Copy Photos to CD
Protect and Share your valuable photographs
Learning how to copy photos to CD or DVD is easier than most people think. Burning photo CDs ensures a backup of some of your most valuable possesions.
Most people list their family photographs among the top 3 things they would grab if they had to leave their homes quickly in the event of a fire, flood, or other disaster.
I can't even imagine how we would feel if we lost ALL of our photographs? With the technology available today on most home computers, there's really no excuse to let this happen to your family.
On a more positive note,...
Photo CDs and DVDs make terrific gifts!
- Grandparents always love photos of their grandchildren -- Why not give them a slide show for their computer or TV (with a DVD player)?
- Any newly married couple would love to see the photos their guests took at their wedding and a CD photo album is a great way to present those photos.
- On the other side of the coin, a newly married couple can give each of their parents, bridesmaids, and groomsmen a wedding photo CD as a thank you gift after all of the big day's pictures come in.
- Fathers' Day, Mothers' Day, Memorials, Birthdays,... the Opportunities to make photo CDs or DVDs are endless!
- Photographs (Digital, Printed, Slides, or Negatives)
- Scanner (if you wish to save photos which are not already digital)
- CD-burner or DVD-burner
- Software for Burning CDs or DVDs
It's easier than most people think to copy photos to CD. On this page, I'll show you how to create CDs and DVDs of your photographs, both digital and printed. Of course, if you decide that you don't have the time to devote to this process, there are plenty of companies on the web who will be happy to do it for you.
What you'll need to copy photos to CD or DVD yourself:
An important note before we begin: Just as with backing up a computer's files, an important aspect of protecting/backing up your photographs is to get a copy of them "off-site". Once you've created a Photo CD, it only takes a few minutes and less than $1.00 to burn a duplicate copy of the same CD. Then, bring it to your office or ask a friend or family member to keep it at their house for you.
1) Photographs
If all of the photographs you want to save to CD or DVD are already in a digital format, you can skip to the step 2. If you want to scan printed photographs, slides, or negatives), click here to learn how to scan photos. If you have a digital camera but don't know how to save the photos to your computer, click here to learn how to retrieve digital camera photos.
2) Scanner
For an introduction to scanning and recommendations on buying a scanner, click here.
3) CD-Burner or DVD-Burner
Many newer-model computers come with CD-Burners and some with DVD-Burners. If you're not sure whether or not your CD (or DVD) drive is also a burner, start by reading the front of it. If it says "burner" or "writer" or "CD-RW" (for ReadWrite), then you're in luck. Note: If you have a "CD-RW/DVD" drive, then you can Read and Write/Burn CDs but you can only Read DVDs. Still good news. If you need to buy a CD-Writer or DVD-Writer, try this search at Amazon.com. They have a good selection and great prices. Make sure to read people's comments and ratings before buying! You should be able to get a good CD-Writer now for under $100 or a DVD/CD-Writer for a little more.
4) Software
Most computers with CD-RW drives come with CD-burning software already installed. If you don't know what software you have, stick a blank recordable CD in the CD-RW drive and wait. If, after a minute or so, nothing happens, you'll have to search around in your program files to see if anything sounds like it might be CD or DVD-burning software. If you can't find anything promising on your machine, you can always purchase software to copy photos to CD or DVD (or both!) I recommend Roxio Easy CD Creator. Just read everything on the screen and you can't go wrong.
Don't forget the Label!
When you copy photos to CD or DVD, a nice photograph label is just as important as the contents of the CD. This is less true, of course, if you'll be the only one to ever see it (and, even then, I recommend making it special for yourself). A photo label also makes the CD much easier to identify later. Especially for a photo CD gift, don't just scribble on the CD with a sharpie when it's so easy to make beautiful, professional-looking CD labels yourself! Most greeting card software programs offer a label template for CDs and even for the CD jackets. There's a special tool to help you "stamp" the CD label (really just a very sticky sticker) onto the CD and I highly recommend you get this! Without it, you're likely to ruin at least 1 CD by putting the label on crooked or getting it bent up and stuck to itself. One brand is called "Neato CD Label Applicator." You can find these and the labels at any office supply store, along with CD labelling software. Remember, though, that you won't need the software if you have greeting card software that includes this.
Copy photos to CD or DVD for Christmas gifts or cards!
