Types of Scanners
If you are interested in turning your old photo collection into a digital photo collection then you want to look into a film scanner. There are many reasons why people would want to scan their old photos, such as to back up distant memories or to be able to send past photos around easily via email or upload them onto a website.
On this website I cover the two most popular solutions.
Some people would choose just to scan the developed photo into their computer via a flat bed scanner (sometimes built into more expensive printers). Though this method does work, the results can be varied. You will not get as good results by scanning the photograph in. The best results can be found from when you scan the negative or slide in.
If you have a lot of photos to get through then your best bet is to invest in a film scanner, or flat bed scanner which can scan 35mm film negatives and slides. You will get a much higher quality digital picture by scanning from the negative.
It is possibly to buy standalone film scanners. These will only scan photo negatives and slides. Film scanners, otherwise known as negative scanners are nice and compact and would sit nicely on any work desk.
The other option is to invest in a flat bed scanner, which can scan photo negatives. Not all scanners can do this, but some do come with a negative auto feeder or the ability to clip photos into the scanner.
Your final option is one that is not financially affordable for most of us. There are professional firms who can turn your photos into digital pictures. They would use similar equipment to what you could buy, but as this method would save you the time it takes to process your photos you should expect to pay an arm and a leg!
