This is a guest contribution from Dorothy Huey of Photo Solutions with Dorothy Huey
12×12 Scrapbook Album Scanning Solution
My cousin, and frequent attendee at my Creative Memories crops over the years, showed me a heritage album she had made that I had completely forgotten about. Of course, I wanted a copy so I asked if I could scan it. She was happy to share it with me! I was using my Flip Pal mobile scanner (The Flip-Pal mobile scanner is the world’s original scanner for digitally capturing photos, cherished memorabilia, and documents that is battery powered and does not require a computer to operate. The patented flip-and-scan technology allows scanning photos in place without removing them from an album or frame. The included EasyStitch software quickly and automatically reassembles multiple scans into their larger original.), but with a 12×12 album, that’s a lot of scans and a lot of stitching.
A fellow APPO member recommended going to a local college or university to see if they might have a larger scanner available for use….
I graduated from Montclair State University in Montclair, New Jersey, but it didn’t matter as far as gaining access to the scanner (you don’t have to be a student or current alumni but check with your local entity to see if that applies at their location). I decided to call first to see if this is a viable option and to check availability. On the phone, I was told it was free to use the scanner and that this particular scanner could accommodate the 12×12 size. The librarian measured it for me just to be certain. I was told it was a book scanner and that it could probably only do 200 or 300 dpi, but I decided to try it anyway.
When I went to the campus library, I was pleased to see that there were several scanning options on the scanner, one of which was photos. And high quality, too! I wasn’t able to find out the dpi so I just scanned the pages. The librarian was helpful but not knowledgeable about the equipment (perhaps find out in advance the type of printer and do a little research prior to scanning so you’ll have a general working knowledge if they don’t!).
Upon finishing the scanning, I was prompted to save the scans. I had a flash drive (make sure you have one with memory large enough to store your files!), I plugged it in and saved to the drive.
At home I was quite happy to see that they were scanned at 600 dpi! My cousin and I are both happy – I’m giving her a copy of the scans as a backup to her beautiful album and I can get a printed copy for myself AND keep a backup!
It’s a great solution for personal 12×12 album scanning, for backup and sharing!
Photo Solutions with Dorothy Huey has grown out of my 20 years as a Creative Memories Consultant. My focus now – as a Personal Photo Organizer and a member of APPO (Association of Personal Photo Organizers) is Service – my goal is to help you manage your photos – now and for years to come.
You can find Dorothy at www.appo.org/member/hueynews.
This is such an amazing solution! I a,going to research the availability in my own area. I love my flip pal too but it takes at least 16 scans to get an entire scrapbook page.
Let us know what you find out in your area, won’t you Andi? Thank you!