Digitizing old photos and home videos

Save prints, slides, negatives and VHS tapes before they fade.

Why now

Prints fade, slides colour-shift and tapes degrade. The sooner you digitize, the better the result.

Photos, slides and negatives

A photo lab or digitizing service can scan in bulk. Ask what resolution they scan at, and whether they clean dust. Sort and label first: most services charge per scan.

VHS, camcorder tapes and film reels

Services convert tapes and film to digital files. Label tapes in order and note which are most important.

What you get back

Ask whether files come on a USB drive or as a download, and keep two copies in different places.

Doing a few yourself

For a handful of prints, a phone scanning app does a decent job. For anything precious, use a lab.