Best Practices for Memories
When we launched Pixologie in 2013, we had a clear vision of bringing photo organization into a recognized and valued service where consumers can get their stories told and preserved for future generations. We knew the field needed established best practices.
There are too many options for consumers, too many ways to save a photo and too little time to figure it out. Pixologie is changing this by offering clear industry standards for the photo organization and management field and to our licensees who are operating independent businesses.
Over the past two years, we dived deep into developing photo organization standards, digital file format best practices, and levels of service.
We have broken down our best practices into Preservation and Archival levels. Following these descriptions, we discuss the Consumer Level of service.
Preservation Level – Generally for consumers, family photo collections
- Printed photos are sorted, stored in photo safe, archival quality boxes
- Scanned photos are 300 or 600 dpi, saved as superior, quality JPGs.
- Digital photos are saved as JPGs
- Slides and negatives are scanned at 2000 dpi and saved as JPGs
- Videos and film are transferred to a digital file – MP4, MPG, M4V
- Back-up includes two digital copies, one onsite (off the main computer) and one offsite
Archival Level – For professional photographers, business and historical photo collections
- Printed photos, slides, negatives are sorted, stored in photo safe, archival quality boxes
- Scanned photos are 600 dpi, saved as TIFFs, once edits completed, can be saved as JPGs
- Digital files are tagged, dates are corrected
- Slides and negatives are scanned at 4000 DPI
- Videos and film are remastered, saved as AVI or MOV
- Back-up includes two digital copies, one onsite (off the main computer) and one offsite
We are committed to educating consumers and our clients on what standards will best future proof their past. However, these levels of service do come at a higher price point. When we find that clients are looking for a lower cost solution, we have identified an additional level of service – the Consumer Level.
Consumer Level – Many times, people access consumer levels of services because they are unaware there are other options and considerations to ensure their photos and family movies will be around for generations to come. Some consumers do choose to have a lower cost service and are willing to compromise on the quality of service.
- Photos are scanned on flatbed scanners with unknown DPI and quality
- Digital files are saved on DVDs and jump drives with no consideration of how the photo will be organized and found later
- Slides and negatives are scanned using a consumer grade scanner with inconsistent color correction and unknown resolution
- Videos and film are transferred to lower size and quality digital formats (MP4s or MPGs) or transferred and compressed straight to a DVD
- No consistent back-up of files
Learn more about how to future proof your past in our book, “A Simple Guide to Saving Your Family Photos,” available on Amazon.com.
