If you are anything like me, you love to take pictures.
You take them on your phone, with old cameras, or even with your laptop. All because you’re obsessed with the idea of capturing a moment in time and keeping it forever. But how can a photo really withstand the traces of time?
The answer is scanning to digital, of course! It’s 2018 and the digital age has pretty much taken over every aspect of our lives.
Because of this, the best way to preserve your pictures is obviously by selecting one of many photo scanning services to convert your images to digital files. If you haven’t started using photo scanning services already, you run the risk of your pictures being destroyed in any of these seven ways:
1. Photos can be destroyed in a fire
As terrible as the thought is, fires can start at any moment. Within minutes, a fire can take down your house and all inside of it.
Just last year, my cousin’s five-year-old was jumping on their bed when a candle fell off the nightstand, catching the blankets and mattress on fire, engulfing their house in flames. The fire spread in no time and their house became ashes.
Thankfully, each of them made it out, but they did lose a great deal. Furniture, clothes, and toys were all replaced thanks to their amazing friends and family, but sadly their family pictures were lost forever. There was no possible way for them to save the heavy albums full of images, or the frames that lined their hallway.
Imagine losing all the memories you’ve captured through photos. No one wants to think about that, and even more, no one will be worried about their albums when their children or family members are in that dangerous situation.
However, had my cousin taken the short amount of time to start scanning their photos into digital files when they were able to, he would be able to hang those memories up in his new home thanks to using photo scanning services.
2. Water damage ruins pictures
Similar to fires, floods can cause irreversible damage to many of your household items, especially your pictures.
Flooding can occur over just a few hours and leaves an immeasurable amount of destruction in its wake. Most often, even when you know about the possibility of flooding beforehand, there is no way to save all your belongings.
And water damage isn’t only caused by flooding or rain. It may come from unexpected plumbing mishaps or even condensation in your basement or attic that leads to mold.
Either way, water damage can and will happen. Be prepared.
Keeping your pictures safe may be an afterthought, but when disaster strikes, it’s commonly something that weighs heavy on the mind.
Most people believe that keeping your pictures in plastic-sleeved albums or picture frames can help to prevent water damage or other forms of ruination, but sadly this is not true.
Scanning and converting your images to digital files is the best way to ensure their survival throughout any of these terrible events. When you use photo scanning services, digital files are easily replicated in times of need, unlike their original copies. They can also be stored in several locations, increasing their durability, and putting your mind at ease.
3. Sunlight can fade images
Just like our skin, photos can be damaged by sunlight. Sunlight is a source of ultraviolet light that carries certain levels of radiation. When works of art, books, leathers, or photos are left exposed to harsh lighting, the effects can be disastrous. Overexposure can cause fading, discoloration, and can lead to indistinguishable images that no longer hold the memories you hold dear.
Whether you store your images or keep them displayed in your home, sunlight can be harmful to them. Scanning is the best way to protect them!
Other environmental factors such temperature and humidity can cause harm to your photos. We are not all professional photographers that know the correct way to store photos, so we do not know the precautions to take against harmful rays of light.
The best option we have is to convert your pictures to digital files in order to keep them in good condition. Using photo scanning services can help you easily convert your images and guarantee that your photos stay as pristine as the moment they undergo our scanning process!
4. Pictures age over time
Even if your pictures manage to evade fires, water, or sunlight, you still risk your images being destroyed by time.
Photos, just like everything else in this world, cannot outlast the general wear and tear that comes with time. Moving, rearranging and decorating, changing storage techniques, and several other things will have an effect on your photos no matter what.
For example, there are chemicals that are given off by wood or rubber that can trigger discoloration or fading in photos that are stored either in frames or cabinets. Also, corners become frayed with rips; scratches or tears can easily develop when photos are rubbed together or stored incorrectly; adhesives that keep photos together degrade over time, and the photo paper the images are printed on grow weaker with the years.
The best — and possibly only way — to beat the hands of time to keep your photos in good condition is to digitize them using photo scanning services.
5. Life gets in the way — and can damage your images
I’m willing to bet your life is a little hectic. Pets, large families with lots of little children running around, and particularly clumsy tendencies can get in the way of your pictures’ protection.
Pets can be extremely messy. They knock things over without realizing it and create chaos in the rooms they blow through. Just image coming home to the family’s chocolate lab slobbering all over the family portrait you keep on a low shelf.
Or your 4-year-old nephew drawing scribbles in markers over the faces of my grandparents when you forgot to frame the photo of them before they came to visit.
Or maybe it’s not a child or pet that causes harm to your photos.
Maybe it’s you.
You set a drink on top of the chest you keep all your photos in, and accidentally knock it over while walking by. (Trust me, it happens).
While it’s easy to get angry at yourself, your nephew, or the dog, it’s even easier to get backup copies with us! Using photo scanning services can prevent all the unnecessary stress that comes with life’s little hiccups.
6. Family pictures often get lost or stolen
At least once in your lifetime, you will move. Maybe this move will occur when you first go off to college, you get that dream job, or your parents came across a new opportunity and need to relocate.
You’ve moved into your new home and… uh-oh. A sad realization comes over you. You remember that box of old photos you had stored in the back of the attic, under the stairs, or in the basement.
You rush back to get them. And they’re already gone. There is no way to get those photos back and you now have to deal with the loss of all those beautiful memories.
Perhaps you’re not moving at all. Perhaps you happen to leave your wallet or purse in a store. When you return, it’s already been stolen, along with that favorite photo of your children or spouse that you keep with you at all times.
Several cases like these can occur in your life. It’s easy to get distracted. We all have busy schedules and a lot going on. Why not convert your pictures using photo scanning services, so you can always get new copies when they are lost or stolen?
Scanning is extremely simple and can be completed in no time at all!
7. Other people may damage your images
Have you ever been so heartbroken after a breakup that you decide the best therapy is to gather up all the photos you have of your ex and burn them on your back porch while Adele plays in the background?
… No? Yeah, me either, but I’m sure it happens to some people.
It may seem like far-fetched for other people to destroy your photos, but believe me, it is possible.
It doesn’t have to be a crazy ex. Imagine you got into an argument with your cousin and his way of getting revenge is ripping up your graduation picture at your grandmother’s house. Or your mom is mad at her brother, so she’s hiding the photo taken of their old barn that he wants to hang above his fireplace.
Though we may love them, our friends and family members can be a little insane. It doesn’t hurt to have copies of your favorite images in a safe and secure place. Scanning your pictures and converting to digital files can ensure that no crazy ex, cousin, or stranger wrecks your favorite images. Photo scanning services make sure you’ll always have a copy, no matter what happens.
Despite all these possibilities, the best reason for using photo scanning services is to preserve the memories you’ve created with the people who matter most to you. When you take a photo, it’s because you want to remember what is happening, exactly the way it is at that moment.
Don’t let any of the above instances take that away from you!
Get started today to see what our photo scanning services can do for you.
