Digitizing your favorite printed photos and older videos is the best way to safeguard your most meaningful memories. It can seem like hard work, especially if you have a lot of printed photos lying around. But I use the easiest way I know to digitize the photos and videos that mean the most to me and my family.
When I started my photo coaching career in 1995, I helped my grandmother organize her prized memories, digitize them, and print the digital files in a keep-sake photo book. You can’t spot the difference between the original version and the version I printed from digital files.
Was it a lot of work?
No. Digitizing was easy.
As the years passed and technology changed, I kept studying the best ways to serve my clients and store my own photos. And I found the best digitizing and storage solution available.
One-stop memory keeping shop
About 10 years ago, I learned about the company FOREVER® and started using the services personally and for my clients. I use FOREVER® to:
- digitize my memories,
- store them
- print them as books and gifts.
I’ve also been researching my family history using FOREVER®’s professional genealogists.
Lots of fun.
My grandmother was born in 1906 and I use FOREVER® to easily pass her memories onto my children and my grandchildren. They can pass her photos and other memories to their descendants, too, so her story will continue for the next century and beyond.
What does it mean to digitize?
Many media formats have been left behind. Trying to play a DVD or CD on the newest laptops isn’t possible.
If you’ve been shopping for the best ways to digitize your photos and videos then you’ve either looked at different services or bought and relied on easy-to-use tools like:
- Scanners (ScanSnap, Fujitsu and Brother are ranked high on Bestreviews.guide)
- Flash drives (SanDisk Extreme Pro with 128 GB storage was rated the best overall flash drive by Popular Mechanics, Sept. 25, 2024)
- External hard drives
- Laptop computers
- Tablets
Are there other devices you’ve purchased?
Digitizing safeguards your memories so they’re kept safe and accessible for future generations.
Digital storage isn’t equal, and I use what I’ve found to be the best digitization service and digital storage solution: FOREVER®.
The digitizing challenge
Here’s the challenge.
We’re living in between technologies and will continue to do so for the next few decades.
First, there was film and eventually there were innovations like Polaroid that made a splash with its one step camera. Take a picture and watch it develop in minutes.
People were still using film when digital cameras came onto the scene in the ‘90s. The digital era was just beginning.
What fun it was to line up outside of Best Buy and WalMart on Thanksgiving night to be among the first to crash the store and scoop up those great deals on cameras. (Just kidding, it wasn’t fun).
Now smartphones are everywhere and are used to take about 90 percent of all photos and videos worldwide.
So now our memories are automatically digitized, but we’re still left with printed photos and video files that we can’t play.
Storing our digital files permanently is another challenge.
Digital files are easy to transfer from phones to social media and from laptops to flash drives or external hard drives. The problem is that these are temporary storage solutions and we’re still left with collections of printed photos.
What’s the answer?
Using one service to:
1 digitize our older memories and
2 permanently store our newest digital photos and videos
[graph comparing forever]
Digitization and storage
FOREVER® is the one place to digitize and store memories from decades ago and the best place to store your memories you take on your smartphone (or digital camera if you use one).
Here’s why.
FOREVER provides high quality digitization of media files that can no longer be accessed like audio cassettes, VHS tapes, 8mm film, slide shows, and printed documents.
A friend of mine found a film clip of her mother’s wedding that took place in the 1950s and the film was fragile. FOREVER®’s team digitized it and now her mother’s wedding clip from about 70 years ago can be passed along to friends and relatives for decades to come.
What you do is easy.
Use a FOREVER® box to choose the files you want to digitize and ship it to the digitizing center just outside Green Bay, Wisconsin.
- A guide, barcodes, and prepaid shipping label are provided.
- You can track the digitization process and the customer care team will call you if they have any questions.
- Your items are digitized and the originals are returned to you.
- You can have your files stored permanently using FOREVER’s unmatched cloud storage capabilities.
Permanent storage
FOREVER® is built to last. The company has the world’s only “permanent cloud storage” solution, as described on FOREVER®’s website.
Your files are triple-backed up and the company guarantees that your files will be safe for a lifetime, plus 100 years with the goal of having your memories last safely beyond that time frame.
How can they make the guarantee?
When current file formats become obsolete, the FOREVER Guarantee Fund ensures they will be migrated to the newest file format at no added cost to you or future generations. This is how your family history stored in FOREVER® Permanent Storage will live on long after you’re no longer here.
How can I help you digitize?
Your family’s photos, videos, and other memories are treasures.
Do you need help decluttering and digitizing so you can pass the stories along to future generations?
Get in touch with me and I can help you get started.
We’ll lay out a plan to follow and you have the option to check in with me once in a while, or benefit from ongoing guidance.
Visit my website’s Events page to see how you can learn.
Your family’s story can inspire descendants you’ll never meet and it’s an important part of our overall culture and history.
Check it out
Here are links to articles on rating the scanners and flash drives mentioned above: