If you’re stuck working in an office building somewhere, you might look at those who work from home as incredibly lucky. But anyone who has done so for any length of time can tell you that working from home isn’t as easy as it sounds. It means working in a house full of distractions and diversions, trying to ignore the dirty dishes, laundry, barking dogs, bored kids, and all manner of other things that would be perfectly reasonable ways to procrastinate if you didn’t have all that work that needs to get done.

Photo by David Martyn Hunt.

Whether you’re a telecommuter for a large company or a freelancer working for clients all over the globe, the most important part of successfully working from home is a good home office. Where and how you choose to set yours up depends on the limitations of your home and your budget, but the experts agree that setting aside your own office space is essential.

1. Evaluate your work habits and needs.

Everyone’s different — one person’s concentration aid might be another’s distraction, and the things that make an inspiring office space to you might be incredibly annoying to someone else. So take a good look your work habits and figure out what works for you. Do you like things minimalist and Spartan or cozy and comfy? Do you like lots of artwork on the walls to inspire you, or do you prefer clean and clear swaths of color?

How you organize your office will also depend on the type of work you do. Do you accomplish all your daily tasks on the computer, or do you also need desk space to spread out papers or tasks? Do you have a lot of different tasks to keep track of at once, or are you mostly doing one thing at a time? A wide-open desk, lots of cubbyholes for organizing tools, or a multi-level inbox might be just the thing.

2. Declutter for maximum concentration.

Photo by EvelynGiggles.

Clutter is the bane of a productive office. Even if you tell yourself that you can ignore it, being surrounded by piles of paper and other clutter reminds your brain that you have dozens of other things to do, and part of your subconscious mind is thinking about those other incomplete tasks rather than the processes at hand.

The best way to deal with clutter is to make sure that everything has a home and that it lives there. Office supplies should have somewhere to be put away. Mail and other papers should have a specific filing system for before and after they’re dealt with. Knickknacks and other bits and bobs should generally not be kept on the desk.

3. Manage intentional distractions.

Distractions aren’t entirely a bad thing, despite everything we just said about clutter. The trick is to manage them so that you use them intentionally. Research has shown that taking short breaks actually increases productivity, and sometimes that distraction is just what your brain needs to make intuitive leaps and solve problems.

Musical instruments, art supplies, and physical, console, or computer-based games — whatever your distraction of choice, keep it accessible but not easily so. You want to be able to access the brain-boosting power of distraction without, well, letting it distract you!

4. Invest in quality furniture and peripherals.

You’re going to be using your office for 40 hours a week or more, it’s worth investing in quality products to put in it. While it might be tempting to just use whatever old chair, desk, or table lamp you have around the house, your life will be much easier if you actually do some research and take the time to get what works for you.

A comfortable, ergonomic work chair that’s properly sized to fit both you and your desk is essential. An ergonomic keyboard and mouse can be very helpful, and you might also want to try a buying (or building!) a standing desk to use instead of or in addition to your traditional desk.

5. Set the mood and environment.

Photo by Manuelsvay.

Use music, lighting, color, and other decor to make your home office somewhere you’ll enjoy spending time. Invest in some decent speakers, and create playlists of different types of music for different tasks. For some things, you might want classical; for others, techno.

Try to arrange your office so that you make the most of natural light. You don’t want glare to make reading your screen difficult, but most people find natural light and fresh air to be energizing. Houseplants can also brighten up a room and vastly improve air quality and concentration.

Do what works for you

The most important thing to remember about organizing your home office is that everyone has unique needs and desires. What works for your coworker might not work for you, and you should feel free to tweak and adjust any advice to your own specifications. You’re the one who has to work here, after all!

5 Tips for Organizing Your Home Office for Maximum Productivity The Saturday Evening Post

If you’ve bought or adopted a pet within the last few years, you’ve probably heard of microchipping. It’s a process that has largely become standard procedure in most adoption centers and vet clinics, frequently included with the standard new pet services like vaccinations and spaying or neutering. Despite the high-tech name, we’re not actually talking about turning your puppy into a robot. Microchipping is actually a very simple procedure.

Preparing our robot puppy overlords

Photo by Daniel Lobo.

A microchip implant is a tiny, integrated circuit placed under the skin of a dog, cat, or other animal. Using passive RFID technology, it contains an identification number that is linked to a database. Pet owners can register their pet’s microchip through various websites so that if the animal is ever lost or stolen and then found, a shelter or veterinarian can return the animal where it belongs.

