Common Questions
Ordering & Pricing
Which types of slides do you convert?
We can process any mounted slide measuring 50x50mm this includes 35mm which is by far the most popular format, but also includes Super35mm, 127, 126, 110 and half frame. N.b. We only scan slides which are mounted in 50mm slides, not film strips or loose negatives.
Our average turnaround time is 3-4 weeks, it can be a couple of weeks longer at busy times or for very large orders. We confirm the estimated turnaround when we receive the slides. However, if you have an deadline to meet we can process slides in hours and get images back to you over the internet. Its best to contact us direct if you have a very urgent order so we can discuss the optimum approach.
Do you offer discounts for bulk volumes?
Yes, we include a bulk discount in the quote calculation so that the more slides you have converted with us the cheaper the price per slide is. Your price will be automatically calculated, for review when you start to complete the order form.
Can you send me a sample scan?
Yes! We are confident that you will be impressed. Send us 4-5 slides or so, we will scan them and email you the images. We’ll also send your sample slides back for free. Our address can be found on the Contact page.
Processing & Technical
Do you retain the ordering of the slides?
Yes, this is an important requirement for most people and one of the main reasons we decided to go to the extra cost of sending every customer our own packing boxes and instructions.
After scanning the slides will be placed back in the boxes in exactly the same position as you placed them.
What resolution will my images be?
Your slides are scanned so that the resulting image is around 5000 pixels wide by 3500. That is around 17 megapixels in digital photography terminology.
Perfectly exposed slide film is generally accepted to be equivalent to between 10 megapixels (Kodachrome) and 15 megapixels (Fuji Velvia) so we are scanning at a higher resolution than the film itself.
To put this into perspective, an HD TV displays 2 megapixels. Even the new 4K HD screens only have 8 megapixels. So at the scan resolution we use you will be able to zoom in on tiny and previously un-noticed details of the picture. This detail will enable you to nicely re-frame pictures to make details closer and clearer. NB
Of course the quality of the image is much more than just the resolution and that's why we check and adjust the exposure and colour on slides which are too light, dark or have got colour casts such as purple or red due to aging of the chemicals and dyes. We are dependent too on the quality of the original image but we do obtain the best image we can, which in many cases is enhanced beyond what you would be able to see in the projected image. See our gallery for some examples.
Perfectly exposed slide film is generally accepted to be equivalent to between 10 megapixels (Kodachrome) and 15 megapixels (Fuji Velvia) so we are scanning at a higher resolution than the film itself.
To put this into perspective, an HD TV displays 2 megapixels. Even the new 4K HD screens only have 8 megapixels. So at the scan resolution we use you will be able to zoom in on tiny and previously un-noticed details of the picture. This detail will enable you to nicely re-frame pictures to make details closer and clearer. NB
Of course the quality of the image is much more than just the resolution and that's why we check and adjust the exposure and colour on slides which are too light, dark or have got colour casts such as purple or red due to aging of the chemicals and dyes. We are dependent too on the quality of the original image but we do obtain the best image we can, which in many cases is enhanced beyond what you would be able to see in the projected image. See our gallery for some examples.
Are the images compatible with everything I need?
The JPEG format which we supply as standard is universal in its use on computing devices (e.g PC or Mac) and across the internet, all soical media platfroms, all printers and all image editing software. We are happy to supply other image formats if needed though.
My slides have numbers or comments written on them, can this be retained somehow?
Unfortunatly this cannot be retained. The mount is outside of the scan area and manually retyping from the slide is not a service we offer. The scans will be in exactly the same order and we do offer a partial solution in the form of "named folders" which sould enable you to get back to an individual slide to be able to read the comments if you needed to.
On the order form, what does "Save images in named folders" entail?
Typically for large collections, there might be a desire to section the collection into folders to make it easy to get to a certain year or certain event.
Selecting this option lets you insert numbered paper slips between groups of slides as you pack into our boxes. You can then provide us with an email of the numbers on the slips and the folder name you want us to place those images into.
Your slide collection will then be broken down into a list of folders with meaningful names.
