Important Reminder: Create a Digital Back Up of Print Photos to Prevent Devastating Loss or Damage

RICHMOND, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Sept. 9, 2016) - Despite the fact that digital photography is now the norm, many people still have hundreds and thousands of original printed photos that are not backed up by a digital copy - childhood memories, family photos and historic images of ancestors that will be precious memories for future generations.

To help prevent devastating loss or damage to these cherished memories, London Drugs is reminding customers to back up their print photos and has launched a new service that allows customers to easily have these items scanned and digitized in bulk.

"It is all about prevention, preservation and peace of mind," explains Andy Kahrmann, Business Unit Manager at London Drugs. "Most people have photos tucked away in storage closets or basements, collecting dust in old shoeboxes. We want to make it easy for people to create a backup the same as they would for their digital photos. Digitizing hundreds of photos at once makes the process far quicker and painless, compared to scanning the photos one-by-one at home."

Print photographs degrade due to environmental factors like light, heat, and humidity. Photos taken between 1936 and 1990 are particularly in danger of fading due to the processing used during that time. Digital restoration for these photos becomes more difficult with each passing year.

Moreover, without digital duplicates of printed photos, disasters such as a fire or flood can immediately erase a generation's worth of irreplaceable photo memories - a devastating scenario many Fort McMurray fire victims were all too familiar with earlier this year.

Courtney Power lost hundreds of family print photos in the wildfire that destroyed approximately 2,400 homes and buildings and forced the largest wildfire evacuation in Albertan history. With only a few moments to pack up personal belongings before the evacuation, years of family albums were left behind.

"We lost so many photos in the Fort McMurray fire," says Power. "I regret not digitizing them a long time ago: it would have saved us a lot of heartache. We would still have those photos today if we had had them scanned to keep in a safe place."

Customers can now pick up a free Photo Scanning Box from London Drugs, and bring it home to fill it up with 800 photos and other precious documents. They then return the full box to their local London Drugs Photolab, and prepay for the service, where technicians will then digitize the photos at high resolution. The hard copy photos will be returned along with all digital files on a USB flash drive.

"Once the files are digitized, customers should back up the photos using an online drive or storing them in multiple locations in the same way they should with other digital photos. This will ensure that, in case of disaster, the photos will still be accessible," says Kahrmann. "Plus, once they have the print photos digitized, there are endless ways to share them or reprint using modern printing methods. In this way, photos that were once relegated to the basement can really come back to life."

Precious documents such as birth certificates and wedding certificates can also be included in the Photo Scanning Box. The service costs $179.99 per box (approximately 22 cents per photo or document) and Photo Scanning Boxes can be picked up at any London Drugs location.

About London Drugs

Founded in 1945, B.C.-based London Drugs has 79 stores in more than 35 major markets throughout British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba including its online store www.londondrugs.com. London Drugs offers consumers a range of products from digital cameras and cosmetics to computers and televisions. Renowned for its creative approach to retailing, the company employs more than 7,000 people with pharmacy and health care services being the heart of its business. Committed to innovation and superior customer service, London Drugs has established itself as a reputable and caring company and continues to position itself for future growth and development.