Preparing Legacy Photos, Videos, and Documents for Digitizing
Help protect your originals and ensure a smooth digitizing process by preparing materials in advance.
Organize
Sort by type, date, person, or event
Separate photos, videos, slides, negatives, and documents
Label groups clearly
Check Condition
Look for tears, mold, moisture, brittleness, or damaged tape cases
Set aside fragile or priority items
Ask about badly damaged materials before sending
Clean Carefully
Remove light dust with a soft, dry cloth or air blower
Handle negatives and slides gently
Do not use liquids, tape, or glue
Label Instructions
Add names, dates, or events
Note special requests such as “scan both sides” or “digitize first”
Pack Securely
Use sturdy boxes and padding
Keep items flat, protected, and dry
Include a packing list
Reminder
Organize, label, and pack carefully. Avoid repairs or cleaning methods that could damage originals.
Prepare your collection
Collect photo albums, loose photos, documents, slides, negatives, film reels and video tapes. Do not include extremely damaged or moldy items. Safely pack in a sturdy box.
Take an inventory of the amounts of each item. Ship to StoryBox Archive. We will let you know when it arrives and talk about your needs and give you a quote.
Make Slideshows, Photo books, PDF Flipbooks and Video Presentations to share your Legacy with Family and Friends