There are a lot of reasons to use printed images on your website. This is especially true if you have a blog and want to add a personal touch to your site. Old images are also great for when you want to include a historical photograph among your content.

Of course, if you are like most modern computer users, you probably don’t have too much experience with printed pictures. Thus, you may not be entirely certain about how to go about uploading such images to your site. Well, if you want to do this and maintain the quality of the pictures, here are the steps that you will need to take.

Convert the Photo to a Digital Format

There are several methods to convert a printed photo to a digital format. However, not all of these work as well. Thus, let’s just discuss the best ways since these will help to preserve the integrity of the images.  

The easiest way to upload an image is to scan it using a scanner. Most printers these days come equipped with a scanner. All you have to do is position the image in the scanner, scan it, and save it.

If you would like a bit more of a professional approach, then you can try a photo scanner. These are specifically designed to upload photos. As such, the digital image will be a perfect recreation of the original image.

Before you scan the image, make sure that it will be saved as a TIFF format. Although these files are larger, they are of higher quality. As such, you have a beautifully archived image of your printed photos.

You may have negatives of photos rather than the printed versions. Now, one of your options would be to find a developer that would print out these photos for you. Or, you can purchase a negatives scanner. The good news is that this method can often produce the highest quality images out of all the methods here.

Convert the Image Type

As mentioned in the previous section, you should save your image as a TIFF format. This is a particularly good idea if you want to store the image for archival purposes or if you need to use it for another project.

However, TIFF images can be quite large. As such, they aren’t great for uploading to websites. JPEG, on the other hand, is highly compatible with most websites. This means that you have to first convert the TIFF file to a JPEG one.

First of all, you should duplicate the main file. This leaves the original in perfect condition. If you can directly convert the duplicate, you can go ahead and do so. Otherwise, you will need to find a website that can make the conversion online.

Remove Flaws in the Images

Unlike digital images, printed images can fade with time. It is also possible for them to develop curled edges, tears, and even creases within the image. Naturally, you can’t use such an image on your website as it is unprofessional.

In instances such as these, you should send the image to photo restoration services to undo this damage.  As the name implies, these services help to carefully remove any flaws while still preserving the original look and feel of the photograph.

What’s more, these experts will even be able to color correct old images and bring the hues back into balance. Many of them can add color to old black and white photos, helping them look more vibrant on your website.

Saving the Image for Your Website

At this point, you will have saved your former printed image several times. The previous steps, however, were to preserve any changes that you made. Now, it is time to save the image so that it is more compatible with your website.

As you are aware, it is important to optimize images for websites. This works to maintain the quality of the images while simultaneously making them easy to load whenever the website is called up. In turn, your site is ranked higher among search engine results.

To ensure this, you will need to re-size the image, balance the quality, and save it in a proper format. These steps can be conducted through an image program such as Photoshop.

To begin with, you should reduce the dimensions of the photo. To determine the best possible dimensions for your image, check with your theme developer. Then, alter the size as necessary – keep in mind that smaller images load more quickly.

Once this has been done, you can move onto managing the quality of the image. Most programs will give you the option to select quality levels ranging from Low to Maximum. To get the best of both worlds, select a High quality. These images still preserve the most important qualities but the file isn’t unnecessarily large.

Then, you will have to save the image. If possible, look for a feature called “save for web” or something similar. This way, the image will be automatically compressed and require far less memory when uploaded to your site.

Citing Your Image

It is a good idea to always cite a digitally converted printed photo. This is something you should do even if it is a personal photograph. Make sure to always credit the individual who took the photo. Try to include any other information that you may have regarding the location, date, or other details.

If it is a personal photo, you naturally can’t get into any copyright issues. Nevertheless, crediting the photographer makes the photo – and your website – seem a great deal more legitimate. Not to mention, it is a good habit.

This is all you need to know about incorporating printed images onto your website. It may take you some time to get used to this process, but eventually, you will get the hang of it. Furthermore, making an effort to do this the right way will pay off when you have beautiful, high-quality images on your website.