in your album – the ones with sticky pages that you could cover with clear plastic – your photos might already be in rough shape.

Unfortunately, many of your old photos are may be in danger of getting seriously damaged. If you were born in the 20th century (like me), you probably have some old photo albums that are not in such great shape.

Making a photo book for a 3 year old