{"id":3179,"date":"2026-06-08T09:56:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-08T13:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/library\/?page_id=3179"},"modified":"2026-08-28T12:57:48","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T16:57:48","slug":"diy-digitization-tips","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/library\/explore-collections\/digital-collections\/digitization\/diy-digitization-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"DIY Digitization Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This page provides a brief overview of common digitization procedures for personal effects such as manuscript drafts, family photographs, or other memorabilia.<\/p>\n<h2>Identify &amp; Select Your Materials<\/h2>\n<p>Before you embark on a digitization project, ask yourself the following questions:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Do you need to scan every single page?<\/strong> What are the most important topics or concepts to preserve? Perhaps start by culling your materials and remove duplicates, scraps, or other pages you deem unnecessary.<\/li>\n<li><strong>What are these images for?<\/strong> What purposes will they serve now and in the future? This will help guide you through identifying the best method of imaging, storing, and sharing materials.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<h2>Storage &amp; Technology Recommendations<\/h2>\n<h3>For Document Collections<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Use a sheet feed scanner, especially if you are digitizing a high volume of materials<\/li>\n<li>Create PDFs and OCR them to make their contents searchable<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>For Photograph Collections<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Use a flatbed scanner\n<ul>\n<li>Scan in black and white or in color<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t forget to capture any information on the back of the photograph!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Software suggestions include Epson Scan, Silverfast<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>For Slide \/ Negatives Collections<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Use a flatbed scanner with transmissive capabilities<\/li>\n<li>Lightbox and a phone\n<ul>\n<li>Instead of a lightbox, you can use your computer or phone screen with a white page on it<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>For Books<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Bookeye vs. cradles in a library<\/li>\n<li>There are flatbeds designed for books, but NOT fragile ones<\/li>\n<li>A good use case for your phone<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>For Fragile or Rare Materials<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Consider researching a professional vendor or investing in a camera-based copystand system to safely digitize this material<\/li>\n<li>Another good use case for your phone<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<aside class=\"dialogue dialogue-info\">Note that there is a flatbed scanner on the 1st floor of Mugar Library, located next to the North Elevator bay. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/library\/visit-study\/locations\/mugar-memorial-library\/floor-plans\/floor-1\/\">View the floormap<\/a> here.<\/aside>\n<h2>Using Your Phone<\/h2>\n<p>You can use your mobile device to digitize all material types. We recommend the following apps to assist you with digitizing:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Adobe Scan<\/li>\n<li>ABBYY FineReader (only available on iPhone)<\/li>\n<li>Google PhotoScan<\/li>\n<li>Photomyne<\/li>\n<li>TinyScanner<\/li>\n<li>vFlat<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Other Tips for Using Your Phone<\/h3>\n<h4>Photo Background<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Make sure you have a neutral background. This could be a table in your home, a countertop, etc. Consider black, white, or gray construction paper or matte board as a background as well<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Lighting<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>If using a phone rather than a scanner, try to take your shots in a well lit room or near a window. Avoid harsh and direct light, which can cause highlights or reflections on the material<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Positioning<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Try to use your phone directly above the item, rather than capturing it at an angle. Be careful of shadows! Try to hold phone steady, otherwise look into a little tripod for your phone to be held for you<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>File Organization &amp; Management<\/h2>\n<p>Think of where you are going to store all of your files.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>An external hard drive is great so you don\u2019t fill up your computer storage<\/li>\n<li>Also consider a cloud based storage system like Dropbox (which will keep your folder structure in tact)<\/li>\n<li>It\u2019s smart to have a physical copy and a backup, whether that\u2019s a second physical copy or a cloud backup\n<ul>\n<li>Keep in mind with cloud storage, you might need to pay a fee for space<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Circle back to the question \u201cWhat are these images for?\u201d and this may also inform where they end up<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>How will you organize your files?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Think of a folder tree structure that will help keep you organized: The Top level folder describes what is inside (ex. OfficeFiles_2010-2025)\n<ul>\n<li>Consider the most logical way to organize each level\u2014chronologically, matching the box\/folder structure of the physical materials<\/li>\n<li>Be descriptive in your folder naming\u2014this will help you keep track of what is inside and also makes it searchable on your computer<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Naming Conventions<\/h3>\n<p>Use a file naming convention to keep track of and organize your files. For example:<\/p>\n<pre><code>Ex. Box &amp; Folder structure: OfficeFiles_Box1_Folder1_001.jpg\r\nEx. Chronological: OfficeFiles_2009_01-Jan_001.jpg\r\nEx. Descriptive (best for photographs): FamilyPhotos_SummerVacation_2010_001.jpg<\/code><\/pre>\n<h4>Keep in mind<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>You don&#8217;t need a unique convention for every single item, use a sequential counter at the end.<\/li>\n<li>Use programs like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.publicspace.net\/ABetterFinderRename\/index.html\">Better Finder Renamer<\/a> (Mac), Bridge (free from Adobe), <a href=\"https:\/\/mrrsoftware.com\/namechanger\/\">NameChanger<\/a> (Mac), <a href=\"https:\/\/learn.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows\/powertoys\/powerrename\">PowerRename<\/a> (Windows) to batch rename<\/li>\n<li>Avoid periods and spaces in your filenames, as this will support the long digital life of your files.\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/records-express.blogs.archives.gov\/2017\/08\/22\/best-practices-for-file-naming\/\">Learn more about best practices for file naming<\/a> from <em>Records Express,<\/em>\u00a0the official blog of the Office of the Chief Records Office (OCRO) at the National Archives and Records Administration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Share Your Materials<\/h2>\n<p>You can create an <a href=\"https:\/\/omeka.org\/\">Omeka<\/a> site. Omeka is a free, flexible, and open source web-publishing platform for the display of library, museum, archives, and scholarly collections and exhibitions.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"button-secondary\" href=\"https:\/\/reviews.americanarchivist.org\/2025\/08\/06\/technology-roundup-free-and-low-cost-online-exhibit-platforms\/\">Learn more about free and low-cost online exhibit platforms.<\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Additional Resources<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalpreservation.gov\/personalarchiving\/index.html\">Personal Archiving<\/a>, Library of Congress\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalpreservation.gov\/personalarchiving\/photos.html\">Keeping Personal Digital Photographs<\/a>, Library of Congress<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/digitalpreservation.gov\/personalarchiving\/records.html\">Keeping Personal Digital Records<\/a>, Library of Congress<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This page provides a brief overview of common digitization procedures for personal effects such as manuscript drafts, family photographs, or other memorabilia. Identify &amp; Select Your Materials Before you embark on a digitization project, ask yourself the following questions: Do you need to scan every single page? What are the most important topics or concepts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23190,"featured_media":0,"parent":5199,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3179"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23190"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3179"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3179\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4871,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3179\/revisions\/4871"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/5199"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}