Debate: should we digitize old family photos or keep the originals?

I scanned 200 photos from my grandma's albums last month. Thing is, the originals are fading bad in the attic heat here in Phoenix. But my cousin swears digital files get lost when hard drives die. Which side are you on - do you toss the prints or pay for climate controlled storage?

3 comments

3 Comments

piperbailey4d ago

Toss the prints or pay for climate controlled storage" is exactly the fork in the road here, but I gotta ask... murray.jana mentioned a fireproof box, but how many of us actually have one that's rated for heat and humidity that bad? Phoenix attic heat is no joke, stuff can warp in a year. My real question is, if you digitize and keep a few originals in a safe spot, are you really gonna double check them every few years or just let them sit there until the next attic clear out? Seems like people pick one method and then forget about the other pile entirely.

murray.jana4d ago

Do people ever consider digitizing AND saving a few prints in a fireproof box?

sage_green2d ago

Wow really? I gotta say I see this totally different. Having both a digital copy and a fireproof box just sounds like you're doubling your workload for no real payoff. Most people's digitized photos are scattered across old hard drives and random cloud accounts that they forget the password to. And the fireproof box thing, half those cheap safe boxes from the store aren't actually protecting against a real house fire anyway, they're more for theft. I'd rather just pick one method and actually stick with it than pretend I'm gonna maintain two systems for the next thirty years.