The chip itself is just a tiny bit bigger than a grain of rice, and it can be implanted without anesthesia in just a few minutes at a vet’s office. It doesn’t hurt the animal at all, and once it’s in place, neither you nor your pet will even know it’s there.

Standards and information

When pet microchips first became available, every company that made a chip used its own database and its own radio frequency, requiring a proprietary scanner to read. This proved to be a huge issue for shelters and clinics, which needed multiple scanners in order to check the animals that came in.

Thankfully, most manufacturers now follow the International Standards Organization (ISO) guidelines for animal microchips so that any chip created following those guidelines can be read by any scanner. The United States doesn’t require that animals be tagged with an ISO-compliant chip, but several other countries do. In the United States, vets and shelters must rely on scanners that can read the ISO chips and the four major types of proprietary chips available today.

Show me some identification

The chip itself isn’t like a driver’s license, containing a lot of identifying information, nor is it a GPS location device. The only information the chip contains is a unique identification number and sometimes the phone number or website for the registry of the company that produced the chip.

Photo by Patrick van IJzendoorn.

It’s up to you, the pet owner, to make sure that you register the chip and keep your information up to date. The vet, shelter, or adoption agency where you acquired your pet should provide you with the instructions for setting this up initially. If you move or change phone numbers, make sure you update the chip registry!

Beam me home, Scotty

A study cited by the American Veterinary Medicine Association points out that lost dogs and cats with microchips are successfully returned to their owners 52.2% and 38.5% of the time, respectively, versus just 21.9% and 1.8% for dogs and cats without microchips. Even pets that have traveled thousands of miles have still been reunited with their owners, thanks to microchips.

One piece in the responsible pet owner puzzle

Photo Courtesy of smlp.co.uk

Being a responsible pet owner is an ongoing process. Your furry companion needs regular veterinary care, and it’s a great idea to ask your vet to scan your pet’s microchip whenever Fluffy’s in for a checkup just to make sure it’s still in working order.

While the microchip technology is very well tested, it’s not completely foolproof. Make sure that your dog or cat is wearing a collar and tags at all times, including at least one tag with a phone number where you can be reached. If Fido wanders down the road and is picked up by a good Samaritan, it’s much easier for that person to call the number on his tag than figure out how to get him to a vet to read the microchip.

The heartache and angst of losing a pet can be devastating, but planning and diligence — and a little dose of technology — will give your beloved companion a much greater chance of finding his way home!

Cyberpets: Microchips Help Lost Pets Find Their Way Home The Saturday Evening Post

By now, you’ve probably realized that there are a lot of online options for buying plane tickets, booking hotel rooms, and finding your way around a new city. But what about figuring out exactly what to do while you’re there? In ages past, travelers would go to a local bookstore to pick up a paperback destination guidebook. You’d spend some time dog-earing pages and circling interesting items, and then hope that the information wasn’t outdated by the time you actually arrived.

Now, the internet provides a plethora of travel information to help you not only find the best deals but also discover the amazing details that can really make your travel experience one to remember. These seven websites can help you find the best places to shop, the most interesting enclaves off the beaten path, or the most unusual activities once you’ve arrived at your destination.

1. Frommer’s

Frommer’s has been one of the most popular travel guides since the 1950s, when the company released the classic Europe on $5 a Day. Now in addition to its print guidebooks, Frommer’s has an extensive website offering all sorts of tips and ideas for traveling around the world.

If you already know where you want to go, start with the Destinations tab, where you’ll find an impressive amount of details about a wide range of locations. Each destination entry essentially has an entire guidebook’s worth of information at your fingertips. Not sure where you’d like to go for your next vacation? Try the Dream Trip Recommender, an interactive page where you can select options and choose how important various aspects like luxury, culture, food and drink, and nightlife are to your choice. The website will then suggest options that might fit your requirements. The Trip Ideas and 100 Family Trips tabs also offer suggestions for places to go and things to do with your next chunk of free time.

2. Fodor’s

Fodor’s is the world’s largest publisher of English-language travel and tourism information. With hundreds of guide pages highlighting top destinations around the world, each location entry features an overview of sights, restaurants, hotels, entertainment, shopping, activities, and travel tips. A section called Fodor’s Choice highlights some of the most interesting options and a brief primer on the language spoken in that location. Fodor’s also includes extensive information about hotels, restaurants, and cruises around the world, and for the somewhat more budget-conscious, the Deals section lists some of the more affordable options.

3. Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet is the largest travel guidebook and media publisher in the world. Aimed at backpackers and other budget travelers, it offers both standard tourist information and a hefty offering of destinations and options off the beaten path, letting travelers explore the real countryside outside the typical souvenir shops and well-worn photo ops.

Lonely Planet offers hundreds of articles about everything from Europe’s hidden gems to a guide on packing light. If you want a more personal web experience, the Thorn Tree Travel Forum is touted as the oldest travel community on the web. There, you can chat with other travelers to get advice and ideas about everything from getting a good latte in Lesotho to traveling through Tibet.

4. Rough Guides

Like Lonely Planet, the Rough Guides guidebooks were originally marketed to low-budget backpackers, though Rough Guides has now expanded to include travelers on all budgets. Containing information for hundreds of destinations, Rough Guides helps you plan your trip with tips about accommodations, restaurants, sights not to be missed, and tips on when to travel.

An ever-expanding library of articles about everything from local festivals to trips for first-time travelers will help whet your appetite for adventure, and a photo gallery features gorgeous images from around the world. You can also purchase hard copies of specific guidebooks, phrase books, pocket guides, and maps.

5. Rick Steves

Travel aficionados and lovers of public television are probably already aware of Rick Steves, the eternally cheerful travel writer, host, and tour guide whose Europe Through the Back Door series is incredibly popular. As the title implies, the books and website focuses on travel in Europe, including destinations from Scandinavia to Turkey.

A large library of travel tips and articles helps even the most nervous traveler feel confident traveling alone or with a group, and the website’s Graffiti Wall is a huge online community of travelers eager to share their experiences and advice. Articles about individual cities, regions, and entire countries can be found in the Plan Your Trip section, offering invaluable advice and suggestions.

6. Let’s Go

The Let’s Go series is unique in that it is entirely researched, written, edited, and run by students and was the first of the budget and backpacker travel guides. In addition to the usual information about tourist sites, accommodations, and restaurants, you can also find details about hostels, travel deals, and “beyond tourism” options such as volunteer or temporary work opportunities.

Personal stories from travelers young and old can be found under the Stories tab, offering tantalizing glimpses into some of the most unique destinations on the planet. Recent posts include “24 Hours in Norway” and “Desert Wanderings of a Solo Female Nomad” — sure to get your travel itch going.

7. WikiTravel

Following the model of Wikipedia, WikiTravel aims to create “a free, complete, up-to-date, and reliable worldwide travel guide.” With almost 26,000 destinations currently in its database, it’s certainly well on its way. Most entries start with a section of general information and include details like getting to and around the destination, languages and currency, tourist destinations, food and drink, and culture.

Much like its larger sibling, WikiTravel is an easy website to get lost in. You’ll find yourself clicking link after fascinating link as you explore the world full of options. Since this is such a dynamic, user-created community, you can also be assured that information is probably even more timely and up-to-date than that coming from publishers that have to wait until the next publishing cycle to update their guides.

Know before you go

While there’s something to be said for heading out and going wherever the road takes you, it’s generally a good idea to have some sort of plan in mind before venturing into the great unknown. Whether you’re a backpacker looking for an inexpensive trip to the wilds of South America or a family interested in exploring the arts and culture of Europe, you may never need to purchase another guidebook again if you first spend some time exploring these websites!

7 Online Travel Guides to Help Make the Most of Your Next Trip The Saturday Evening Post

Photo by Dylan Walters.

Ecotourism has become a hot buzzword when it comes to travel. Defined by the International Ecotourism Society as “responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and improves the well-being of local people,” it’s part of the wave of green initiatives sprouting up all over the world. Ecotourism also tends to focus on getting out of the hotel and into the natural world, away from the beaten path and into areas that sometimes get missed, to learn about native cultures and ecology and help preserve the natural beauty and wonders of the planet.

From exotic, far-flung locales like Belize and Iceland to surprisingly green destinations closer to home, we’ve tracked down 12 of the best green travel spots in the world. Start planning your next trip… or just be an armchair tourist!

Photo by Dennis Redfield.