We return the slides with the slips back in the same locations which enables you to more easily find a slide perhaps to read comments written on the mount.
Selecting this option lets you insert numbered paper slips between groups of slides as you pack into our boxes. You can then provide us with an email of the numbers on the slips and the folder name you want us to place those images into.
Your slide collection will then be broken down into a list of folders with meaningful names.
We return the slides with the slips back in the same locations which enables you to more easily find a slide perhaps to read comments written on the mount.
Can you save my images as TIFF files?
We can supply any format including TIFF.
In our opinion JPEG has the best compatibility with websites, social networks, image editing software, phones, tablets, PC or Mac. High Quality JPEGs offer superb quality for the filesize because they use compression to shrink the file size.
TIFF format is more often used in commercial printing and professional editing, it requires more advanced editing software and more computer resources. Tiff files are very large and the space requirements mount up if you have a large number of them. A DVD can be filled by as few as 100 images. Zooming in on our JPEG images and comparing with TIFF there is no preceptible difference between a 7mb JPEG and and a 30mb TIFF image.
In our opinion JPEG has the best compatibility with websites, social networks, image editing software, phones, tablets, PC or Mac. High Quality JPEGs offer superb quality for the filesize because they use compression to shrink the file size.
TIFF format is more often used in commercial printing and professional editing, it requires more advanced editing software and more computer resources. Tiff files are very large and the space requirements mount up if you have a large number of them. A DVD can be filled by as few as 100 images. Zooming in on our JPEG images and comparing with TIFF there is no preceptible difference between a 7mb JPEG and and a 30mb TIFF image.
Does your process remove dust from the slides?
Yes. The slide path through our scanner includes a cleaning stage which removes dust and debris using carbon fibre anti-static filaments followed by air cleaning. This process removes dust which is not physically stuck to the film itself. It also leaves your slides clean for archiving.
We do not use digital dust removal e.g Nikon Digital ICE. The reason for this is simply that it is widely acknowledged that the digital approach leads to an overall softening of the image which affects the entire picture. The physical dust removal is so effective that typically no dust is noticed in the vast majority of pictures. If you had a special use for a particular image and noticed a dust spot, it would be easy to remove this spot using an image editor. This would retain the benefit of the sharper image on the 99% of the pictures which did not have a dust spot.
We do not use digital dust removal e.g Nikon Digital ICE. The reason for this is simply that it is widely acknowledged that the digital approach leads to an overall softening of the image which affects the entire picture. The physical dust removal is so effective that typically no dust is noticed in the vast majority of pictures. If you had a special use for a particular image and noticed a dust spot, it would be easy to remove this spot using an image editor. This would retain the benefit of the sharper image on the 99% of the pictures which did not have a dust spot.
Packaging & Transportation
Where should I send my slides?
We’re based in Southend-On-Sea, Essex. The order confirmation email and our contact page gives the full address. Also, the packing kit we post out includes a pre-printed address label.
How should I pack and label my slides?
1. Packaging:
We recommend all customers to use our free packing kit, which includes a guide to packing your slides and the packaging needed to contain and transport your slides safely in the post. The packing kit is sent to all customers when they place an order and includes bespoke designed boxes that will contain approximately 400 slides per box. Customers are sent enough boxes to transport their order. This is the simplest and safest way to send us your slides. Only very small orders, or where you have already spoken to us, should be sent in your own packaging.
If have less than 100 slides and want to send them in your own boxes. As a rule, the slides should be “densely packed” for transit, which means the slides are sandwiched directly together with no gap or spacer between each slide. If your slides are in the commonly used Kodak yellow plastic boxes, which normally hold around 36 slides, this is good for posting. Just mark a sequence number on each box (box 1 being the earliest slide) and indicate the first slide in each carton. Then mail to us in a jiffy bag or cardboard box. Please pack in such a way that the plastic lids cannot come off in transit. If you have slides in projector racks or transparent plastic sheets, then the slides must be re-packed before sending to us. If you have loose slides its recommended to order our free slide packing kit.
