I am just learning about photography and have a large quantity of prints, of very variable quality, some of which I would like to scan onto my PC so that they can be shared. Others I want to store safely and in some semblance of order.

So two questions:

Scanning - I have a multi-function printer/scanner which is a very slow way of scanning images, one at a time etc. Is there an economic better way of doing this for my "archive"?

Prints - I would like an affordable storage system that I can add to over time, the majority of prints are 180 x125 though there are other sizes, too. Any suggestions?

I have an Epson Perfection 3590 scanner, which has a negative scanning chute on it too. It is quick(ish) and scans at a very high resolution. If you scan in the negatives, you also have more control over the quality and the overall image. I would highly recommend this scanner, and I'm sure that you could pick one up quite cheaply from ebay or amazon.

Add: I'm sorry if you don't need to scan negatives.... I just re read your post. It's good for scanning prints too, but it will have to be one by one.

I found that multi-function scanners aren't the best to use, especially if they're paper-feed scanners.

Try to find a place that does scanning. If you are using any form of textured paper, I recommend using a drum scanner, as a flat-bed renders the entire image flat, and it overkills prints some times.