Scanning and Preserving Important Family Documents

Birth certificates. Marriage licenses. Military discharge papers. Old letters. Deeds. Immigration papers. Family bibles.

These documents tell your family's story through official records and personal correspondence. They're also fragile, irreplaceable, and vulnerable to fire, flood, and time.

This guide shows you how to digitize and preserve family documents properly.

Why Digitization Matters

Paper deteriorates:

• Acid in paper causes yellowing and brittleness
• Ink fades over time
• Environmental damage (humidity, light, insects)
• Physical damage (tears, folds, stains)

Documents get lost:

• House fires
• Floods
• Moves
• Estate distribution (originals given to one person)
• Forgotten in storage

Digital copies:

• Last indefinitely with proper backup
• Can be shared without risk
• Searchable
• Accessible from anywhere
• Multiple people can have copies

What to Digitize

Priority 1 - Essential Legal Documents:

• Birth certificates
• Death certificates
• Marriage certificates
• Divorce decrees
• Adoption papers
• Military discharge papers (DD-214)
• Naturalization/immigration papers
• Deeds and property records
• Wills and trusts

Priority 2 - Historical Documents:

• Old letters and correspondence
• Journals and diaries
• Family bibles with genealogical records
• Ship manifests and passenger lists
• Old newspaper clippings
• School records and diplomas
• Business records
• Land grants

Priority 3 - Personal Documents:

• Awards and certificates
• Report cards
• Programs (weddings, funerals)
• Greeting cards with notes
• Recipes in handwriting
• Personal notes

Scanning Methods

Option 1: Flatbed Scanner (Best Quality)

Recommended for: Delicate, valuable, or irreplaceable documents

Equipment:

• Quality flatbed scanner ($100-300)
• Epson Perfection V600 (excellent balance of quality/price)
• Canon CanoScan 9000F Mark II (professional quality)

Settings:

• Resolution: 300 DPI minimum, 600 DPI for small or detailed documents
• Color mode: Color or grayscale (not black & white)
• Format: TIFF for archival (large files), PDF for practical use, JPEG for photos
• No compression or minimal compression

Process:

1. Clean scanner glass gently
2. Place document face-down
3. Close lid carefully (don't force)
4. Scan using appropriate settings
5. Review scan before removing document
6. Save with descriptive filename

Pro tip: Scan blank verso (back) too if it has any writing, stamps, or marks.

Option 2: Document Scanner (Fast for Volume)

Recommended for: Large quantities of standard-size documents

Equipment:

• Sheet-feed scanner ($150-500)
• Fujitsu ScanSnap (popular, reliable)
• Brother ADS-series

Advantages:

• Scan multiple pages automatically
• Fast (20-40 pages per minute)
• Creates searchable PDFs

Limitations:

• Can damage delicate documents
• Only works with standard-size, flexible paper
• Not for books, photos, or fragile items

Use for: Modern documents (last 50 years), certificates, letters in good condition

Option 3: Smartphone App (Convenient)

Recommended for: Quick scans, travel, documents at relatives' homes

Apps:

• Adobe Scan (free, excellent quality)
• Microsoft Lens (free)
• Genius Scan

Features:

• Auto-detect edges
• Correct perspective
• Enhance contrast
• Create PDFs
• OCR (text recognition)

Tips:

• Use good lighting (near window, avoid shadows)
• Place document on dark, contrasting background
• Take multiple shots
• Use highest quality setting

Limitation: Lower quality than dedicated scanner, but often sufficient.

Handling Fragile Documents

For very old, delicate documents:

Do:

• Wash hands before handling (or use cotton gloves)
• Support document from beneath
• Work on clean, flat surface
• Use weight/glass to flatten without touching directly
• Photograph if too fragile to scan

Don't:

• Use adhesive tape (damages paper permanently)
• Use paper clips or staples
• Fold already-creased documents further
• Force documents flat if brittle
• Expose to direct sunlight

Consider professional services for:

• Documents 100+ years old
• Extremely brittle paper
• Torn or damaged documents needing repair
• Bound books that can't be opened flat
• Very large documents

File Organization

Naming convention:

YYYY_DocumentType_Names_Details.pdf

Examples:

• 1945_DD214_John-Smith_Army.pdf
• 1923_MarriageCert_Smith-Jones.pdf
• 1890_Letter_Mary-to-Sarah_Jan15.pdf

Folder structure:

Family Documents/
├── Legal/
│   ├── Birth Certificates/
│   ├── Death Certificates/
│   ├── Marriage Certificates/
│   └── Military/
├── Immigration/
├── Property/
├── Correspondence/
│   ├── 1800s/
│   ├── 1900-1950/
│   └── 1950-2000/
└── Personal/

Metadata: Add information to file properties:

• Author (who created document)
• Subject (what it is)
• Keywords (searchable terms)
• Date created

OCR (Optical Character Recognition)

Turn scanned images into searchable text.

