What to Scan First Checklist
Prioritize items whose context may disappear, then create readable copies and check your backup.
By Pinkas · Updated September 28, 2026
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Choose the next small batch
- Identify items only one living relative can explain.
- Find unique recordings, letters and photographs with no known copy.
- Note fragile items; seek specialist advice before moving or flattening them.
- Keep the original order and record envelope or album labels.
- Capture the back of each photograph and its surrounding album context.
- Give each original and its copies a stable matching ID.
- Check focus, legibility and completeness before putting originals away.
- Keep an unchanged master and a separate working copy.
- Record who, what, when, where and how you know; mark unknowns.
- Make a backup in a separate location and open a sample file from it.
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