Photography began to go digital about 30 years ago, so if you are older than that your relatives probably documented a portion of your childhood on film-based formats, like slides or prints made from negatives. Or maybe you have old slides and negatives from long-lost pictures boxed up in the attic.
While not quite as simple as scanning old photo prints, digitizing that film rescues family history from outdated media and makes it easy to share the restored memories. Here are a few ways to get the job done.
The smartphone method
As with prints, you can “scan” a slide or negative with a smartphone by taking a picture of it or using one of the many slide/film-scanning apps. For best results, make sure the original is free of dust, and evenly illuminate the transparency from behind. An inexpensive scanning kit — which provides the backlight as well as a place to rest your phone for a more stable shot — is an option.