Benefits:

• Search within documents
• Copy/paste text
• Find specific information quickly

Tools:

• Adobe Acrobat Pro (paid, best quality)
• ABBYY FineReader (professional)
• Google Drive (free, decent quality)
• Microsoft OneNote (free)

Process:

1. Scan document as image
2. Run OCR software
3. Review for accuracy (especially on old handwriting)
4. Save searchable PDF

Limitations:

• Handwriting recognition is imperfect
• Old fonts may not recognize well
• Faded ink causes errors
• Always keep original image too

Backup Strategy

3-2-1 Rule (Critical for Irreplaceable Documents):

3 copies: Original scan + 2 backups 2 media types: Cloud + physical drive 1 off-site: Different physical location

Recommended setup:

1. Primary: Computer/laptop hard drive
2. Secondary: External hard drive (keep disconnected)
3. Tertiary: Cloud storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud)

Additional options:

• Second cloud service
• USB drive at relative's house
• Professional archival service

Test restores regularly: Verify backups actually work.

Physical Document Preservation

After digitizing, store originals properly:

Archival Storage:

• Acid-free folders and boxes
• Store flat, not rolled
• Climate-controlled space (65-70°F, 30-40% humidity)
• Away from sunlight
• Not in attic or basement

Protective sleeves:

• Mylar sleeves (archival quality)
• Never use cheap plastic (can damage documents)
• Store in archival boxes

Fireproof/waterproof safe:

• For most important originals
• Test size before buying (documents need to lie flat)
• Consider bank safe deposit box

Transcription

For handwritten documents, consider transcribing:

Benefits:

• Preserves content even if original becomes illegible
• Makes content accessible to those who can't read cursive
• Easier to share and reference

How:

• Type exactly as written (including misspellings)
• Use [brackets] for unclear words
• Add footnotes for context
• Include date and author

Old handwriting tips:

• Familiarize yourself with cursive styles of the era
• Cross-reference names/places you know
• Some letters look different (s looks like f, etc.)
• Consult paleography resources for very old writing

Legal Considerations

Certified copies:

• Scan copies aren't legally "certified"
• For legal purposes, get certified copies from issuing authority
• Keep scans for reference and research

Privacy:

• Social Security numbers on old documents
• Be careful sharing publicly
• Redact sensitive information if posting online

Copyright:

• Letters and diaries may be copyrighted by author
• Usually fine for personal/family use
• Get permission before publishing commercially

Sharing With Family

Best practices:

• Upload to shared cloud folder
• Give USB drives as gifts
• Create family archive website
• Contribute to FamilySearch or genealogy sites
• Print copies for non-tech relatives

Include context:

• Who appears in document
• Date and location
• Significance
• Related documents
• Transcription if needed

Common Mistakes

1. Scanning at too low resolution

   • Can't zoom in to read details
   • Use 300 DPI minimum

2. Poor file naming

   • "Scan001.pdf" is useless in 5 years
   • Use descriptive names with dates

3. Single backup only

   • Hard drives fail
   • Use multiple backups

4. Discarding originals

   • Even with digital copies, originals have value
   • Keep unless severely damaged

5. Not organizing

   • Scanning without organization creates digital clutter
   • File logically from the start

Professional Services

When to hire professionals:

• Large volume (hundreds/thousands of documents)
• Delicate/valuable documents
• Don't have time/equipment
• Need restoration (repair tears, remove stains)

Services:

• Local photo/document scanning shops
• National services (ScanMyPhotos, Legacybox)
• Professional archivists for valuable collections

Cost: $0.15-$0.50 per page typically

Your Action Plan

Week 1:

• Gather all family documents
• Sort by priority
• Choose scanning method

Week 2:

• Scan Priority 1 documents
• Create folder structure
• Set up backup system

Week 3:

• Scan Priority 2 documents
• Add metadata
• Begin transcriptions

Week 4:

• Scan remaining documents
• Share with family
• Store originals properly

Start Now

Every day you wait, documents deteriorate further. Old paper becomes more brittle. Ink fades. Documents get lost.

The time to preserve is now, while documents are still readable and accessible.

Your family's paper trail deserves digital immortality. Start this week.

Scan first, organize later if needed. But start. These documents tell your family's official story. Don't let them disappear.