Do this with your family videos before it's too late

While cleaning out a closet a few years ago, I found a stack of old Super 8 tapes. I'll never forget the way Mom's face lit up after I digitized videos from her late brother Harold Jr.'s wedding. Tragically, he died in a car accident a week after his wedding.

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Such memories are precious, but when was the last time you watched your old family videos? If they're on VHS, it can be a real bummer. And worse, with each passing year, the quality of those tapes deteriorates a little more.

Satish from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, called my national radio show asking for help digitizing old tapes, and I figured he wasn't the only one.

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Go the DIY route

To convert your VHS tapes to digital, you'll need a VCR or VHS camcorder. If you don't have one, try eBay, OfferUp, Facebook Marketplace, or another local selling platform. You'll also need to transfer your VHS recordings in real time, so give yourself a few hours if possible.

After that, you actually have two options:

Option 1: Get a converter like this one from Elgato that digitizes video on a computer. Plug it into your USB port, then connect your analog video source (VCR, DVD player, DVR, or camcorder) using the cables provided. The software that came with your converter will guide you through the process.

Option 2: Try a portable video to digital converter. You don't need a computer or software to use it. Connect it to your video source and insert a USB drive or SD card into the converter. Press the record button and watch your movies being digitized in real time on the LCD screen. Awesome!

Let someone do it for you

Costco, Walgreens and Walmart all convert cassettes, prices start at about $20 each. Not bad. They'll take VHS recordings and burn them to a DVD for you and give you a digital copy as well.

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You can also try using a service that specializes in these things. However, these are more expensive.

• iMemories: Starts at $29.99 per VHS tape.
• Legacybox: Starts at $60; the starter pack includes up to two cassettes or 50 photos. (Coincidence, I just spotted a 50% off sale on their website!)
• Capture: Starts at $29.99 per volume.

Getting all this done takes time

It helps to do it in small steps. Gather your tapes, get the equipment you need, or figure out what service you want to use. I put old digitized videos on YouTube with a private link. That way I can share that link with family and friends.

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Bonus: Don’t forget old photos

I've scanned a lot of pictures in my life, but I love this quick and easy method if you want to digitize a print that's hanging in someone's home.

Google's PhotoScan is a free app for iOS and Android that scans your photos multiple times and then stitches all the images together to remove glare and improve the final quality. The app works on matte and glossy prints, as well as photos inside or outside of albums.

It's not just VHS tapes that you should digitize – there are apps that allow you to scan old photos almost effortlessly. (Photo by Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images)

Here's how it works: Take a photo, then take four more shots following the app's instructions. PhotoScan uses an algorithm to recognize and crop the photo, automatically detecting the edge, correcting the rotation, and correcting the perspective to show a frontal view.

• Open the PhotoScan app and hold your phone over a photo.
• Tap the capture button to take pictures that will be saved on your device.
• Move your phone to place the circle over each of the four dots.
• After processing the photo, tap the thumbnail.
• Select a photo to rotate it, adjust the corners, or delete it.

You can then use Google Photos to save and organize your scans. From there, you can edit and share your images with others. It's that easy!

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