2. Labeling & Orientation:
In most cases we recommend archiving the slides in the cardboard box rather than returning to the original cases. In the event that you do want to return the slides to their original boxes we recommend that you mark the top edge of the first and last slide in every batch with a felt-tip pen to help you restore the slides to their correct position. Once marked, taking a photo of all of the slide boxes together on a table with the box lids off can help you with the task for replacing the slides in the correct boxes.
You may or may not be aware that slides have a so called “emulsion side”, most slide photographers would be very aware of this. If you are not the photographer you will likely find that the whole collection is already ordered with the emulsion sides facing consistently in one direction. When projecting a slide it’s important to have the matt emulsion side facing towards the projector screen otherwise images are mirror flipped and text does not read correctly. When packing its important to try to preserve this so that all slides have their emulsion facing the same way. Each slide processing company had their own convention for which side was the emulsion side; for Kodak, their brand label was always on the emulsion side (which should face away as you pack) and for most others the reverse is true. The emulsion side has a slightly matt finish compared to the "view from side" which is shiny. By examining a few you will be able to determine which way round all the slides should be flipped based on the make. We do our best to double check this for you so don’t worry too much if you are not sure which way you slides are facing we will be able to sort out any issues. We include more detailed instructions on this in the package we send out.
We recommend all customers to use our free packing kit, which includes a guide to packing your slides and the packaging needed to contain and transport your slides safely in the post. The packing kit is sent to all customers when they place an order and includes bespoke designed boxes that will contain approximately 400 slides per box. Customers are sent enough boxes to transport their order. This is the simplest and safest way to send us your slides. Only very small orders, or where you have already spoken to us, should be sent in your own packaging.
If have less than 100 slides and want to send them in your own boxes. As a rule, the slides should be “densely packed” for transit, which means the slides are sandwiched directly together with no gap or spacer between each slide. If your slides are in the commonly used Kodak yellow plastic boxes, which normally hold around 36 slides, this is good for posting. Just mark a sequence number on each box (box 1 being the earliest slide) and indicate the first slide in each carton. Then mail to us in a jiffy bag or cardboard box. Please pack in such a way that the plastic lids cannot come off in transit. If you have slides in projector racks or transparent plastic sheets, then the slides must be re-packed before sending to us. If you have loose slides its recommended to order our free slide packing kit.
2. Labeling & Orientation:
In most cases we recommend archiving the slides in the cardboard box rather than returning to the original cases. In the event that you do want to return the slides to their original boxes we recommend that you mark the top edge of the first and last slide in every batch with a felt-tip pen to help you restore the slides to their correct position. Once marked, taking a photo of all of the slide boxes together on a table with the box lids off can help you with the task for replacing the slides in the correct boxes.
You may or may not be aware that slides have a so called “emulsion side”, most slide photographers would be very aware of this. If you are not the photographer you will likely find that the whole collection is already ordered with the emulsion sides facing consistently in one direction. When projecting a slide it’s important to have the matt emulsion side facing towards the projector screen otherwise images are mirror flipped and text does not read correctly. When packing its important to try to preserve this so that all slides have their emulsion facing the same way. Each slide processing company had their own convention for which side was the emulsion side; for Kodak, their brand label was always on the emulsion side (which should face away as you pack) and for most others the reverse is true. The emulsion side has a slightly matt finish compared to the "view from side" which is shiny. By examining a few you will be able to determine which way round all the slides should be flipped based on the make. We do our best to double check this for you so don’t worry too much if you are not sure which way you slides are facing we will be able to sort out any issues. We include more detailed instructions on this in the package we send out.
Which postal service should I use to send my slides?
Our recommended postal service is:
The inexpensive and 100% reliable to date – “Royal Mail 1st class small parcel service” (or medium parcel 1st or 2nd class service if heavier then 2KG).
The inexpensive and 100% reliable to date – “Royal Mail 1st class small parcel service” (or medium parcel 1st or 2nd class service if heavier then 2KG).
For parcels over 4kg… Parcelforce 48 is the cheaper option for heavier parcels and luckily is available at the post office too.