Hello and thank you for visiting the site. After going through the arduous task of digitising my family paper photographs, slides, 120mm negatives, 35mm negatives, medium format, 8mm film, VHS and MiniDV tapes not to mention helping out others with a few other technologies such as Analog Hi8 and Digital 8, I decided to share my learnings with you in an effort to lighten your load and reduce the burden of what is unexpectedly a complex and time-consuming process.
Despite having a background in IT, audio engineering, and over thirty years working with audio, photo, and video, I found that archiving analog media wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. The journey has been filled with false starts, redoing work, investigations and spending not insignificant sums on equipment that later turned out to be unnecessary. This experience, I realised, was not unique to me.
The Problem With Finding Reliable Information
When you start searching for information on digitising analog media, you quickly find that most of what’s out there is either fragmented or commercially driven.
- Google results tend to send you to services that want to sell you a solution rather than teach you how to do it yourself
- The DIY guidance that does exist is often buried in forum threads, Reddit discussions, or scattered blog posts—with no clear structure, a lot of conflicting opinions or old and out of date
- Some forums, despite having “help” in their name, are unmoderated and can be toxic environments. I’ve experienced firsthand the belittling and closed-mindedness that happens when you question outdated methods or suggest new ideas
For example, in the world of video capture, the prevailing advice is often to:
- Use Windows XP,
- Or Windows 10 if you’re lucky enough to have compatible drivers.
MacOS and Linux? Ridiculed.
Modern hardware and software? Dismissed.
The problem with this is that Windows XP has lost its update servers, and even Windows 10 has now reached end-of-life status. The methods these communities push are becoming increasingly impractical, yet they resist new thinking—even though analog media will be with us for decades to come.
As a result, searching often fails to surface DIY-friendly, structured guides, leaving many stuck between services trying to sell them something and forum threads filled with conflicting opinions.
Why This Site is different
This site exists to fill that gap.
- To provide structured, evidence-based guidance that helps you digitise your media yourself
- To bring clarity where other sources are scattered or commercially motivated
- To create a welcoming space where all platforms—whether Windows, Mac, or Linux—are valid options, and new ideas are encouraged
Through this site, there will be opinions—but wherever possible, they’ll be based on evidence, and that evidence will be shared openly. Debate is welcomed, but in a friendly, constructive way. My intention is for this site (and its advice) to evolve as new methods and better practices emerge.
A Community of Digital Archivists
More than anything, this is a place for Digital Archivists to come together—a community built around helping each other reach their personal archiving goals.
Everyone’s journey is different. To reflect that, I’ve structured the articles around three key personas:
- The Quick Starter – You are the ones that just want it done – you don’t place as much focus on quality or understanding how it works, you prioritise a speed and simplicity. We see you. You are not alone. Every article has a quick start section to help you get going fast.
- The Libran – You want to balance quality and effort to achieve great results without going overboard. This is me, and it’s how I approach most things. I happen to be a Libran, hence the title. Of course, where that balance lies is open to interpretation. For that, we have the forums…
- The Perfectionist – You want to know everything, to achieve the absolute best results, no matter the time or cost (within reason). This can lead to endless debate, and that’s okay! Articles will cover perfectionist approaches where possible and include community feedback. Sometimes, the best quality is easier to achieve than expected – like scanning negatives at a high DPI if you’re willing to invest the time.
Why No Comments?
I’ve chosen to turn off comments on articles. Not because I don’t want to hear from you—but because discussions thrive better in forums where ideas can be debated, refined, and shared without the limitations of a comment thread. The forums are where conversations happen, questions are asked, and knowledge evolves. The articles are where new ideas can be incorporated from those forum discussions with a more structured approach.
Final Thoughts
This site aims to be a living resource – built to grow and adapt as new evidence and better methods come to light. I hope it gives you more options and clearer guidance than you might find elsewhere. Your archiving journey is yours alone, and this site exists to help make it smoother.
Thank you for visiting, and I wish you success in your archiving projects. Don’t hesitate to reach out with questions—or better yet, share your success stories. This site is about community, learning, and preserving the past together.
If you’d like to become an editor or contribute more directly, I’d love to hear from you – just reach out.
Warm regards,
Marshalleq
