I have all my photos from childhood until now as regular hard copies.

I have negatives for some of them.

I would like to convert all these photos to digital copies so that I can store them on DVDs & Hard drive.

What is the best way to do this so that I can get fairly good copies without giving up too much quality ?

I do not have a scanner or never used one so please give me as much details as possible if you recommend scanning.

Thank You.

Hi there.

The best way to convert your photos is to have them scanned. The problem is that scanning hundreds or thousands of photos on a simple scanner from Best Buy is slow as molasses in January. It's not fun. For only 15 cents a pic, a company like http://www.TheDigitalConvert.com will scan your photos, put them on disc (plus a backup), and even resize and upload them to the web for you. And they can have it done a few days. Without any work on your part, you can already be sharing with friends and family. They have the equipment to do it quickly whether the photos are in albums or individual prints.

To spend all that time - I mean dozens of hours, weeks of your free time - sitting at a computer just isn't worth it. Even if you already had a scanner, had the most efficient program and got the process down pat, it still wouldn't be worth the time. Time is money. It makes more sense to just spend a few hundred bucks if necessary and not waste your time.