Here are recommendations and practical tips to help you gather and organize photos and videos before having them digitized. The expectation is not that you need to follow all the tips, but following some of them will reduce the cost.

• Preparation
  • Set a goal: Decide scope (albums, years, events) and final format (JPEG/PNG for photos, MP4 for video).
  • Create a workspace: Clean, flat surface with good lighting and a box for sorted items.
  • Tools ready: Gloves (optional), lint-free cloth, compressed-air blower, labels, sticky notes, a scanner/camera or service info.
  • Hold film by the edge, never touch the image with your fingers
• Gathering
  • Collect from all places: Albums, boxes, frames, shoeboxes, phones, cloud accounts, old hard drives, USBs, DVDs, camcorder tapes.
  • Consolidate digital files: Copy everything into one folder on your computer or external drive before sorting.
• Sorting (use a simple hierarchy)
  • Primary sort — by level: Keep in order of importance: Keep / Maybe / Discard.
  • Secondary sort — by structure: Use Year → Event/Location → People (e.g., 1998 → Vacation_Florida → Smith_Family).
  • Group fragile/valuable items: Set aside originals that need special handling or professional conservation.
• Labeling & Metadata
  • Label physical groups: Use numbered boxes or sticky notes matching folders on your computer.
  • Create a manifest: Spreadsheet with folder name, item count, date range, notes (damage, duplicates).
  • Capture metadata early: For each folder, note date, location, people, and camera (if known) in the spreadsheet or file-sidecar (TXT).
• De-duplication & Curation
  • Cull aggressively: Remove obvious duplicates, blurred shots, empty frames before digitizing.
  • Keep variants selectively: Choose the best shot(s) per moment; keep one or two favorites.
  • Mark special items: Flag historically or sentimentally important items to prioritize scanning.