Questions about our Photo Scanning to Digital services? We answer them here.
- With which hard – and software do you scan?
- JPEG, TiFF or DNG – Which format do you recommend?
- What is the best resolution for photo scanning to digital?
- Are the scans of the slides/negatives ‘clean’ cut at the edges?
- Do the slides have to be in magazines?
- Can you also scan slides mounted in glass mounts?
- How big are the digital image files?
- On what data carrier will the files be stored when you ship them
- Where do you scan my slides?
- What happens, if my slide mounts are in a bad condition?
- What happens if one can’t determinate the correct side of a slide to view from?
- Do I have to clean the originals before I send them to you?
- Is it advisable to number each slide?
- Is the image quality of glass framed slides worse than of plastic frames?
- Should I back up my photo-files after I received them from you?
- Were sepia-toned photos always sepia-toned?
- What’s the difference between monochrome and black and white?
- My photo is blurred, can you sharpen it after digitizing?
With which hard- and software do you scan?
For our Photo Scanning to Digital services we use professional NIKON scanners for scanning slides and negatives along with professional Epson and Canon flatbed scanners for scanning photos (paper prints).
The scans are all made with Silverfast (by Lasersoft Imaging), which is the standard in the field of Scanning and Archiving Software, featuring powerful highlights like fully automatic IT8 Calibration and Multi-Exposure function. Lasersoft Imaging, founded in 1986, is worldwide known as a pioneer of scanner and digital imaging software. See also “our professional equipment“
JPEG, TIF or DNG – Which format should I choose?
In tagged image file format (TIF) files, the image information is 16 bit per colour channel colour gradation. They are significantly larger than JPEG files (Joint Photographic Experts Group), in which image information is ‘lossy’ compressed (8bit per colour channel). The compression strength and the associated file size are adjustable in the JPEG and directly affect the quality of the digital images.
TIF 48-Bit: The 48-Bit files are normal TIF files with 48 Bit colour depth (16 Bit for B/W images) instead of 24 Bit (B/W 8 Bit). Instead of 256 colours per colour channel (red, green, blue) a 48-Bit TIF file contains 65536 colours per channel. TIF-48 is very suitable for archiving and additional editing your images. If you want to extensively edit your scans with Photoshop® or any other image editing software, we recommend the TIF 48-Bit format. These files are twice as large as 8-Bit TIF files.
Another option are DNG files. The Digital Negative file format is open source and was created by Adobe to provide a standardized raw file format with the intention of maintaining compatibility in the future. Raw files are considered the equivalent of a digital negative.
If you have enough space and want to digitally edit your pictures, we recommend TIF files. For long term storage they are currently the best option.
However, if you can largely do without post-processing and want ‘slim’ files for storage, you might want JPEGs. A one-time post-processing or retouching a low compressed JPEGs usually does not affect the quality.
See also our more detailed explanation on formats for photo scanning to digital.
What is the best resolution for photo scanning to digital?
It depends. We offer two different resolutions for slides and negatives. 2,800 dpi and 4,000 dpi. 2,800 dpi is best if you want to print photos; you can print up to 28 x 36 cm (11 x 14”) photos. For a true archival digital image – or to print posters from your images – choose the full 4,000 dpi.
We scan Photos (Paper Prints) with a resolution of 300, 600 or 1200 dpi.
We generally recommend and scan photos
5 × 7.5 cm (2×3”) or smaller – 1200 dpi.
Photos 5 × 7.5 cm (2×3”) to 12.5 × 18 cm (5×7”) – 600 dpi.
Photos larger than 12.5 × 18 cm (5×7”) – 300 dpi.
We recommend generally 600 dpi.
For more detailed information see our “resolution”-page
Are the scans of the slides / negatives ‘clean’ cut at the edges?
We scan the slides with a crop-factor of about 1% to prevent ‘dirty’ edges. On request, we scan your slides / negatives without crop.
Do slides have to be in magazines?
No. Since we anyway scan them individually, they don’t need to be in magazines. But you also don’t have to take them out, we do that for you and put them back in their order.
Can you also scan slides mounted in glass mounts?
Generally yes, but glass will degrade scan quality and likely introduce newton rings. Moreover, the Digital ICE® Technologies to automatically remove dust, scratches and surface defects, will also not work well with slides behind glass. The dust will, well, look like dust, especially behind the glass. We therefore recommend taking them out of the glass-mounts. We can do that for you manually and remount them e.g. in CS-Mounts.
How big are the files after the photo scanning to digital?
That depends on the resolution, the size of the original, the bit-rate and the compression. An example regarding slides:
JPEGs (24bit / 3600dpi), lowest compression: approx. 7 – 10 MB
TiFF-file (48bit / 3600dpi): about 100 – 160 MB / file
On what data carrier will you store the files when you ship them
We offer USB-sticks, SD-cards and external hard drives, depending on the volume of the scanned image.
