Photo Downsizing & Organizing Video Series

A 3 Step Recipe to Downsize Your Photos

Let’s face it, what are we going to do with all those photographs? 

There is a lot of time, energy, and resources that go into taking a photo, printing a photo, sharing a photo, etcetera. And over the years you may be collected a lot of photos and now are uncertain of what to do with them all. I found myself in a similar position and below I share my solution to the challenge of making that decision. 

Remember, this solution won’t work for everyone, but it worked for me and my family. Have a peek and enjoy the videos.

Step ONE: Deciding to Go Digital

The Challenge I was facing:

My grandmother died and I inherited a very heavy photo album that she organized before her death. It was a lovely dedication to her family, but it was difficult to transport, share, and store.

The Solution:

• spend time making photos digital
• create a condensed version with the digital photos in a photo book online and print it
• let go of original photos and photo album

Step TWO: Scan the Photos

The Kitchener Public Library saved me hours of time and provided me with access to the tools I needed to downsize and declutter my photo collection.  In the video below, you can see a brief overview of the Epson FastFoto FF-640 and Cannon 9000f Mark II Scanner. I used both of these devices, for free with my library card, to digitalize over 550 photos in less than 2 hours.

You don’t have to be a tech expert to use these tools. The staff demonstrated all of the equipment for me and also were there for any questions I had. An absolute pleasure that I recommend you take advantage of.

Information about the devices I used:

Epson FastFoto FF-640

• Digitize your photo collection with the world’s fastest photo scanner
• Scan as fast as 1 photo per second
• Restore, edit, crop, and batch name photos
• Accommodates fragile and panoramic photos

Canon 9000f Mark II Scanner

• Scan documents, photos, slides, or film strips
• Convert to JPG/Exif, PNG, TIFF, or PDF
• Save to USB or email digital file
• Maximum optical resolution: 4800dpi
• Maximum document size: 8.5″ x 11.7″

Step THREE: Ordering Photo Album Hardcopy & Share

It was important to me to still have a hard copy of the photos that my Grandma had worked so hard to organize before she died. I wanted to gift this photo album to my parents and knew it will be something that I will be able to see whenever I visit. I ended up using Photo Book Canada, but there are so many options to get your album printed (if you even choose to print a hard copy). Below is a summary of how I felt about this project.

Positive results are:

• I have more space on my shelf
• photos are now digitally archived
• photos are easily shareable with relatives and friends
• backed up in case of damage to the physical book
• the weight of my storage has decreased significantly (making it easier and cheaper to move if that need arises)
• a lasting physical album that can be passed around or handed down

Negative results:

• time invested was 4.5 hours
• difficulty letting go of original copies of photographs
• $50 spent on printing final photo album

Final thoughts?

The positive results far outnumbered the negative results of this project (for me). Not everyone will find it easy to let go of physical copies of photographs. However, you have to decide what is important for you “to keep” and “to let go of,” everyone will be different.

I’m really proud that my community has such an amazing resource like The Kitchener Public Library. I would not have been able to complete this project for free without the access to technology that they provided to me as a library user. Thanks for being awesome and continuing to allow our community to learn and grow together.