As we’ve made the switch to digital photography, it’s possible to back up multiple copies of photos everywhere. But what about all those photos that pre-date digital cameras?

Last year, my husband and I decided it was time to get our parents’ photos from the good old film days scanned and archived.

We used ScanMyPhotos.com (not sponsored or compensated in any way; we paid full price for everything). We purchased the PrePaid Photo Scanning box and opted for scanning at 600dpi, with the add-on for having photos scanned in order.

After you place your order, the company sends you a flat rate USPS box for you to fill with as many photos will fit (without overfilling or bulging out the box). The instruction sheets they send are pretty clear with how they’d like the photos packaged.

All of these albums from my parents’ house only filled one flat rate box. To utilize the “Scan in Order” feature, we just had to label an index card and bundle it together with the photos with a rubber band.

The box came labeled with the proper addresses and invoice number. We just need to pack the invoice slip in the box, seal it up and drop it off at the post office. Within two to four weeks, we got our photos back, along with a disc containing all of the digital copies.

I’d say the scan quality is very good, considering the original photos were up to 30 years old, printed at the local drugstore, and collecting dust for all these years.

Here’s a photo of me from 1986; completely unedited except for cropping and resizing.

One caveat is that they won’t scan professionally taken photos where you don’t hold the license or print release. To be on the safe side, we made sure not to send any school or professional studio photos.

Overall, it was worth the money to get all of those memories preserved. It’s tough to say how much these originals might degrade over time.

Have you archived your pre-digital photos in any way? Did you scan yourself or hire a service?