Located on the northeastern coast of Central America, Belize has become a popular ecotourism destination. With thick forests and a gorgeous tropical coastline, the country packs more than 87 distinct types of ecosystems into less than 9,000 square miles, an area about the size of New Jersey.

Tourism in general and ecotourism specifically are among the most important industries in Belize, and it’s no surprise. With a spectacular barrier reef (and the world-famous Blue Hole), over a thousand cays (islands), abundant wildlife, and excellent waters for fishing, snorkeling, scuba diving, and kayaking, there’s no end to the adventures waiting to be had.

Photo by O Palsson.

On the other side of the spectrum from tropical Belize, Iceland offers a surprising array of ecotourism options. This land of fire and ice is known for its volcanoes, fjords, hot springs, and a nationwide commitment to sustainable and environmentally conscious living. Virtually all of Iceland’s electricity comes from renewable resources, including geothermal, wind, and hydroelectric power, and the Icelandic Tourism Board rewards hostels, hotels, tours, and attractions for green practices.

While you might think of Iceland as a cold and inhospitable environment, quite the opposite is true! The choice is yours, whether you want to spend your vacation relaxing at a geothermal spa, enjoying a whale watching boat tour, or horseback riding in the mountains. You’ll certainly not lack for fun things to do on this northern island. We can’t promise that Eyjafjallajökull won’t spout more travel-disrupting plumes of ash, as it did in 2010, but at least you’d get to witness some striking visuals!

Dry Tortugas

Photo by Hayden.

Located about 70 miles west of Key West, Florida, the Dry Tortugas islands and the waters around them make up Dry Tortugas National Park, a location only accessible by boat or seaplane. You won’t find a single car on any of these islands, and you won’t find any naturally occurring fresh water, either, which is where the islands’ name comes from.

The islands are famous for sea life, coral reefs, shipwrecks, and the unfinished Fort Jefferson, the largest masonry structure in the Western Hemisphere. Popular activities include birdwatching, scuba diving, picnicking, camping, and saltwater fishing. Just don’t forget to bring plenty of water, but you’re on your own if the rum is gone, too.

Burlington, Vermont

Photo by Michael Whitney.

This small New England city, located on the shores of Lake Champlain, is proud of its eco-friendly culture. More than a third of Burlington’s energy comes from renewable resources. Pesticides aren’t allowed on public parks, land, or waterways, and residents have formed an extensive network of citizen-based environmental initiatives. Even the school systems use locally and organically grown food in their cafeterias.

With cold, snowy winters, warm summers, and gorgeous fall foliage, Burlington offers a wide range of activities to suit every interest. Local events include the Festival of Fools (yes, that’s “fools,” not “foods”), the Vermont Brewers Festival, and the Giant Pumpkin Regatta and Festival; Burlington is also home to one of the largest year-round farmers’ markets in the state.

Costa Rica

Photo Courtesy of First Baptist Nashville.

With 20 national parks, it’s not surprising that the Central American nation of Costa Rica has a thriving ecotourism industry. It was also cited by the United Nations Development Programme for attaining high human development and equality as well as environmental sustainability, ranking fifth in the world and first in the Americas in the 2012 Environmental Performance Index.

One of the greenest countries in the world, Costa Rica was a pioneer of ecotourism and offers a huge range of tours, volunteer opportunities, and activities.

San Francisco, California

Photo by Jeff Gunn.

Long a bastion of counterculture icons and progressive thinkers, San Francisco is considered to be the second greenest city in America (after Portland, Oregon). You don’t need a car to get around most parts of the city, with most tourists and residents alike opting to bike, walk, or take public transportation to get where they’re going.

The city also maintains more than 200 parks, from the iconic Golden Gate Park to the Japanese Tea Garden. You’ll find many excellent environmentally-conscious hotels and businesses in the area.

Switzerland

Photo by Francisco Antunes.

Switzerland might be best known for its skiing and alpine views, but this European country is also one of the world’s most environmentally-conscious. Hydroelectric and nuclear power provide most of the country’s electricity, and a far-reaching rail network makes it easy to get around without needing a car.

A little bigger than Maryland, Switzerland is home to biodiversity of both landscapes and climates. From alpine glaciers to lakes, forests, pastures, and the headwaters of several famous rivers that flow across Europe, there’s definitely something for everyone.

Portland, Oregon

Photo by Sam Churchill.

