One of the main benefits of digitizing your photos and videos is that you save space and no longer have to store these analog media memories. Photo albums can take up a surprising amount of room while VHS tapes can be frustrating to hold onto if you no longer have a tape player. If your goal for the new year or spring cleaning is to free up space by getting rid of clutter, start with your old memories. You can turn this media into digital files that take up less room and are easy to access.
Here are eight places to look for old photos, video tapes, negatives, and other analog media to digitize with the help of Memory Fortress’ photo and slide scanning services.
1. Closets
Closets are the first place to start when you are searching for analog photos, videos, and other media to digitize. Look through your hall closets, bedroom closets, and any other extra space you have in your home. Closets are notorious for becoming black holes for clutter. They hold anything you don’t have an actual place for.
It may take some time for you to search through each closet, but it’s worth the effort. Make sure you pull down boxes from high shelves and dig into the very back areas to make sure you find every album or collection of tapes you have.
2. Drawers
After you finish pulling memories from your closets, start working through your drawers. This is where you might find special items – like a wedding album placed near your nightstand – or smaller tapes and slides that got loose over the years.
Pay particular attention to the drawers and cabinets around your entertainment center near your TV. During the days of VHS tapes, you might have placed family recordings around this area for easy access.
As you sort through each drawer, feel free to multitask. You can find other items that you are ready to throw out or donate, freeing up space in your home.
3. Attics and Basements
Depending on where you live, your home could have an attic, a basement, or both. Decluttering these spaces might become a weekend project, but it’s worth the effort to find analog photos, videos, and media to digitize.
Both of these spaces can cause harm to your old memories. Attics can get dangerously hot in the summer while basements can feel damp throughout the summer months. If you plan to hold onto your analog media after you digitize it, invest in secure plastic bins that will keep the elements (and potential rodents) away from your memories.
4. Home Offices
Home offices are great for storing old photos and videos. Your desk might have several drawers and you could have cabinets that have extra room. Unfortunately, home offices are also perfect for forgetting about these memories. You might have loose photos tucked into the back of drawers or stuck between files.
Spend extra time searching for old photos if you just started working from home during the pandemic. Some people packed up their desks (including photo memories) and never reorganized them at home. You might discover a few favorite photos that have been stuck in your drawers for a few years now.
5. Under the Bed
If you live in a home where space is limited, don’t forget to check under the bed for analog media to digitize. Photo boxes and albums can be small, which makes them easy to slide under your bed frame. However, it’s also easy to forget about these photos over time. Additionally, you might lose items that fall and slide under the bed without your noticing. Check under the bed to make sure there aren’t any monsters, dust balls, or forgotten photos you need to scan.
6. Storage Units
At Memory Fortress, we never recommend keeping memories in storage units. Unless you rent units that are climate controlled and elevated from the ground, your memories could be destroyed by the elements. An unexpected flood or humid conditions can warp your videos and photos to the point where they are destroyed.
Search your storage unit to make sure there aren’t any family memories kept there. The sooner you remove the analog photos and videos to digitize, the quicker you can preserve this analog media for a lifetime.
7. Guest Bedrooms
Some guest bedrooms become hidden spaces for extra storage. You might use the guest bedroom closet to store holiday decorations or place a few small boxes of items under the bed. It’s easy to forget these items exist until you have company or need to move.
Check your guest bedroom to make sure you didn’t place any albums, boxes of slides, or videotapes in a place where you forgot. Don’t forget to check small spaces, like dresser drawers, in this room as well.
8. With Other Relatives
If you know that you have certain old media that you want to digitize but can’t find it, ask around. Your in-laws might have borrowed some photos or your kids might have certain albums. See if they have any old photos of yours that they might have used for family slideshows and never returned.
If you are close to your relatives, consider turning this digitization project into a family event. They might have photos and videos they need to scan as well.
Search Your House for Analog Media to Digitize
We always tell our customers to thoroughly search their homes to make sure they have all of the tapes, albums, and slides they need to scan before reaching out to us. Too often, we receive a large order from a customer followed by a smaller order of items they forgot. You can save time and money by searching through these hidden areas before placing an order with our company.
Once you are sure you have all of your analog photos, videos, and other media to digitize, place an order through Memory Fortress. We look forward to helping you declutter with photo and video scanning.
We digitize everything right here at our facility in metro Atlanta, processed by US citizens.