SCANNING & ARCHIVING
We are open to accept your scanning orders! Photos, slides, negatives, anything! If you're local, you can drop off or we can pickup. You can ship your order too!
You can trust PhotoSynthesis to scan your most precious memories. Slides, negatives, prints, we digitize it all in-house! For normal sized prints, prices range from $1 - $0.25 ea depending on quantity. For negatives/slides, prices range from $0.50-$1/ea for regular scans (35 mm scans and slides) if your items are flat (not curled) and ready to scan. If your negatives are curled and cannot lay flat, or are housed in anything we can't scan through, or are smaller than a regular 35 mm negative, there will be an additional cost depending on what we have to do in order to successfully scan your items to give you a file you can use to reproduce/print an image successfully.
How do you get your digital files? You can bring in a USB for your scanned files, or purchase one of ours. Or we can send you a dropbox link for you to download them to your chosen device, or keep in your own dropbox account (they offer free accounts up to a certain storage size which is large enough for almost any scanning order). We don't put files on silver discs (CDs) any longer because they aren't reliable for the longterm (if they get scratched/broken, there goes your investment!), plus new computers don't have drives for viewing. It's important you put your scanned files on multiple devices to protect your investment! With a USB, it will be easier for you to move files to future devices, and share them with others.
Your images (slides OR photos) are scanned at a resolution to provide you the ability to print the same size, or a 4x6 or 3x5, whichever is larger. So if you provide small negatives, they are scanned so you could print a regular size print. If you provide photos larger than a regular size print, they are scanned so you can print the same size as your original.
SHOEBOX SCANNING
Have hundreds (thousands?) of photos sitting in boxes (shoe boxes usually) and drawers collecting dust, possibly fading away? You know you want to do something with them but the job seems overwhelming and you just don’t know where to start? We can help with cost effective shoebox scanning!
We use a professional grade Kodak scanner to turn your hundreds... even thousands..... of photos and pictures (wallet-size up to 8x10) into a digital format. Your photos can be preserved and archived for generations to come! You can carry these photos on your smartphone, you can make archival prints for your family in our store or online (we ship!) to share the files with your friends and family. Watch them on your smart TV!
We understand how valuable your photos are to you.
We scan your photos in our store. They stay with us until they are returned to you! We will never outsource your memories to other countries.
Why should you digitize your old photos?
- To archive and preserve your photos and memories for generations to come
- Emergency preparedness. One USB can hold a lifetime of your family photos. Give a copy to every family member! You can also create a USB for insurance purposes, archiving your belongings.
- Your child is getting married and would like to have a copy of their memories with you
- You want to give a meaningful gift to your family members
- You'd like to make photo gifts and artwork with your favorite photos and memories
- You'd enjoy setting up your TV to show old photos so you can actually enjoy them
- You'd like to show a slideshow at a wedding or family reunion or other function
- You'd like to share your photos by email or online
Shoebox scanning is perfect for you if you need your photos digitized for any purpose as outlined above. We'll scan each file at 300dpi so you can print a same-size print of your original photo in the future. 300dpi is perfectly sufficient for this purpose. And if you're unsure, do a test! We'll scan one file for $1.34 and give you an identical size print for comparison so you can see the quality of our scanning. Once you're ready to go ahead, shoebox scanning (400 photos or more) is just $0.25 each!
We do offer 600 dpi resolution for double cost, and a 1200 dpi for 3x cost. These files will produce files large enough to print significantly larger prints than the originals. If you need a particular size let us know and we will optimize the scan of your photo for that particular size. Cost will vary depending on your photo enlargement needs.
We can also scan for you in a combination of resolutions. Say you'd like most at 300dpi for future same-size prints, but you'd like a handful at 1200 dpi so you can make posters for an upcoming family reunion. Note: shoebox scanning is 300 dpi so any higher resolution will be a higher cost. Just keep everything labeled for us and we'll scan them as you'd like!
We can scan your photos at our low shoebox-scanning price if it:
- has square corners (photo isn't trimmed or cut to a shape)
- there is no tape or staples or anything sticky on the photo
- the photos aren't damaged
- your photos are wallet size up to 8x10
- your photos aren't thick, like a polaroid, or mounted to anything
- your photos are loose (not in an album or holder)
Your photos included with a shoebox scan order that are smaller than wallets, or are mounted on a hard backing twill be scanned at the normal $0.50/ea cost for 300 dpi. Larger photos will cost more depending on size.
Is there a photo we *cannot* scan? PhotoSynthesis respects copyrights. If you have any copyrighted photos, you must have permission from the photographer or be the owner of the images. Please ask us about copyrighted material.
Need organization? For an additional cost we can keep a specific order to your scans, or label folders for you. Note: You can also do this after you receive your order as it's easy to rename files and sort once you have your photos digitized. Especially when your order is put on a USB!
By submitting your photos to PhotoSynthesis, you understand we will be careful to get your photos back to you in the exact condition they were received. However, you agree that the value of the photos is no more than the cost of scanning the same quantity of photographs, and that except for such agreed value, PhotoSynthesis will not be liable for any other loss or damage, direct, consequential or incidental to your use of our scanning services.
