Sunday, April 19, 2015

Scanfest is Coming!


The April 2015 Scanfest will take place here at AnceStories this coming Sunday, April 26th, from 11 AM to 2 PM, Pacific Daylight Time.
 
What is Scanfest? It's a time when geneabloggers, family historians, and family archivists meet online here at this blog to chat while they scan their precious family documents and photos. Why? Because, quite honestly, scanning is time-consuming and boring!

Scanfest is a great time to "meet" other genealogists, ask questions about scanning and preservation, and get the kick in the pants we all need on starting those massive scanning projects that just seem too overwhelming to begin.

To get started, you need to know the basics about scanning:

1. Don't use commercial glass cleaners (i.e. Windex) or paper towels to clean your scanner's glass plate. Use a soft, clean cloth, preferably microfiber. If you must use a liquid, use water sprayed directly onto the cloth  and make sure to let the plate dry thoroughly before placing photos or documents on it.

2. Wear cotton gloves (available at many art and/or photography supply shops) when handling photos and old documents.

3. Don't slide the photos around on the glass plate. Place them exactly where you want them. Photos should NEVER be scanned by a scanner that feeds the document through the machine, but ALWAYS on a flat-bed scanner.

4. Set your scanner to scan at no smaller than 300 dpi (dots per inch). Many experts recommend 600 dpi for photographs.

5. Photographs should ALWAYS be scanned and saved as .tif files. Use "Save As" to reformat the .tif file to a .jpg file for restoration and touchups, emailing, or uploading to an online photo album. ALWAYS retain the original scan as a .tif file.

6. Documents can be scanned as .pdf files or .tif files.

7. When you are done scanning your photos, don't put them back in those nasty "magnetic" photo albums. Place them in archival safe albums or boxes found at websites such as Archival Products or Archival Suppliers. Do NOT store any newsprint (articles, obituaries, etc.) with the photos. The acid from the newspaper will eventually destroy the photograph.

Now about the chatting part of Scanfest:

We will be using Blyve, a live blogging platform that you access right here at AnceStories. On Sunday at 11 AM, PDT, come right here to AnceStories and you'll see the Blyve live blog/forum in the top post. It's not really a "chat room," per se, it's more like a live forum and anyone visiting this site can read and see what is happening in the forum.

You will not need to download any software.

We look forward to having you participate with us!


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5 comments:

Michigan Girl said...

Hi Miriam,
I'm planning to participate for the first time. I might be a tad late joining as I won't be home from church until about noon. But, I figure two hours is better than none. Looking forward to it.
Diane

Miriam Robbins said...

Diane, no worries. There's no requirement for attending the full three hours. We have people come and go throughout each entire Scanfest!

Just Claudia said...

Does this concern all people who want to scan, not just Fredenburghs?

Miriam Robbins said...

Yes, Claudia. This event is open to the public and has never been about one particular family line. It is to encourage others to begin their scanning projects and provide a place to get answers about genealogy and technology.

M. Diane Rogers said...

Intend to be there. I may have to skip out for a few minutes. I think I'll be scanning more of my mum's photos.