What equipment do you use for scanning 35mm slides and 35mm film?
We use Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 EDs for scanning slides and film. If you're familiar with this scanner, you'll know that it produces fantastic results but it's extremely slow. When we decided to offer slide scanning services and began to look at which machines to purchase, we found two options; fast ones or good ones. Our solution to the quality vs. speed problem had to be uncompromising on quality but fast enough to allow us to offer low prices and quick turn around times.

What equipment do you use for Medium Format Film?
We use Nikon Super Coolscan 8000 EDs for scanning Medium Format Film and other specialty film formats. If you're familiar with this scanner, you'll know that it also produces fantastic results but it's extremely, extremely slow to work with.

What are the default settings you use for each slide scanned
at the standard price?
We can change any of the options you like. Some we don't charge for, but some we do have to charge for because they can increase each scan time by as much as 25 times normal.

Here are the default settings we use:

* We don't charge extra to turn on this feature so if you want it on or off, please indicate so on your order. Otherwise, we'll make a determination after running several samples and then process the batch using the settings that produced the best results.
GEM helps mitigate the grainy look of images on High speed film while ROC will restore the color that has faded by the effects of time.

If you have additional needs that require special settings, just let us know and we'll accommodate those needs.

What do you do about dust and scratches?
We use compressed air on each slide to remove surface dust. We don't wipe the film or touch it in any way. Digital ICE will repair most other surface defects that aren't removed by the compressed air. We cannot use the Digital ICE scratch and dust removal technology on Kodachrome slides. Kodachrome film is somewhat opaque to the infrared light processing used by Digital ICE causing the software to over process the image which results in a loss of sharpness.

Do you rotate and crop the images?
We will manually rotate images to the correct orientation for no additional charge. We also will crop your images to remove the black border left by the scanning equipment.

How long will it take for you to scan my slides?
Our standard turn around is 2-4 business days for orders of a few hundred slides or less. Larger orders of 500 slides or more may take slightly longer. We offer a rush service if you need them turned around overnight. Please contact us to arrange overnight service.

How many slides will fit on a CD?
A CD holds 650MB. A slide at 2000 dpi in JPEG at 100% quality format is about 3MB in size. You can fit between 2 - 3 hundred slides on 1 CD. A slide at 4000 dpi will be 4 times larger and only 50 - 75 will fit on one CD. If you want your images in uncompressed TIFF format then each file size will be over 16MB at 2000 dpi or 64MB at 4000 dpi.

Can you put my slide batches in different directories?
Yes! If you group your slides and name and label the group, we'll put that group in its own directory. We'll also name the files so that they start with that name, too. We want your files to be easy to work with and we do what we can to facilitate that. We ask that you try to put no fewer that 40-50 slides in a group.

How should I send you my slides?
We recommend that you send us your slides in boxes, slide trays, or carousels. Please make sure they are secure and won't move around or jumble within the box you mail. If possible, please align them with the emulsion side facing in the same direction and, if possible, sorted by mount style.

If you don't have a slide storage system, we offer several excellent options in our shop. We can process your slides and then store them in one of those products for their return to you.

Can I see some samples of your work?
Of course! Use the link below to have a look. If you have any questions or concerns, contact us!
Samples of our slide scans
Samples of our negative and film scans

I have some more questions or special requirements. What should I do?
Call or write. We'd be happy to help!