We are very excited about this new service-line for us.  Our newest acquisition is the RetroScan Universal multi-format scanner.  This beautiful machine (dark wood base with brass fittings and large takeup reel) is unique in that it does not have sprockets in the film path.  This is much gentler on film.  Instead, the film is pulled by the takeup reel through the film path. In the center of the film path there is an LED illuminator underneath the fil.  Directly above the illuminator is a high speed digital camera that takes pictures of the illuminated film.  The individual still pictures are analyzed in software to determine the position of the discrete frames.  A digital MP4 movie is created out of this stream of still pictures.

​Our service offering covers three original film formats (8mm, Super 8mm, and 16mm), with two output formats (DVD and MP4):

• 8mm/S8mm and 16mm to MP4
• MP4 to DVD

​As with Video Tape conversions, we are happy to do further editing on your Movie Film conversions to create more polished digital movies at our standard manual labor rate.

In order to keep our prices down, we use as many automated processes as possible. Looking at a videotape to determine where it ends, and then combining that recording with another on the same DVD takes up a significant amount of time.  So normally we do not do this.  If you want us to do this we are happy to combine multiple tapes on a single DVD. as well as do further editing on your Video Tape conversions to create more polished digital movies at our standard manual labor rate.

There are a wide variety of formats for video tape cassettes probably due to the rapid advancements in technology between 1980 and today.  Less change happened in audio cassette technology and 33rpm Vinyl LP records.

We are able to convert the following formats of video and audio:

There are two output representations for converted video: DVD or MP4.  DVD is the traditional encoding that can be played back on a DVD player.  MP4 is a more modern representation that can be played back on computers, streamed to web browsers, or even played directly on a HDTV.  You have a choice of DVD or MP4 or both.

​There are two output representations for converted audio: CD or MP3.

Yes, we can make prints of your scanned negatives.  We use local photo processing services and charge you the cost of the service we use plus a small amount for our time consumed submitting your order for the prints and picking them up so we can deliver your order as one complete transaction.

With our newly acquired Epson V800 scanner, we can now efficiently scan negatives and positive transparencies at an optical resolution of 6400 dpi.  The difference in scanning a positive print and a negative or positive transparency is while a positive print is scanned with reflective light, transparencies must be scanned with transmitted light -- light that passes through the photographic object.  The Epson V800 has a light in the cover to illuminate the transparency so that the imaging bar traveling the length of the flatbed receives light transmitted through the transparency.

We offer three different services for scanning negatives and positive transparencies:

• Strip of 35mm negatives. Normally negatives returned by a photo processor come in strips of 4 or 5 negatives.  It is most efficient for us to scan all of the images in a negative strip rather than identify one or two of the images of a strip for scanning.  It is also difficult for customers to pick out which negative they wish to scan because it is difficult to visualize what the positive version of the negative looks like.  As a result, we offer a reduced price per image if all images on the strip are scanned at once.
  
  
• Single 35mm image from a strip of negatives. Strips of negatives typically come in a plastic sleeve that is folded accordion-like.  To identify the negatives you wish to scan, keep the negatives in their plastic sleeve and mark the plastic sleeve to identify the desired negatives.  Because identifying the individual negatives takes more manual labor than scanning an entire strip of negatives, the per image price is higher than if all of the images on a strip are scanned.
  
  
• Medium and Large Format negatives.  There is a wide variety of negative sizes that are all larger than the 35mm format.  They are typically individual images. If originally taken with care, pictures that are scanned from Medium and Large Format negatives combined with the high 6400 dpi optical resolution of the Epson V800 scanner result in stunning images.

​To read an article about the practical view of scanning resolutions, please see: Resolving Resolution.

In general, we use the following rule about estimating the number of prints neatly arranged in a stack:  A pack of photo prints that is 1 inch thick is about 100 prints.  So, just put your photos in a box (like the one below), measure the number of inches of photos and multiply by 100.

We need four numbers: the dimensions of the page (width and height), the number of album page sides you wish to scan, and the average number of photos per side.

35mm film usually comes/came in rolls of 24 or 36 exposures and so if you have boxes in which the developed slides were returned to you, they will come in boxes that hold 24 or 36 slides.  Of course many people have put their slides in special plastic and metal boxes which hold slides.  Since each of these boxes hold different quantities of slides, you will just have to count them yourself. Finally, some people have slides in various types of packages.  A stack of slides 1 inch high is about 25 slides.  Kodak Carousels hold either 80 slides or 140 slides.

35mm negatives usually come in strips.  Since we scan an entire strip, it is the count of such strips that we need.

Medium format and large format negatives and positive transparencies usually come as individual items.  Just count the number of these items.