Usually we don’t use DVDs as the data carrier for two reasons: They often don’t have the capacity required and nowadays not many laptops have a DVD-player any longer.
In addition, we also offer an Upload Service from which you can download your photos.
Where do you scan my slides?
We scan and professional edit all your images in Australia at the Gold Coast, Queensland. Some low-cost suppliers send your originals overseas for scanning there. We assure you that your originals don’t leave our house. We process each order ourselves by our own qualified personnel. This means reliability for you.
What happens, if my slide mounts are in a bad condition?
If we cannot scan your slide in its original mount due to it falling apart, then for a small additional cost we will repair or remount your slide for you. Therefore, before sending your slides, it is advisable to go through them and check that the mounts are in good condition.
What happens if one can’t determinate the correct side of a slide to view from?
We always try to ensure that the images are scanned in the correct orientation, but in some instances it is not possible to determine the correct side to view from. Sometimes the finished scan may be back to front, the quickest way to resolve these problems are for you to flip the image using a photo editing package. We can help you find such a software.
Do I have to clean the originals before I send them to you?
We clean all slides, films and photos with compressed air and anti-static brushes prior to scanning. If the slides are sticky, mouldy or dirty we will not be able to clean them sufficiently and the marks are likely to be visible on the finished scan. Our scanners are top of the range and use infrared light and software to remove the small dust and scratch marks, but we cannot guarantee that marks will be always be removed.
If your slides, film or photos suffer from serious damage then you should consider our photo restoration services.
Is it advisable to number each slide?
To have your items scanned in a particular order it is best to number each slide on the mount or on the reverse of the photo. We will do all we can to ensure your items are scanned in the correct order, though we may not be able to always achieve this.
Should I back up my photo files after I received them from you?
A hard-drive for backup is always the first recommended way to ensure file security in the event of a data-carrier failure. With mechanical drives still offering the best value in terms of cost for capacity, this looks set to remain the best option for the foreseeable future. So two copies of your images may sound like a pretty comprehensive solution, but what happens in the event of a fire, flood or theft.
Having a hard-drive, that is located at a friend or family member’s home is one option. But the downside is, that you’ll need to frequently update the backup, which may not be convenient. An alternative is to use a cloud backup service or an image hosting service such as Flickr. You can download the backups or shared the photos online with friends and family.
Is the image quality of glass framed slides worse than of plastic frames?
For all optical instruments holds that the optical imaging performance deteriorates the more glass the light has to go through. Each glass plate reflects and absorbs light and has a series of optical image errors. A film scanner has the big advantage over a flatbed scanner that film material is x-rayed directly, i.e. two additional glass plates between the film and the scanner are avoided. This brings significant quality improvements.
Such quality improvements are nullified if you use additional glass frames for framing the slides. The glass plates which cover the positive also absorb and reflect light to undesired effects. Furthermore, on the glass plates fine dust and dirt pile up. Additionally, between the glass plates and the film air humidity bubbles can arise which will be scanned as you see them with your eyes. Such error patterns are extremely annoying and can hardly be corrected in the image editing software, since they run right across the image. An additional quality loss arrives due to interferences: Newton rings can hardly be corrected in the image editing software.
It generally holds that you should avoid glass at scanning films as much as possible. In the ideal case use a film scanner without glass plates and scan slides in glassless frames. Each glass plate, either in the scanner itself or when using a glass film holder or at the slide mounts leads to quality deteriorations, which might be more or less strong according to the property of the used glass plates.
Were sepia toned photos always sepia toned?
Originally sepia-toned photos were also black and white photos. So if you see a sepia toned photo, it was most likely specially treated to give a black-and-white photographic print a warmer tone and to enhance its archival qualities.
What’s the difference between monochrome and black and white?
It’s a subtle difference. A black and white image has various tones from pure black to pure white, whereas an image can be called monochrome whether it’s black and white or a tonal range of one basic colour. For example, a sepia or a cyanotype (blue) image could both be called monochrome. This single colour was added to prints in the traditional darkroom using chemicals, but these days we replicate it in post-processing software.
Just remember that a monochrome image doesn’t have to be black-and-white.
My photo is blurred, can you sharpen it after digitizing?
The simple answer is no! With tools like “Unsharp Mask” of Adobe Photoshop it can help to improve the appearance of sharpness. If your image is blurred due to camera or subject movement or if it was out of focus, no amount of post-processing will make it sharp. However, by using tools like “Unsharp Mask”, you can increase the contrast at the edges of the image, which makes the image appear sharper to the eye. Essentially, it’s just a trick that increases edge definition.