Permanently protecting your precious photographs is probably reason enough for sending them to a photo scanning service. Its the responsible thing to do. You can share complete copies with your family members and it stops your images from the everyday deterioration that will eventually ruin your photographs. But once the work has been done you can have fun with them.

Once your ordinary photos are digitized they can be added to and organized along with your collection of digital photos. And when the work is done you'll be able to use your newly scanned images to generate wonderful photobooks and photo specialties. Several online businesses offer free software that lets you use your digital images to create an assortment of items from mugs to puzzels to t-shirts and more.

Recently a local sports team used an online photo publishing company to provide t-shirts with the photo of an injured player for the entire team. It was easy for the team to do this quickly and affordably, and the response from everyone involved was truly memorable.

An office manager had all of the people in the office submit unique photos of themselves. Using a photo specialty company she produced personalized photo mugs for each of the individuals and hung them on a rack in the lunch room. The mugs generated endless discussion about childhood, hobbies, and 1980's attire. Not only could everyone easily identify their own mug, they learned things about their coworkers they might not have otherwise.

After seeing the photos on display at a recent funeral, one member of the family had all of the precious photographs made into photo books for each of the family members. The family's history was preserved and shared, and each family member learned more about where they fit into the bigger picture of the person's life.

A few close friends decided that creating photobooks was a great way to remember and share one particularly enjoyable golf weekend. Part of the motivation may have been the thought that the full heads of hair and relatively tight abs might not be around forever. But the memories of fun and friendship were easily protected and preserved.

One cheerleading squad recently put together a photobook that included images of all of their activities and photos of the different teams that they cheered for. They made them available to anyone who was interested and they immediately became a hit with players, families, and fans. These inexpensive keepsakes did not replace the yearbook, but the cheering squad enjoyed complete editorial control. Someone even suggested using them as a fund raiser in the future.

Some photo specialty companies offer photobook creation software with exceptional features. Be sure to look for software that automatically performs the layout function. This feature will quickly display endless combinations of photos and layouts until you find one that you like. Another great feature allows you to use one of you photos as the page background. Imagine the artistic possibilities. Software that allows you to complete the entire project on your computer before sending it in is much preferred over systems that make you upload at every step.

So get your photos scanned to protect them from loss, damage, and destruction. And once you've included them in your digital photo collection you will be able to let your creative side run wild designing your favorite photo specialties easily and inexpensively online. - 23546