The citizens of Portland like to say that their city, regularly named one of the greenest cities in the world, was green before green was cool. Public transportation, bicycles, and walking are the most popular modes of transportation within the city limits. Green-certified buildings and businesses are on every street corner, and numerous parks dot the landscape.

Forest Park is the largest wilderness park within any city’s limits in the United States; you’ll also find a world-famous zoo, Japanese Garden, and the International Rose Test Garden. With more than 40 breweries calling Portland home, it’s also been named the best city in the United States for happy hour!

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

Photo by Larry Johnson.

Jackson Hole is actually the name of a valley near the border of Idaho in the Teton Mountains. The town of Jackson is its only incorporated town, and the valley is a mecca for tourists exploring Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks, Jackson Hole Mountain Resort, and the Snow King and Grand Targhee Resort ski areas.

Jackson is alsohome to the National Museum of Wildlife Art, the Grand Teton Music Festival, and the Center for the Arts, as well as a thriving downtown shopping and entertainment district and a wide variety of sporting activities, from dogsledding to parkour. Many local businesses strive to follow eco-friendly guidelines and green practices, since much of the region’s economy is based on preserving its natural beauty.

Alaska

Photo by Alan Vernon.

America’s largest state is an outdoor lover’s paradise. This state of sweeping vistas, vast wilderness, and spectacular scenery is a prime destination for travelers seeking a connection with nature at its wildest.

The Alaska Wilderness Recreation and Tourism Association represents more than 300 nature-based tourism businesses, individuals, and organizations offering natural history tours, rafting, fishing, kayaking, hiking, backpacking, wilderness lodges, hunting, and day ocean cruises and charters trips. The association also advocates for sustainability of the state’s natural and cultural resources.

New Zealand

Photo Courtesy of Trailsource.

New Zealand is located in the Pacific Ocean, across the Tasman Sea from Australia. It’s a remote nation comprised of two large islands and numerous smaller islands, a place of distinctive biodiversity that includes a number of species unique to the island. With a geography ranging from steep, snow-covered mountains to tropical beaches, New Zealand’s range of available activities is incredible. Given the country’s distance from the rest of the world, it’s not surprising that sustainability and eco-friendly practices are widespread. Some 31% of New Zealand’s energy supply comes from renewable sources, primarily hydroelectric and geothermal power.

Ecotourism is a thriving industry in the country, with wildlife tours showcasing everything from whales to parrots and activities from kayaking to mountain biking. Many resorts and tour companies cater to the green traveler, with organic, locally sourced, and environmentally conscious accommodations and activities.

Volunteer vacations

Photo Courtesy of BTCV Photos.

Looking for a truly rewarding travel experience? Try a volunteer vacation. Driven by people’s desire to do something to give back to the world, volunteer tourism has grown significantly in recent years, offering experiences ranging from weekend trail repair trips in National Parks to journeys to assist with environmental research in Kenya.

There are hundreds of service organizations that conduct volunteer vacations; check the company’s background and credentials before signing up. Well-known organizations like the Sierra Club and Habitat for Humanity provide excellent options, though many lesser-known opportunities exist as well.

Volunteer trip accommodations range from well-appointed hotels to tents in the woods, so make sure you know what you’re signing up for. If you’re willing to work up a sweat or spend some time helping deserving organizations, a volunteer vacation could be just what the doctor ordered!

Beautifully Green Travel: 12 Ecotourism Destinations The Saturday Evening Post

By now, unless you’re a really steadfast old-school photographer, you’ve probably embraced the wonders of digital cameras. And it’s no wonder, with their ability to take as many pictures as your memory card will hold, preview images instantly on your camera’s LCD screen, and easily whisk digital copies out to friends and family.

But what about photographs from before you started snapping away in digital delight? You know, the ones languishing in dusty photo albums or shoeboxes tucked in the back of your closet? Great photography didn’t start with the invention of the digital camera, after all, so it’s quite likely you’ve got some old print photographs lying around somewhere, whether they’re your own snapshots or hundred-year-old black-and-white family portraits.

So what can you do with them? And why would you want to go through the trouble? Read on to find out!

Why digitize?

Photo by Riccardo Panello.

Why should you take the time to digitize your old photographs? After all, doing so can be an extremely lengthy and sometimes expensive process. There are, however, several important points to consider as you decide whether it’s worth it to you.

