Monthly Archives: February 2017

Is Google Photos Phone Scanning App Worth the Headache?

Posted on February 24, 2017 by

The Test: Photo Scanning Apps vs Professional Photo Scanning Services


Are Photo Scanning Apps Worth the Headache?


New photo scanning apps put the power of preservation into consumers’ hands, but at what cost? We decided to test out the new app and made a startling discovery.


The average family has 5,500 analog photo snapshots fading away from the ravages of time. Watch to see which is the most effective, simple and practical way to solve this problem.. What is the best way to digitize your entire lifetime of photo snapshots?


This YouTube shares a fun comparison between DIY scanning from your phone at sub-par, low resolution vs. professional high resolution photo digitization from the company which scanned more than 300 million photos. If you scan your pictures yourself on your ‘smart’ phone, 5,500 pictures will take 100+ hours of non-stop, non interrupted work.


[Video credit: Nichols Images – Video Production Services]


Founded in 1990, ScanMyPhotos.com, pioneered a smart and economical way to scan your family photos where we do all the work

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NYT: How Small Firms Can Defuse a Political Threat

Posted on February 22, 2017 by

ScanMyPhotos.com was profiled in The New York Times “Entrepreneur” column written by Constance Gustke.  Click here to read the February 22, 2017 article.  We were inspired by the story shared by Nicole Morgenthau, owner of Finch Knitting and Sewing Studio in Leesburg, VA.


EXCERPT: Outspoken on Issues


ScanMyPhotos logo - NYT: How Small Firms Can Defuse a Political Threat

ScanMyPhotos.com has professionally digitized more than 300 million photos

Some online businesses have been fully prepared to court controversy, regardless of the effect on sales.  Mitch Goldstone, co-founder of ScanMyPhotos, an e-commerce company that digitizes family photos, has always taken strong political stances, unafraid of how it could affect his 26-year-old business based in Irvine, Calif.  He even appeared on CNN in 2015, after Mr. Trump declared his candidacy, to explain why he was opposed to him. These actions resulted in hundreds of angry phone calls for a few days, he said.  Still, Mr. Goldstone did not back down from his outspokenness. He offered to scan photos free for all customers for one month if Mr. Trump won the general election.  Mr. Goldstone kept his word. And ScanMyPhotos has now scanned thousands of photos, he said, and won over some Trump supporters as paying customers.  “You have to speak up and have a voice,” said Mr. Goldstone, whose business employs 20 people. “I’m trying to demonstrate the value of integrity. And I need to keep my word.”  Mr. Goldstone also benefits from a huge market. His company has digitized 300 million photos so far, he figures, but 3.5 trillion photos in the country are still in paper form.


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How a Mom Honors the Memories of Her Lost Son

Posted on February 17, 2017 by
memories

Jackie’s late son Danny posing with Minnie and Mickey at Disney in the fall of 1989.

We snap pictures at the drop of a hat these days. Interesting dinner? Take a picture. Dog in a funny pose? Take a picture. Family snuggled together watching a movie? Take several pictures from every angle imaginable.


But while we’re busy taking these pictures, we rarely stop to think about the importance of each one—or how significant and powerful these photos might one day become.


ScanMyPhotos customer Jackie, however, knows all too well the incredible value photos can have.


“My son Danny passed away in 1990—he was only 12. After I sent my pictures to ScanMyPhotos, I gave two other family members the extra sets so that if anything ever happened, the pictures of Danny would always be around. That’s what I wanted to do the most by scanning my print photos—I needed to preserve his memory.”

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Astrophotography 101: How to Take Pictures of Stars

Posted on February 15, 2017 by

pictures of starsThe night sky is truly awe-inspiring. We look up to see the vastness of our universe and are greeted by an infinite amount of dim twinkling lights. On a crystal clear night, when the sky is in perfect focus, the first thing many of us want to do is take pictures of stars—aka, astrophotography.


The only downside, however, is the night sky is notoriously difficult to film.


But with the right gear, spot, and settings, anyone can take star pictures so they can show them off on Instagram or keep as a memento for years to come.


