OP, I'd pay a service to scan them all to a DVD/thumb drive. Scanning photos is a HUGE project. Yes you can buy a scanner and do it at home, but it will take FOREVER.

Once you have the thumb drive, upload all the photos to Shutterfly. You can then send the albums to your siblings over email. If they want to, they can recreate the family albums, or they can ignore the email. Then you can offer the originals (if you aren't attached) of any albums, but it comes fully intact (meaning, you won't go through and fine specific photos). If no one wants them, do with what you want.

The services are expensive and you can buy a good scanner for 150. Shutterfly has unlimited storage and any sibs can download pics if you give them permission as account owner.

If you are still speaking to sibs give them hard copies of photos that you don't want after your scans/reviews. If they don't respond to your emails and phone calls then on your dime mail the stuff. My sib has cut off all contact with me for over 18 months [in conjuction with his plan to rip me off in the estate] so I am also in a dilemma.

Plus he mailed me junk and then charged the estate for these unsolicited items. Hundreds of dollars in UPS fees.

I have several siblings, none of whom had ever expressed any interest in family albums or photos. I have always been greatly interested in family history. My mom gave everything to me while she was alive. I went through many of them and pulled out photos of siblings and their events and put them in boxes for them. I also pulled out the best "family" ones and made copies (at my own expense) (this was before scanning was an real option). Everyone got their own collections.

After my mom passed I used the ones I had to put together a tribute...people were saying "oh-how great! Send me copies!"

But no one will come over and tell me what they want. No one will take the time themselves to scan them. No one else wants to pay a service to do it. They just want the end result with no cust or effort on their part.

People need to understand this kind of thing is neither free nor effortless.

Sorry. Rant over.

Some Targets have a photo scanner. You can scan up to 20 pictures at a time and they make the CD for you- I believe they can fit a couple hundred pictures on a CD. It is very quick to scan and I think the CD was ready with in the day. I had a box of photos that I did this with.

Anonymous wrote:OP here.
Here is what I am planning:

Pictures that are just of me and my wedding, kids, my events--I will keep.

I will give my siblings pictures of their events.

Pictures that are of all of us, our childhood etc. those I will scan.

What do you think??

OP, I just want to commend you on going above and beyond, and being a decent human being. Not all siblings are as good as you - thank you on behalf of those who have suffered those kind of ramifications. What you are doing means more than you know.

There's a company in Woodbridge near Potomac Mills that does quality high-res bulk scanning for a great price.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the albums from our childhood we kept intact and they went to one of my brothers. My husband scanned many of the photos for me before I gave the album to my brother. It seemed to make more sense to keep it all together and I can view them at his house if I want to. I never do, honestly. I picture my parents in my head. Looking at the pictures is still too much for me. Are your siblings asking about this? If not, maybe just keep it all together and make sure they understand that you're willing to split it up when/if they're ready.

No my siblings are not asking, the photos have been sitting in my closet since 2011. My sibs would be happy to have the Pics stay at my house.

Did you remove the pictures to scan them? Obviously yes???

Yes but the albums we had were almost all the kind where you slide the photo in to its own little compartment. There was no need to pull the sticky sheet up, so it was much easier.

I see, we have a mix of both. I might just keep the albums here. Nobody is asking for them.

We used a scanning service. Once you have it electronically, you can send each of them a DVD (or multiple DVDs as the case may be.)

I would not waste time sorting it out. Once they have the DVD, they can sort it out and keep what they want to, and write captions etc, the way they want it and get a picture book printed. They can also decide to make copies for their own children.

If you want prints and not digital copies, I would scan them in and then order the prints through mpix.com.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All the albums from our childhood we kept intact and they went to one of my brothers. My husband scanned many of the photos for me before I gave the album to my brother. It seemed to make more sense to keep it all together and I can view them at his house if I want to. I never do, honestly. I picture my parents in my head. Looking at the pictures is still too much for me. Are your siblings asking about this? If not, maybe just keep it all together and make sure they understand that you're willing to split it up when/if they're ready.

No my siblings are not asking, the photos have been sitting in my closet since 2011. My sibs would be happy to have the Pics stay at my house.

Did you remove the pictures to scan them? Obviously yes???

Yes but the albums we had were almost all the kind where you slide the photo in to its own little compartment. There was no need to pull the sticky sheet up, so it was much easier.