You have your entire family's LIFE in photos. SOMEWHERE.
Now lets get them all organized in just
ONE PLACE.
Scan Like a Pro
From Home
Our online video training course will teach even the most technologically-challenged person the basic steps for scanning their photos and documents.
Gain confidence to make all the right scanning choices.
I'm Curtis Bisel — the overly serious looking guy in the photo.
Since August 8th of 2001, I've been working to perfect a workflow to scan and organize my family's 10,000+ analog photo collection made up of prints, slides and various negatives.
From this website and my email list which I encourage you to sign up for, I release insights, tips, and best practices for doing the same with your own photo collection.
Organizing Originals
Scanning Photos
Storing Originals
Best methods how and where to store your original prints, slides and film negatives so they are archival safe.
Organizing Digitals
Learning how to label and organize your digital masters either manually in organized folders, or using the best photo managing software for your needs.
Restoring Digitals
Learning the easiest ways to bring your images back to life, by correcting shifted and faded colors, scratches and dust using your photo editing software of choice.
Backup Digitals
Bringing all of your original photos together in one place. And if desired, creating a suitable order for them before being scanned.
How I'm Bringing Order to Chaos By Scanning and Organizing My Photo Collection
I have always held onto things that memorialized moments of my life. Ever since I was a little kid, I would make sure to carefully store my grade school class pictures or baseball team pictures. They were important to me then and I knew that I should keep them safe. It took a few years for me to realize what service I had done myself by not letting these precious items get lost or thrown away. They are utterly priceless to me now.
Epson Scan 2 — Will It Work With My Scanner?
Epson quietly released a new version of their popular scanning software “Epson Scan” that comes bundled with their document and flatbed photo scanners. But, there's already been confusion as to which scanners and operating systems it supports. Could it be possible that “Epson Scan 2” won't even run in the latest versions of Microsoft Windows?
AHHH! THANK YOU SO MUCH! I’ve been trying to recover my ‘lost' photos for almost a year now. I’ve read many ‘fix-it' strategies on other websites, but this is the first one that actually FOUND my photos!
Thank you again! You are so much more pleasant, good natured, and knowledgable than ANY tech support I've ever used!
I was really busy the last days due to spending all of my free time reading ‘Scan Your Entire Life'. I really enjoy it.
It has been really good for me to learn from you how to systematize, to scan and organize my old photos and negatives. You really gave me the confidence and courage.
Thank you so much for putting this membership course together! I am currently spending time with my parents and grandmother due to COVID. I have a rare opportunity to scan their photos – and then review the photos with them and capture the stories. But I found starting the project overwhelming – I couldn't even decide on a scanner.
I put it off for 4 months until I found your website. You gave me the map that made the project doable! I now have all the tools (including an Epson v600) and have started the journey!
In 6 days I've set up my scanner, watched the course videos, developed my workflow (though I am still making adjustments), and scanned 76 photos. (Well, I've made hundreds of scans – but I restarted the project after tweaking my approach.)
In fact, I so appreciated the Course and your above-and-beyond assistance in the forums, that I upgraded my membership to annual. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! I cannot thank you enough!
I am 74, a former Air Force (AF) pilot, and only recently got my first camera, so I never captured most of my life on film.
Consequently, I have begun seeking photos from my past to digitize and I have managed to solicit some images by email from AF friends that document our careers in the Air Force. I recently visited my sister and convinced her to relinquish most of her print albums and loose prints and negatives.
Curtis, I read nearly all your posts at least twice if not three times. I learn more each time I read them. You are doing ground breaking work never done before. Maybe one day there will be a standardized naming convention called the ‘Bisel Standard'.
You give us all the incentive to overcome that inertia that prevents us from ever tackling a complicated task such as this. I'm better for having discovered your web site. Thank you again.
Curtis, Love your site! What really sets yours apart from other sites that cover scanning, is that you always weigh the effort and future proofing of things.
The Membership course content is just what I needed for my scanning project. The videos and texts are so well done, entertaining but also very professional and easy to understand.
I’ve watched the videos and read through all the lessons twice and have been picking up more info through blog entries. I think I’m ready for my first scan this week!
I just wanted to say, yes, glad you did create this site. You have obviously helped many people and from little I have read, you are very clear and personable. So many videos and classes will go on and on and then rush right through the important stuff.
I am making a new push to get pictures scanned and organized, so I have been looking for good advice and am glad to have found a kindred spirit. Keep it up and Thanks!
I have been wanting to scan all the family photos for my kids but just didn’t have a system. I know I’ve got to categorize or have an archival system before doing the tedious work.
Thanks so much for your useful 3 part [file naming] series, really enjoyed it. Most helpful too!
I love your website, and find it incredibly useful!!
I have a constant annoying worry, that I might lose every picture I have taken…they are the story of my life and my 4 daughter's life too.
My story is that I'm 57 and most of my life is analog. It's time to save it all from fading away, else my kids will not know where they come from.
Curtis, you've been a true inspiration. I was totally intimidated by the idea of doing it myself, but after visiting your website I decided to give it a try. Not only is it going much faster than I thought but it is an extremely enjoyable trip through the history of my family.
I still have many boxes to go but think I will have everything done within a year. Thanks for many great ideas and most of all for the encouragement.
I am so thankful to have come across your website. I considered buying a scanner about 2 years ago but the more I read the more difficult it seemed to be able to scan my old print photos.
I know so much more now thanks to your website and emails. Thank you so much for your time and the energy you put into your blogs etc to help people like me.
This is a fantastic site. I have been wrestling with all these issues and your site is by far the best of any information that I have found – you are answering exactly the same questions that I have. Thank you!
I found your website and after a few days of reading the various articles. I signed up for your newsletter and took out the boxes of unnamed and unsorted family photos.
Armed with your naming convention and dpi setting recommendations, I jumped in with both feet and the old family photos are finally getting organized and scanned.
I now know the joy and satisfaction of actually being able to replace an ‘x' with a numeral! Thank you so much!!
I want to thank you for putting up this AWESOME website! Seriously, a lot of your archiving tips really helped me out.
I was really busy the last days due to spending all of my free time reading ‘Scan Your Entire Life'. I really enjoy it.
It has been really good for me to learn from you how to systematize, to scan and organize my old photos and negatives. You really gave me the confidence and courage.
Thank you again! You are so much more pleasant, good natured, and knowledgable than ANY tech support I've ever used!
I really enjoyed all the membership videos – very well done! I feel much more prepared to tackle the daunting task of digitizing the family photo collection now and have recommended your membership to several others.
Curtis, Love your site! What really sets yours apart from other sites that cover scanning, is that you always weigh the effort and future proofing of things.
