Why Scan Slides & Negatives? Why not scan prints?

One of the most common questions asked is why do you scan slides & negatives and not prints? Well, there is a reason and the short answer is that it's better. Let us elaborate....

The main reason for scanning slides & negatives is that they are the originals. A photo print is produced from a negative, which makes it a second-generation copy of the image. Photo prints simply do not contain as much information as their negatives. By scanning the film itself we can extract much more information, if not all the information contained in an image. That is why we specialize in scanning 35mm slides and negatives and do not scan prints. Scanning slides and negatives will give you the best possible results. You may even see things in the digitized image that you never saw in the print.

The problem with film is that it degrades over time. It is delicate and susceptible to environmental hazards. The more time that passes the more damage takes place. The most common types of damage that occur are fading, scratches, and dust build up. By digitizing your film your images will be preserved and these problems can be fixed in the process! Check out our examples to see for yourself.

When you send us your 35mm slides and/or negatives we scan them and record the digital files onto a CD or DVD. Instead of dragging out your slide projector and screen to view your images you simply put a CD into your computer. It is much easier! Another benefit from having your images digitized is that you can copy them easily at next to no cost. There are many more benefits and we have listed a few on our why digitize page.

How much does it cost? Check out our low competitive prices. It does cost money, but scanning is a time consuming process. We want to make the process of digitizing your slides and negatives easy for you so read on to learn why you should leave the scanning to a professional.

Update 09/17/04: We are now offering print scanning as a service. In some cases negatives are missing and so scanning the print is the only available option. If you have a choice of scanning the film or print you will get much better quality from scanning the film.