Manual method
- Sort material into small batches and label original order before scanning.
- Use a flatbed scanner for fragile/important photographs; for ordinary pages the iPhone Files app offers More > Scan Documents.
- Capture all relevant sides, check cropping and orientation, and retain a high-quality master plus convenient PDF/JPEG viewing copies.
- Add approximate dates, people and source-owner notes without silently overwriting uncertain facts; keep physical originals.
Coverage and limitations: This is digitization, not a provider download. Searchable OCR text is a derivative, and a scan does not preserve tactile details or guarantee legal equivalence.
Size and time to allow
Illustrative planning size: 10 GB; scenario range 0.1–200 GB. This is a storage-planning example, not a measured average. Your archive may be smaller or larger. About 2,000 pages/photos at an illustrative 5 MB each. High-resolution TIFFs or albums can be far larger.
Preparation and hands-on time: Plan 1–3 minutes per ordinary page including handling/QA, so 2,000 pages can require 33–100 hours before transfer; illustrative labor estimate.
For the 10 GB example, network transfer alone is approximately:
| Connection download speed | Transfer estimate |
|---|---|
| 10 Mbit/s | 3.2 hr |
| 50 Mbit/s | 39 min |
| 100 Mbit/s | 20 min |
These calculations use decimal GB and 70% of the advertised speed. Tiny transfers can take longer because of startup overhead. Local exports do not need an internet download; use these numbers only for a network transfer. Preparation, retries, extraction, checking and a cloud upload are additional; use upload speed for the latter.
Where and how to keep it
An encrypted external SSD/HDD is the practical primary archive. A sufficiently large USB key is useful for an extra transport copy. For off-site protection, add private cloud storage with encryption and enough quota.
Create a dated paper_scans/YYYY-MM-DD/ folder. Keep received originals unchanged, use a separate working copy, and note the account/profile, selected dates, formats and known gaps in a private README. Compare file sizes, check any supplied checksums, and open sample files from the backup before considering the task finished. Repeat after meaningful additions. Follow the storage, archive-checking and large-file guide.
Sources and review
Public documentation was reviewed on 27 October 2026. No signed-in export or restoration was performed. Account options and availability can change; follow the current provider instructions.