• Preserving history. Unless you have the original photo slides or negatives archived somewhere safe, those old photos you have might be the only copies of those images that exist. As you’ve probably noticed, old photos tend to degrade over time and exposure to light, moisture, and other environmental factors. Creating digital copies allows you to keep the original while also safeguarding those memories in digital format, which is easy to back up.
• Restoring images and repairing damage. With a digital copy, you can repair a lot of the damage that occurs to physical prints over time. Scratches and tears, discoloration, dust spots, and other issues can all be fixed with the right software and a little time and know-how. And all this can be done while leaving the original untouched, thus preserving its historical value.
• Sharing is caring. While it’s certainly possible to make a copy of a physical print, it’s much easier to make a digital copy of a digital file. Once that copy is made, you can send it anywhere in the world with a simple email, post it online, or do anything else you want to with it. 

Should you try doing it yourself?

If you have either a stand-alone desk scanner or an all-in-one printer, you can scan your old photos yourself. Such devices are pretty cheap these days, and most scan at high resolution. There are some pros and cons to doing it yourself, though.

DIY pros

Photo by Delilah Jenkins.

• It’s free, assuming you already own the scanner.

• You control the set-up for each photo you scan, so you can adjust for layout, size, and so on.
• The photos never leave your possession, so you don’t have to worry about precious memories getting lost in transit.
• Immediate gratification — you’ll have the digital copy as soon as you scan it.
• You control the creation of the digital files, so you can choose how to name, organize, and store them.

DIY cons

• Home scanners are generally slow, so if you have hundreds of photos to scan, it will take you a lot of time.
• You’ll need some technical knowledge of the scanning device and software and how to handle the resulting digital file.
• Doing any major restoration or alteration requires software that can be expensive and challenging to learn.

Scan it yourself

Photo by Carolyn Williams.

If you’re going to scan your photos yourself, here are a few tips to help you get the best results.

• If you have the option and ability to scan negatives or slides instead of prints, do so. They are far less likely to be discolored or scratched, and you can scan them at a higher resolution than prints. (More on that in a moment.)
• Before you begin, check your photographs for dust and debris. Don’t attempt to clean or repair the actual prints; if they’re dirty, simply wipe gently with a clean, dry, soft cloth. Never use liquid on photographs — it will discolor them.
• Check the scanner bed (called the platen), and clean it if necessary. Again, use a clean, soft cloth — you can use a bit of cleaning solution like Windex if you’d like, but be sure to apply it to the cloth, not directly to the platen (to avoid getting liquid in the scanner). Be sure the platen is completely dry before you put any photographs on it.
• Adjust the settings. Check your scanner’s manual to see how to adjust the resolution of the scans. Generally, your goal is to aim for 300 DPI (dots per inch) at a size of 8 x 10 inches. Most scanners let you set this directly, but some only allow you to set the scanning resolution instead of the target size; if that’s the case, you’ll have to do some math. If you’re scanning negatives or slides, you’ll have to use a very high resolution — around 3,000 DPI — because the original is so small. Note that using a target resolution higher than 300 DPI is generally not necessary, as it won’t yield any better results. This is because you’re scanning a photograph that’s only printed at about 300 DPI, so there isn’t much more data there to scan!
• Save your images as either .jpg or .tif files, and be sure to use the highest quality and lowest compression settings.

Let someone else do the work

If scanning your photos yourself sounds like too much work or you have a large number of photos to scan, you might decide to send your photos off to a scanning and digitizing service to do it for you. There are some significant advantages to this option. Many companies do things like color correction, cropping, rotating, red-eye removal, and fixing dust and scratches.




Photo by Erwin Recinos.


Before you send off your precious memories to a company for scanning, be sure to read all the fine print and know exactly what you’ll be getting, what they’ll be doing, and how much it costs. Find out if they include retouching, and if so, is it done by a human being for each photo individually or by a computer? How are the digital files named and organized, and how will they be sent back to you? What sort of packaging do they require your photos be sent using, and how will they be returned?

Keep your memories close

However you decide to digitize your old print photos, the results will be completely worth it. Imagine being able to write a family history and post it to your website, including photographs of your ancestors. As long as you keep a backup, your photographs will be safe from fire, flood, and loss and available for future generations to enjoy.


This story originally appeared on Tecca. More from Tecca:

Beginner’s guide to digital photography

7 ways to manage your digital photo collection

Digital Photography 101: The care and feeding of your digital camera

How to Digitize Your Old Print Photos The Saturday Evening Post

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