The number we need is the count of the individual cassettes.

Conversion of Movie Film is charged by the foot.  Film reels carry the following amounts of film.
​

The SlideSnap Pro is a combination of a modified Kodak Carousel slide projector plus a high resolution camera coupled to the projector by a control box.  The original illuminator of the projector is replaced by an LED array light source for even lighting. In addition, the lens of the projector is removed, allowing the camera which is outfitted with a macro lens to directly capture the image of the illuminated the slide. For more information about this scanner, please see our SlideSnap Pro page.  To read an article about the practical view of scanning resolutions, please see: Resolving Resolution.

Prior to scanning slides, Carousel trays must be loaded with 35mm slides in a precise orientation.

Arranging Slides in Trays

For economy slide scanning, one of the tasks that the customer takes responsibility for is arranging slides in the proper order and orientation in Carousel trays.  If you don't already have your slides in Carousel trays, we have a lot of empty Carousel trays that we can loan you to put your slides into.

Note: If you are bringing Carousel trays that have been used with a Carousel projector to project slides on a screen, the slides will be in the trays upside down and backwards. You will need to do two things to get them in the proper orientation:

1. You will need to rotate every slide 180º so that as you look at the slide when it is fed into the projector, letters on signs would be readable, not reversed.
   
   
2. In addition, when scanned, every slide must be in landscape orientation because the camera which is used can only shoot in one orientation, landscape. So, every slide that is in portrait mode must be rotated 90º.  It is helpful to rotate the entire tray of slides 90º in the same direction.

Here is another way to describe the second step above:
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​Slides should be placed in order so that if you look from the top down on the carousel in the above illustration, the slides at 7 o'clock come before the ones at 8 o'clock in the sequence of slides.  Slides should all be placed in the landscape orientation and have their tops or left sides be headed upwards.  Also make sure that the slide is correctly viewed from the front as shown (not reversed so that the letters PQR are reversed).  Once you figure out the right up/down, left/right, front/back for a particular brand of 35mm slide processing, it should be the same for all slides produced by that particular photo finishing processor.

Once a photo is scanned -- whether it is a photo print, the individual photos on an album page, a 35mm slide, or a negative -- the same corrections are performed either by automatic or manual methods.  These corrections include:
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You should bring them in whatever packaging they are currently in.  The photos above show several ways we frequently see.  

​Recently a client delivered her slides in the boxes used to hold Saran Wrap, which is a great way to old a lot of slides.

We offer three different levels of service:

1. Basic Slide Scanning includes scanning your slides and performing basic automatic corrections to the raw images that come out of the scanner producing a finished scan of a slide.  
   
   This is the service we expect most people (95%) will start with in scanning their slides.  We first take your slides in whatever packaging you bring them to us (e.g., in boxes, or projector trays) and load them into our Carousel trays properly orienting for scanning.  Then we scan the slides.
   
   This service includes possible rotation of slides for correct orientation (landscape versus portrait), simple color and exposure correction and simple dust removal.
   
   Most slides shot by our customers need adjustments to the exposure and white balance to look their best. There are automatic tools for performing simple types of such corrections on a batch of scanned images. More sophisticated adjustments to bring out the maximum detail in a slide require significant additional manual work and are provided in the advanced manual  service below.
   
   Finally, most slides that come to us have dust particles on the surface of the slide.  Once slides are properly loaded into the Carousel trays we use compressed air to blow dust off the surface of the slides.  This clears away some of the dust, but many times dust remains.  We never touch (and you should resist touching) the surface of a slide to clean it.  A better approach is to use digital tools to remove the image cast by a dust particle.  We use such automatic tools to get rid of small images of dust that ruin a photo -- such as a speck of dust on a person's face.  Larger dust, dirt and scratches may still be present and will not be cleaned up by automatic tools.
   
   Most slides that are in good condition (good exposure, white balance and limited dust) that go through the basic service look quite good and no further effort (or expense) needs to be done for them to be viewed and used in subsequent projects.  
   
   At this point, we recommend that customers pick up their orders and review their scans to decide which scans, if any, they want to use our Premium service.  For at least three months, we keep the scans of all orders. If you want us to do further processing on a selection of your scans, all you need to do is send us an email listing the unique names of the scans on which you wish us to do further work.
   
   You can read about these corrections in another FAQ Answer that is about automatic corrections to all scanned photographs regardless of original media.
   
   
2. Economy Slide Scanning
   This level is for customers who want us to just give them a raw scan of their slides.  They will have to do do all of the pre-scanning, slide preparation, and post-scanning image corrections to the raw scans with their own software tools. 
   
