How to preserve an old photograph?

I don't think the level of light coming out of the scanner is anything like the sort of light coming out on a normaly sunny day.

If you are at all worried about it, you could try a dummy test scanning a less valuable photograph, and to see if anything happens to it. Alternatively, you could take a photograph of the photo using a digital camera on a macro setting.

Once they are in the digital domain, there are all sorts of image enhancement software available. You can touch up the photos pixel by pixel, using artistic imagination to fill in any gaps or erase scratches, or you can use broad brush enhancement which would certainly correct the fading.

As for preservation, try nipping down to the nearest museum and ask them how they do it. What photographs hate is light, damp, pollution and mice. A biscuit tin with a sachet of dessicant ought to be ok.

Why risk scanning these yourself when you could send them to experts? Try out this site I found, GoPhoto: http://www.gophoto.com/

You can convert your old photos to digital by packing them up on a box and sending them to GoPhoto. They will scan all of your photos correctly into a nice album for you and you only pay for the scans you keep! It's very simple and cheap at 28 cents a photo!

You can go to a store and copy them there.