Over time, it’s common for slides, negatives, prints, and videos to shift in color, fade, and get damaged. Professional scanning preserves these precious memories so you can share them for years to come.
Photo preservation is the process of properly storing old photos in a place where they can be protected from elements that could end up damaging them. The best way to preserve old photos is to scan and digitize them to ensure that your memories last more than a lifetime.
Shoeboxes of old photos may hold precious family memories, but they're difficult to preserve, share, organize, and back up because they can get damaged over time. Scanning old photos makes them shareable, searchable, and resistant to the vagaries of time and disasters.Our scanning experts can preserve almost any type of damaged or old photo including:
Faded Photos : The chromogenic dyes used in color images are inherently unstable. In fact, color images begin to degrade as soon as the photo is printed! Nearly any kind of visible light that prints are exposed to accelerates this process, although it doesn’t cause it. The two typical effects that occur are a loss of detail in general, particularly in the highlights, and color fading.
Color Shifting & Color Rebalance: The process mentioned above relies on chemical reactions to produce a set of organic dyes—usually a combination of blue, red, and yellow to create the spectrum of colors in images. So this means that images stored in the dark in typical household humidity and temperature levels will eventually deteriorate. The two primary effects are color shifting and a yellowish haze.
Scratches on Photos : Although most films were made with a special gelatin coating on the top layer intended specifically to prevent abrasion, slides and negatives are extremely delicate and scratch easily.
Disaster & Decay : In addition to the natural and inevitable effects of time discussed above, old photos are vulnerable to misplacement, can be lost in moves, ruined by kids and pets, suffer water damage, or be destroyed by fires/natural disasters. Even professional photographers can experience tragedies involving historic archives. Such was the case when 40,000 negatives taken by President John F. Kennedy’s personal photographer were destroyed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001.
Video Decay: Videos are also subject to deterioration due to the fundamentally impermanent materials used to manufacture them. Magnetic particles can lose their charge, tapes can become a sticky unplayable mess, the backing and substrate can become stretched, and several other problems can occur.
There are many reasons ScanCafe is rated the best scanning service in comparative reviews. From our low prices and best image quality to fast downloading options and guaranteed safety, we’re dedicated to transforming hidden shoebox memories into digital images you can share and enjoy for years to come.
Although anyone can scan images, our dedicated technicians have been breathing life into precious memories since 2006! Our streamlined process is thoughtfully designed to be as stress-free as possible. Here’s why ScanCafe is rated the top scanning service in the world.
Quality :From accurate photo color correction to red-eye and scratch removal, ScanCafe performs high quality scanning and photo preservation, which explains the glowing testimonials we receive from customers. Our scanning and repair process requires two levels of quality control—the first for technical quality of scanning/repairing and the second to ensure we have followed the customer’s special instructions. Here are key features that set us apart from competitors:
Truer colors :Automated scanning does not yield natural colors or overall color balance. We color correct every scene individually, which results in more realistic colors (e.g. skin tones, clothing, and the sky).
Resolution :We scan photos at a high enough resolutionto enable printing them at least twice the size of original prints. Our 3000 dpi enlargement resolution option yields crisp, vibrant digital photos you can display on a large-screen TV, print on a life-size canvas, or display in frames.
ValueScanning more than 150 million images (as we have at ScanCafe) is the best way to learn nearly everything there is to know about scanning, enhancement, and restoration. Our vast experience ensures that services are performed correctly, efficiently, and affordably.
If you’re uncertain what images are worthy of scanning, no need to fret. You can send us all of your pictures, then conveniently review the scans online and delete up to 20%, without paying for images you don’t want. We return all originals to you and you’ll only pay for 80–100% of scanned images you wish to keep.
Expert eyes see things machines miss! At ScanCafe, our experienced editors go the extra mile with every image they scan. They make manual choices about color, tint, shading, and retouching because our number one goal is to bring the sparkle back to your original photos.
Factors such as the quantity of photos, the type of scanning and restoration needed, and any additional services requested will affect the final cost. We offer a customized pricing model to ensure that you only pay for the services you need. To get an accurate quote for your photo preservation project, we recommend contacting our customer service team or visiting our website for more information.
To ensure the safety and protection of your photos during transit, we recommend following our packaging and shipping guidelines. Here are some key tips:
