Recently, I was sitting in the waiting room at the chiropractor, thumbing through the latest issue of Money magazine. A small advertisement caught my eye…ScanMyPhotos.com. The idea is simple. You send them your printed photos, they scan them, and return your original photos, plus a DVD with digital copies of the same photos. Cool!
I came home and started reading up on the company. I liked what I read. They are getting a lot of positive press, plus plenty of positive consumer reviews. So, I decided to give them a try.
I sent a shoe box full of 4×6 pictures as a “test run.” Man, it felt creepy to send off my honeymoon photos, college photos, and many more that only exist in ONE copy, as the negatives are long gone. I sent 903 photos, which weighted about 7.5 pounds. Even thought the company is here in California, it still ran close to $20 for shipping, as I chose certified Priority Mail. It could have been as cheap as $13, though.
Anyway, ScanMyPhotos.com has these super cool mega scanners (that cost $40,000 each!) that scan super fast. They scanned all of my photos within 1 day of receiving them, and they were back on the road to me, also via Priority Mail.
I am *so happy* with the results. The paper photos were well packed, and look just as they did when I sent them off. I quickly copied the DVD onto my hard drive, and viola! I’ve got digital shots at my fingertips. These pictures have been stashed away in boxes and photo albums for years, and they’re finally getting the “face time” that they deserve!
I’ve already in the process of pulling together my next order of photos, and hope to convince my Mom to join in on a “fill the box” deal. I love the idea of having our entire family history in digital format. The only pics we can’t send in are those that are smaller than 3×3, larger than 10×12, ones that have been cut into funky shapes, and copyrighted photos (duh). Otherwise, I’m getting it all scanned!
