How Digitizing Videos Works

Our approach to video transfers have always been to make it high-quality, safe, and easy, and we've brought that philosophy to transferring video tapes to your computer or USB thumb drive. For more about how easy it is to convert videos, read on.

Placing Your Order

• Place your order using our online order form
• You'll be asked to estimate your order quantity. A rough guess is fine!
• Printer required. Our system is integrated with UPS, so we'll automatically generate a pre-paid UPS shipping label that you'll need to print out from your home or office.
• Partial payment. When you place your order, you will make a partial payment roughly equal to 75% of your order.
• USA Standard option: Your order will be scanned in our Indianapolis lab with a 3-4 week turnaround time.
• USA Express option: You can choose to get your photos scanned in our Indianapolis labs for a faster turnaround.

Ship Your Videos to ScanCafe

• Use a sturdy box. See our packing tips to ensure your videos don’t get damaged
• Fill your box. You should be sure to use any cases that you have for your video tapes. If none are available, use a plastic bag. Try to fill your box with extra newspaper or other padding so that your tapes aren't jostled in transit.
• Label your video tapes and we'll make sure that information is reflected in the finished video files we provide to you.
• Drop off your box at a UPS location. Your order is tracked from the minute you hand it to UPS.
• We'll send you an email when we receive your originals photos.
• We will handle the rest of the shipping for your order, which will include transporting it via air freight (the most secure form of shipping in the world), to and from our scanning facility in Indianapolis, IN. Read more packing safety tips here.
• ^* Turnaround time depends on the type of media sent in the order. Updated estimate turnaround time is provided when we receive your order.

We scan your video

• Your video will be inspected by ScanCafe but will not repair video tapes that are damaged to the point of unplayability in our reference equipment.
• We will then digitize your video tapes and make them available for download or load them on USB thumb drives.
• Each tape is charged at $28.00. If any tape has only a few minutes, the charge is still $28.00.

Get Your Download

• After you complete the payment, we make the scanned video files available for download.
• You may download the scanned video files to your computer.

We ship your order to you

• After your order is digitzed, you will not need to review it (as you do with photos here at ScanCafe). It will be completely processed.
• After your order is processed, we provide a digital download that can be shared with your friends and families. We also have a USB option which should be playable on computers. You can select these options at checkout.
• The return shipment is sent via UPS and is also trackable during the entire trip to your door. You have the option to request signature delivery at time of final checkout.

Enjoy and Share Your Photos!

• Your Video files will not be copy-protected, so you are free to make copies for friends. You may find it more convenient to order duplicate USBs when you place your order, and let us take care of that work for you.
• Read our FAQ for more questions.