   
3. Premium Slide Scanning
   This level of service provides all of the Basic Slide Scanning services, plus additional manual corrections to deal with finer tuned adjustments to all of the automatic corrections.  Typically people will identify a subset of the slides they scan which are important to them for this level of corrections.​

Short answer: Yes!

Longer answer: Yes.  We do not remove photos from album pages, but rather scan complete pages and then separate the individual photos using a photo editor.  Our A3 (11"x17") size flatbed scanner is capable of scanning full pages of most photo albums.  The pages of some loose leaf albums are thin, flexible and small enough so that we can actually pass them through our automatic feed scanner, saving you money.  And even with albums that use a clear plastic sheet over the photographs, we can scan them without removing the plastic sheet.  

​The cost of scanning album pages has two components: one to account for scanning the complete page and one to account for the time spent separating the multiple photos on the page.  The cost of scanning the complete page depends on the size of the page (up to 8.5"x14" versus up to 11"x17").  The cost of separating the individual photos of a page is the same as scanning an individual photo print.  

The automatic feeder on our main scanner can handle photos up to 8.5"x34".  Our two manual scanners can handle prints that measure up to 8.5"x14" and 11"x17".  We can also make multiple passes on a print larger than 11"x17" and create a composite scan of a photo print larger than 11"x17".

We offer several different services:

1. Prints, Album Pages by Automatic Feed up to 8.5"x11"
   This is the most common way we scan individual prints, using the automatic feeder to gently feed photos through the scanner, scanning one side of the print.  With some albums that have a looseleaf organization, the feeder is good enough so that the entire page can be fed through the automatic feeder.  The multiple images on a page can then be processed to separate the individual images.
   
   A slight variation on this is to scan both sides of a print so that any annotations on the reverse side can also be captured.
   
   
2. Prints, Album Pages by Manual Feed up to 8.5"x14"
   Some photo prints cannot be fed through the automatic feeder mechanism. This is typically true with older photos that are attached to stiff backings or photos that need to be scanned without taking them out of their frames.  For this situation, we have to use a scanner that we feed manually and is limited to photos that are no larger than 8.5"x14".
   
   
3. Prints, Album Pages by Manual Feed up to 11"x17"
   For images greater than 8.5"x14", we have another flatbed scanner than can scan up to A3 size (11"x17").  
   
   ​Although this is the largest size we can handle with one scan, we can also make multiple scans over parts of a document and combine the multiple scanned image into one composite image that is larger than 11"x17".
   

This device can convert a Audio Cassette tape to an MP3 file.

For more information about this scanner system, please see:
​

• WebPages​

This device can convert a VHS video tape into a DVD.  In addition, it can accept video and audio connections from any video playback device (e.g., various formats of camcorders) to replace the VHS video signal.  We currently have 3 camcorders: 8mm, Hi8, and mini DV, plus a carrier that allows a VHSC format tape to be inserted as a VHS tape.

For more information about this scanner system, please see:
​

• WebPages​

We use this scanner for negatives and positive transparencies because the thick cover contains illumination for backlighting of the film.  Transparencies require transmitted light unlike prints that rely on reflected light for scanning.

For more information about this scanner system, please see:

• ​​Webpages:

Our slide scanner is a hybrid combination of a Kodak Carousel slide projector plus a high resolution camera coupled to the projector by a control box.

​For more information about this scanner, please see:

• The SlideSnap Pro website
• See some Reviews of SlideSnap Pro products from their website
• To read an article about the practical view of scanning resolutions, please see: Resolving Resolution.
  

This scanner is identical to the Kodak 8.5"x14" Legal Flatbed Scanner, except for the dimensions.  It connects to the central Kodak PS80 Picture Saver System.

​For more information about this scanner system, please see:
​

• WebPages
  

The Kodak PS80 Picture Saver Scanning System is the central workhorse of our photo and album page scanning service.  Connected to this system is a Kodak Autofeed (8.5"x34") size, two sided scanner.  This has an automatic feed mechanism that handles photo prints gently with utmost care. This workhorse can feed photo prints through the scanner and record both sides of a photograph.  It's throughput is approximately one print every 2 seconds.

Also attached to this system are two manually fed flatbed Kodak scanners: one can scan documents up to 8.5"x14".  The other can handle documents up to 11"x17".

Scans from all three attached scanners are handled the same way making the workflow uniform no matter what type/size of photo print is being scanned.

For more information about this scanner system, please see:
​

• WebPages

Scanned photos, album pages, negatives, and converted audio cassettes are delivered on USB Flash Memory drives.

Converted video cassettes and 8mm Super8mm and 16mm home movies can be delivered on DVD discs and/or USB Flash Memory drives.

The following table shows the digital delivery format for each of the media types.