ON THIS PAGE: Help in FAQ, a video guide to scanning photos, how to get in touch, plus links & social.
The videos are made by Dryden Smith in the Lifestreams micro-studio near Tavistock, West Devon. His love of animals has been the inspiration behind recent Photostream development.
His work could be described as artisan - very much hand-made with no AI, no automation or bots in sight.
Dryden has a long history of making in many guises, including a hand-painted wooden mirror business based on Exmoor, wooden wall-hangings, paintings, animations and more.
Lifestreams video started as an idea during the Covid lockdowns, developing the original Lifestreams in 2022, the original Photostreams in 2023, then a year elsewhere before re-focussing Photostreams toward pets in 2025.
Q. What size should the digital photos be?
I WILL WORK WITH WHATEVER IMAGES YOU HAVE - but look at the shortest side of the image dimensions in pixels. Is it ...
· 600px - low resolution - OK but will look grainy and will pixellate when zooming in.
· 1500px - medium resolution - Good, maybe minor pixellation when zooming in.
· 3000px - high resolution - ideal digital photo size.
JPEGS preferred, but tiff and png are fine. Filesizes vary but a JPEG of 2-5 Mb is usually perfect. Try not to go bigger than 8Mb. See the video for help scanning real world photos.
Q. How do I get the photos in the order I want?
IF YOU WANT a specific order (e.g. to keep the images chronological), rename each image file in the order you want them to appear i.e. image-01.jpg, image-02.jpg etc. That creates a folder of images in the order you would like and ready for upload on the form.
Q. What resolution and settings should I scan photos at?
This depends on the size of the original photo. Scanned photos will ideally be 4000 pixels on the shortest side. Try different settings to see which results get around that 4000 pixel ideal. ( You can see how many pixels in an image by right clicking on the file and looking at the properties, then details.)
Set the output to jpeg preferably, mode to COLOUR (or GREYSCALE if scanning black & white photos).
See more instructions for scanning in the video below.
Q. What type of file?
JPEGs are ideal as they offer good quality for small filesize. Other formats like PNG and TIFF are OK if you can keep the filesize below about 8Mb.
Q. How many photographs do I need to upload?
Each project has a certain number of images - match that number if possible but if you do not have quite enough, that is fine, I will adjust the build.
Q. Is the white border on the photographs added by you?
Yes (but no-one ever asked really).
Q. How is the video delivered?
I will send it via a site like WeTransfer - simply follow the email link to download the file.
Q. Is the order form secure?
Absolutely. No financial information is processed on this site at all - that is all done by PayPal. The form itself is hosted by JotForm. This site itself is hosted on a secure socket (https).
SCANNING & COLLATING PHOTOS
A short beginners guide to assist in preparing images for Photostreams.
If you find the idea of scanning images challenging, family and friends can be a great asset. Just give them the settings from the start of the video. If you are still stuck, contact me below.
I occassionally post on these sites
