Question 1

How do I digitise my child's artwork?

Accepted Answer

If artwork feels like it's piling up faster than you can tidy it up, you're not alone. Digitizing artwork is a convenient way to preserve those precious creations without needing to keep every single piece of paper. Here's how to get started and what to keep in mind as you capture those memories. You don't need to tackle every piece of art in a single weekend. Start by choosing a few of your favourites with your child - this can be a great way to revisit the memories together and decide what to keep. You can always digitize more later as you find time or as new artwork comes in. A phone is usually enough. You don't need to use a special scanner unless you want to create super high-quality digital versions. The most important thing is to find a simple process that works for you, so you can stick to it without it becoming a chore. This is where LilMuseum can help - you can upload the photos right from your phone, and use our built-in tool to crop and adjust the images as you upload them, so you don't have to worry about doing it all perfectly in one step. Don't just store the photos in your camera roll - they'll become mixed up with your other photos and hard to find later. This is where LilMuseum can help - you can create a gallery for each child and upload the photos directly to their gallery that grows over time. It feels less like digital storage and more like preserving their artwork in a way that feels special. A good rule of thumb is to keep a small number of original papers in a memory box and let the rest live digitally. That gives you the sentimental pieces in real life and the full story in one calm, searchable place.

Question 2

What's the easiest way to scan kids artwork with a phone?

Accepted Answer

You don't need a flatbed scanner to save your child's best drawings. For most families, a phone is the fastest and most convenient way to capture artwork before it gets crumpled, lost, or buried under the next masterpiece. Place the artwork on a flat surface with a plain background if possible. Natural daylight near a window is ideal because it keeps colours looking true without harsh shadows. Try to hold your phone directly above the page rather than at an angle. That makes the artwork easier to crop and helps the final image feel neat instead of skewed. This is usually all you need for everyday drawings, paintings, and school projects. Once the photo is taken, crop the edges and save it to a photo album or cloud storage. If you stop at that stage, the art often disappears into your camera roll and becomes hard to find later. LilMuseum makes the next step easier by taking those phone captures and turning them into a 3D gallery you can browse and share. That means the artwork isn't just saved, it's displayed in a way that you can experience in a unique and engaging way. If you want a low-effort system, scan the best pieces as they come home from school or daycare and upload them the same day. Small, regular batches are much easier than tackling months of paper all at once.

Question 3

What should I do with all my kids artwork at home?

Accepted Answer

Every parent knows the feeling: you know you don't have room to keep every last piece of artwork, but the thought of letting go can be overwhelming. The trick is building a system that protects the memories without letting the paper take over your home. Your child can make a lot of art in a very short time, and most of it is part of their learning process rather than a forever keepsake. That doesn't make it less meaningful in the moment, but it does mean you need a realistic and practical way to sort it. A helpful filter is to keep pieces that mark a milestone in their development, show a funny detail, or remind you of a story you know you'll want to remember later. The rest can still be saved digitally without demanding physical storage space. This kind of three-part system removes a lot of guilt. You're not just throwing away the memory. You're deciding how much physical space each memory needs. One reason paper piles feel so frustrating is that the art becomes inaccessible. It sits in bags, boxes, and cabinets where it's out of sight and out of mind. That makes it feel like the memories are buried instead of preserved. LilMuseum gives parents another option: digitise the art, then display it in a growing gallery instead of burying it in storage. That makes it easier to share with grandparents, revisit older pieces, and enjoy the collection as a story instead of a mess. A lot of parents find this is the point where the emotional side gets easier. When the artwork still feels preserved and celebrated, letting go of the extra paper becomes much less painful.

Question 4

Can I share my child's gallery with grandparents and family?

Accepted Answer

Sharing your child's artwork should feel joyful, not like another chore. Many parents want grandparents and relatives to see the art, but don't want to post everything publicly or send endless photo threads. Public social media can be suitable for a few select artworks that you want to show off, but not for living collections. A private link is often a much better fit because family members can enjoy the art without you having to share it with everyone else. That also means you're not resending the same pictures to different relatives every time a new drawing comes home from school - you can just share the gallery link once and let family members check in whenever they want to see the latest updates. The easier it is to open and enjoy, the more likely family members are to come back and look again. Convenience matters just as much as privacy here. When artwork is shared as a gallery, it tells a story. Grandparents can see how a child changes over time, notice favourite colors or subjects, and feel connected even from far away. LilMuseum was made for exactly that kind of sharing. You keep the gallery private by default, then share it intentionally with the people you trust. It gives family a lovely way to experience the collection while you stay in control of it. For many parents, that balance is the sweet spot: the art is easy to share, but it still feels personal and protected.

