Scanning a whole photo album to USB.

[cath151]

Hi,
My partner has been given one of the family photo albums and would like to make digitalised copies of the album itself for other family members.
I see Asda do a photo album scanning service (at a price) and wondered if anyone has used this service or similar and if the results were ok.
We do not want to take all the photos out and scan ourselves in case of damage and compromising the "feel" of the album.
Would be grateful for any thoughts,
Cathy

[mckha489]

I have not used any, but there are apps so you can use your phone.  Like this one

https://photomyne.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7cD2wJ7Y7QIVR5VLBR1TrQ78EAAYAiAAEgLIafD_BwE

[cath151]

Thanks Mckha489,
That sounds very interesting, we re not very tech savvy but will investigate a bit more 
Cathy

[RossGillbanks]

Thanks Mckha489,
That sounds very interesting, we re not very tech savvy but will investigate a bit more 
Cathy

I noticed your link to Brighton Cath, where are you based? I am in East Sussex and would do this FOA for you if you are in the area. essentially taking pictures of the photo's in the album and cropping them so they look like an original with no borders etc.

[cath151]

Hi.
Oh how kind of you to offer RossGillbanks  , only my ancestors came from Brighton/East Sussex and then they all moved on to London and the Midlands, so I am now in Leicestershjre  although my husband and I met in Eastbourne 40 years ago. I really do appreciate your offer though, thankyou so much
Best wishes and a very Happy Christmas !
Cathy

[guest141721]

The best option is of course if you can take the photos out of the album without compromising the album - works if the photos are fixed with photo corners and not pasted directly to the pages - and if you have a flatbed scanner scan them with that. I've done this with a couple of albums and with good results.

If you're thinking of using Asda's scanning service check first to see if they scan each page in its entirety or remove the photos one by one as above or take a picture of each photo as RossGillbanks offered to do. If they only do the last option then you could do it yourself. Check also if you can hand in your album in store or if you have to send it by post. You may not want to risk it getting lost or damaged in transit.

Taking a picture of each one works quite well but you do have the work of cropping etc afterwards. You'd need to position your camera/phone carefully and light each picture correctly to avoid distortion or flare.

The attached photo is a before and after. I placed it on the table, lit it with one lamp and took the picture with my iPhone. As you can see I got some flare from the lamp as I hadn't taken a lot of time positioning the photo, but the end result is acceptable.

Hope this helps. Good luck with whatever solution you choose.
Glyn

[cath151]

Hi Glyn,
 Thankyou so much for your good advice, I was a bit unsure about the process and will have to grill the Asda counter if I decide to go down that route! As you say the album is precious and i would nt want it lost. They are not vintage photos (1960 s and 70s.....well not vintage to me anyway!)
I have been tasked with trying to get copies of some sort for the rest of the family but there are 39 pages of photos!
Your excellent results with your photos have inspired me and I might have a go, slowly after Christmas.
Happy Christmas,
Best wishes
Cathy

[Latchfordian]

I would never ever take a photo of a photo using a camera or a phone because the result is always less than perfect. It is better to do that using a flat bed scanner, either a standalone one or that provided by an all-in-one printer. The result will then be 100% accurate and it is usually easy to specify the type of picture (colour, black and white, grayscale etc) as well as adjusting such things as resolution, brightness and contrast. 

[cath151]

Thanks
I have been scanning a few loose photos and as you say the results are good so I might go down that route.
Thanks everyone for your ideas and help.
Cathy