Your Family’s History is a Treasure: How to Digitize and Preserve It Forever

Devon Noel Lee
May 18
2 min read

Inside our homes, we have priceless treasures—family photos, handwritten journals, heirloom jewelry, and even furniture—that are more than just objects. They are stories. But what happens to those treasures in the face of hurricanes, floods, or wildfires? And what if we’ve held onto these items but lost the stories behind them?

In our Digitizing Grandma’s Stuff webinar, available to Family History Fanatics Channel Members, we walk through how to preserve these pieces of family history so they’re not lost to time or tragedy.

Let me share two quick tips from the session to help you start safeguarding your family's legacy today.

Close-up of a wrist wearing a gold bracelet with sparkling gemstones, against a blurred dark background, highlighting the jewelry's elegance.

Tip 1: Start with Photos—But Be Selective

Photos are often the first thing we want to preserve. It’s heartbreaking to lose irreplaceable images of loved ones—but scanning every photo you’ve ever taken is a fast track to burnout. Start by filtering: toss blurry shots, and pull aside unlabeled images to see if family or friends can help identify them. Focus on the photos that tell a story or carry emotional weight.

Scan your chosen photos at a minimum of 300 dpi for quality preservation. Save them as JPEGs or TIFFs, and back them up in multiple places—think cloud storage, an external hard drive, and even the FamilySearch Memories app or Ancestry App.

Tip 2: Don’t Overlook Non-Photo Treasures

Family history isn’t just found in faces. Heirloom jewelry, military uniforms, handwritten letters, and even furniture carry powerful stories. Photograph these items using good lighting and a clean background. If there's writing—like a dedication on a bracelet or notes in a journal—take close-ups of those details.

And for handwritten documents? Don’t just scan them—transcribe the meaningful entries. That makes them easier to read, share, and search.

Check out my review of Kindex, which automatically transcribes handwritten documents and audio files.

Want More Tips to Preserve Family History?

These two tips are just the beginning. In the full Digitizing Grandma’s Stuff webinar, we dive into:

Best scanning settings for photos and documents
How to photograph large or delicate items
Apps to record and preserve family voices
Smart storage strategies for digital files

You can access the entire replay and dozens more members-only webinars by joining our YouTube Channel Membership. It’s just $2.99/month and gives you access to exclusive archived sessions, behind-the-scenes content, and helpful tools to power up your family history journey.

👉 To join, click the “Join” button next to the Family History Fanatics channel name on YouTube (on desktop or mobile browser), or visit youtube.com/familyhistoryfanatics and look for the Join option.

Preserve your family’s legacy—and the stories behind it—before it’s too late. We’ll show you how.