Question 5

Is my child's artwork private?

Accepted Answer

When it comes to your child's artwork, privacy is a top concern for many parents. LilMuseum is designed to feel private by default, so you can preserve and share the collection in a way that still feels personal and controlled. No. You don't need to use your child's real name to enjoy the gallery or share it with family. Many parents prefer to use a nickname, initials, or just a first name. That can be a simple way to keep the experience feeling personal while still being a little more private online. Only the people you choose to share it with will be able to see it. LilMuseum is built around private sharing rather than public discovery. That means you stay in control of who gets the link and when you want the gallery to be seen. LilMuseum galleries are not indexed by search engines, so they won't show up in search results or be discoverable by anyone who doesn't have the link. For safety reasons, we don't allow photos of children to be uploaded to LilMuseum. We regularly monitor uploads, and photos that don't meet our guidelines will be removed. LilMuseum is designed for preserving and sharing the artwork itself, so families can enjoy the collection while keeping the focus on the art. Yes, but for social media it is better to use the recording feature in the Share panel rather than posting your private family link. It creates a short video of a few artworks that is safer to share publicly, and removes your child's name from the video. The Private Family Link is meant for direct sharing with grandparents, relatives, and close friends. It should not be posted publicly on Instagram or other social platforms.

Question 6

Is it safe to upload my children's artwork?

Accepted Answer

Handing over photos of your child's artwork feels like a bigger decision than uploading a regular photo, and that instinct is a good one. LilMuseum is built around that concern: uploads are private by default, stored with encryption at rest, and reviewed so the service stays focused on art rather than pictures of children. LilMuseum is designed for the artwork itself: drawings, paintings, collages, school projects, sculpture photos and the like. For safety reasons, photos that focus on your child's face or body are not allowed, even if the artwork is in the background. Uploads are checked by automated moderation as well as human review when needed. Content that doesn't meet our guidelines is removed, and repeat issues can lead to account restrictions. We keep these safeguards under regular review as the service grows - for example, by tightening the policies on the credentials our app uses to read, write, and delete files - so the protections around your artwork continue to keep pace with how LilMuseum evolves. By default, only you can see what you upload. Galleries are private until you decide to share them, and the people you share with are the only people who can open the link. If you'd like to remove an artwork at any time, deleting it from your account hides it immediately and the underlying file is permanently removed within 7 days. If something ever looks wrong - either with an upload or with access to your account - you can reach the team directly at hello@lilmuseum.com and we'll look into it.

Question 7

Do I have to pay to use LilMuseum?

Accepted Answer

LilMuseum is free to get started: you can create an account, set up a child profile, upload up to 10 artworks, and share your gallery with family without paying anything. A paid Curator plan exists for families who want more room, but it's optional and there's no lock-in. It's deliberately generous enough to try the full experience with the pieces you love most before deciding whether to upgrade. The Curator plan is for families who run out of room or want extras. It costs $3.99 per month or $35 per year, and it gives you a much larger artwork allowance so you can keep every drawing your child has ever made in one place. Curator also supports more children in one account and more invite links, which is useful if your family is sharing the gallery with a wide circle of relatives. You can stay on the free plan indefinitely, upgrade only when you're ready, and cancel any time from your account settings without losing what you've already saved. If you cancel, your account simply returns to the free tier. You won't lose access to artwork that fits within the free limits, and you can still export or delete everything at any point.

Question 8

Can I delete my account and get my data back?

Accepted Answer

Your artwork belongs to your family, not to us. LilMuseum is designed so you can always take your data with you or close your account cleanly, without having to ask permission or jump through hoops. Every user can download each artwork on its own, even on the free plan. That means if you only want to save the originals of your child's best pieces, you can do that directly from the gallery at any time - no upgrade required. For a complete copy of everything associated with your account - artworks, child profiles, collections, tags, invite details, and collaborators - you can request an Export Archive from your account page. When it's ready, a short-lived download link appears in the same place for you to save. The archive covers your data only. We don't include anyone else's uploads in the export, and we don't share that archive with anyone else in the process. If you decide LilMuseum isn't for you anymore, you can delete your account directly from the account settings page. There's no need to email us first and no waiting period. When you delete your account, core account records are removed immediately and the stored artwork files are permanently deleted by background jobs. We may retain limited records briefly for legal compliance, billing, fraud prevention, or security, but no gallery content is kept beyond that window. If you only want to remove one artwork, child profile, or invite, those can be deleted individually without closing the whole account.

Questions parents ask about saving kids' artwork

Getting Started