
Did you know that January is National Photo Preservation Month? Most people don’t. You might wonder what act of Congress or executive order from the White House made January National Photo Preservation month. Only a cynic would imagine that National Photo Preservation Month is just a marketing gimmick created by ScanMyPhotos.com in conjunction with the CES to encourage people to digitize their old photographs to DVD using their high speed photo scanning technology.
Cynical or not, that is exactly what it is – a marketing gimmick.
However, just because something is a marketing gimmick doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea.
It’s heartbreaking to read stories of people who have lost their family photos due to fire or accident. Photos are among the few things we own that are truly irreplaceable. And there’s really no practical or economical way to backup large numbers of printed photos or negatives.
But it’s easy and cheap to backup a DVD.
ScanMyPhotos.com will scan photos for under a nickle a piece. For $125 you can fill a prepaid box with as many photos as it will hold. Photos are scanned, and digitally corrected, and returned on a DVD. In most cases they offer overnight turnaround. Once you have a DVD you can make multiple copies and store them in a safe deposit box or using an online archiving service.
National Photo Preservation Month may be a marketing gimmick, but let us leave cynicism aside – it’s a good idea and ScanMyPhotos.com provides an important and economical service that everyone with boxes of old photos should consider.