Monday, July 6, 2009

Scanning Photos for Photo Novelties and Photo Books

By Pete Fontaine

Permanently protecting your precious photographs is probably reason enough for sending them to a photo scanning service. Its the responsible thing to do. You can share complete copies with your family members and it stops your images from the everyday deterioration that will eventually ruin your photographs. But once the work has been done you can have fun with them.

Once your ordinary photos are digitized they can be added to and organized along with your collection of digital photos. And when the work is done you'll be able to use your newly scanned images to generate wonderful photobooks and photo specialties. Several online businesses offer free software that lets you use your digital images to create an assortment of items from mugs to puzzels to t-shirts and more.

When a South Florida girls high school soccer team recently used an online photo specialty company to put the picture of an injured team leader on t-shirts for the entire team there wasn't a dry eye on the field. This affordable gesture was truly a moment to remember.

One small company had all of their employees bring in a few meaningful photos of themselves. They then created personalized photo mugs for each person using an online company. The mugs hanging on the rack in the lunch room showed the wonderful diversity of the group. Individuals showed themselves as children, in funny outfits, playing sports, or engaging in their favorite past time. The mugs were the subject of endless conversations and seemed to bring the group closer as people's differences and similarities were discovered.

After seeing the photos on display at a recent funeral, one member of the family had all of the precious photographs made into photo books for each of the family members. The family's history was preserved and shared, and each family member learned more about where they fit into the bigger picture of the person's life.

A group of guys in Maine used photo books to immortalize themselves and permanently record their Memorial Day fishing trip to Lobster Lake. Their advice was to hold the fish as close to the camera as possible so that it looks bigger. As time goes by and memories fade those photo books will become an important part of their life stories.

Sports teams everywhere are finding that they can pool their photos and build everyone a custom photo book for the cost of going out for pizza. Imagine a whole season of great plays and great poses permanently captured, and you have complete editorial control over the project. You might have your picture in a photobook with the next Michael Jordan or Michelle Wie. This also applies to the cheerleading squad, the debating team, and the band.

Some photo specialty companies offer photobook creation software with exceptional features. Be sure to look for software that automatically performs the layout function. This feature will quickly display endless combinations of photos and layouts until you find one that you like. Another great feature allows you to use one of you photos as the page background. Imagine the artistic possibilities. Software that allows you to complete the entire project on your computer before sending it in is much preferred over systems that make you upload at every step.

Once you've had your photos scanned make sure to reward yourself by taking advantage of the creative possibilities you'll find available at the better online photo specialty companies. You'll find creating custom made keepsakes fun and inexpensive. Your ingenious masterpieces could last a lifetime, or longer!

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