Here’s what you’ll need to do:


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New Valentine’s Day Trend: Gift-buying For Men On The Rise (NBCNews)

Posted on February 14, 2017 by

We are so honored to have been included in this national NBC News story on Valentine’s Day. The new retail buying behavior points to females gift giving on Valentine’s Day on the rise.

nbc 300x113 - New Valentine's Day Trend: Gift-buying For Men On The Rise (NBCNews)

NBC News profile on ScanMyPhotos.com


“Gone are the days when Valentine’s Day was all about pleasing the ladies: Gift-buying for men is on the rise. “This Valentine’s Day, for the first time in our 26 years in business, we’ve seen a crazy unusual spike in orders to surprise men versus women, with their decades-past pictures digitized for Tuesday,” said Mitch Goldstone, president & CEO at ScanMyPhotos.com. “Over the past few weeks, from our analytical monitoring, 80 percent of all ScanMyPhotos.com orders are from females.”


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Excerpt: According to new data by iQuanti, Google searches on “what to buy him” spiked over the course of 2016, while online searches for “what to buy her” slightly dipped. The former search category grew by 11.54 percent, while gift-searching for women dipped by 0.58 percent.

Click to view NBC News story


 

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Facebook AI Can Now Search Photos Using Any Keyword

Posted on February 8, 2017 by

facebook aiTimes are certainly changing. We recently found out that a new Facebook AI technology is now joining the ranks of that of Google Photos or the Apple Photos App.


The social media giant now lets users search its pictures by typing in content from the image.


Say, for example, you’re looking for a photo you were tagged in five years ago. You run into a snag when you can’t remember who took the picture, but you do remember it was at a birthday party with lots of balloons. To find your photos, simply type in the word “balloons” and Facebook will do the rest.


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Tales From The Pictures We Saved – Episode 9: How to Supersize Life

Posted on February 7, 2017 by

how to supersize lifeWelcome to this week’s episode of Tales From the Pictures We Saved. 


 

We’ve spent the past 26 years helping our customers preserve tens of millions of happy memories, milestones, achievements, and events—all of which have incredible stories behind each and every photo.


And now we’re eager to share these stories with you.


In this week’s episode, one ScanMyPhotos customer uses photo scanning to downsize her things and shows us how to supersize life in the process.


Preview: Giving up all material possessions and hitting the road in search of adventure and quiet, inspirational places to write is a pipedream for many writers. For ScanMyPhoto’s customer Debbie LaFleiche this dream is about to become a reality.

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Why Ed Sheeran’s “Photography” became our Theme Song

Posted on February 6, 2017 by

Music isn’t just for audiophiles, but even for businesses, too. Does your company have an all time favorite song?  What is it and why?


“Photography” by Ed Sheeran is our new

ScanMyPhotos.com theme song


With a beautiful melody and lyrics, at ScanMYPhotos.com, our new company theme song is Ed Sheeran’s “Photography.”  With an emotional undertone, “Photography” (video Directed by Emil Nava) showcases an emotional picture of the kind of teenage love affair we all wish we had.



Photograph  by Ed Sheeran (lyrics)



Loving can hurt, loving can hurt sometimes
But it’s the only thing that I know
When it gets hard, you know it can get hard sometimes
It is the only thing that makes us feel alive
We keep this love in a photograph
We made these memories for ourselves
Where our eyes are never closing
Hearts are never broken
And time’s forever frozen still
So you can keep me
Inside the pocket of your ripped jeans
Holding me closer ’til our eyes meet
You won’t ever be alone, wait for me to come home
Loving can heal, loving can mend your soul
And it’s the only thing that I know, know
I swear it will get easier,
Remember that with every piece of you
Hm, and it’s the only thing we take with us when we die
Hm, we keep this love in this photograph
We made these memories for ourselves
Where our eyes are never closing
Hearts were never broken
And time’s forever frozen still
So you can keep me
Inside the pocket of your ripped jeans
Holding me closer ’til our eyes meet
You won’t ever be alone
And if you hurt me
That’s okay baby, only words bleed
Inside these pages you just hold me
And I won’t ever let you go
Wait for me to come home
Wait for me to come home
Wait for me to come home
Wait for me to come home
You can fit me
Inside the necklace you got when you were sixteen
Next to your heartbeat where I should be
Keep it deep within your soul
And if you hurt me
Well, that’s okay baby, only words bleed
Inside these pages you just hold me
And I won’t ever let you go
When I’m away, I will remember how you kissed me
Under the lamppost back on Sixth street
Hearing you whisper through the phone,
“Wait for me to come home.”



Songwriters: Ed Sheeran / Johnny Mcdaid
Photograph lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

 

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