At D & D Imaging we offer high resolution film & slide scanning services for 35mm, Xpan, 110, 126, 127, medium format 120/220 & 620 film sizes at reasonable prices for all your professional needs. Digitize your negatives and slides to CD or DVD.

Our basic film and slide scanning prices are charged per slide or negative frame.  For this price we will create one high resolution 24-bit (8-bit per color channel) image file and one thumbnail file.  You choose the file format for your high resolution image (.tif, .jpg, .bmp, psd, png., etcetera).   All thumbnails are in JPEG format. 48-bit (16-bit per color channel) images are also available upon request.

Pricing includes: the use of Digital ICE™ technology; color correction as necessary; cropping excess border which is actually part of your slide mount so you’re left with only  your image; and rotating images to their proper vertical / horizontal aspect.  Of course, if you’d rather do your own editing, just let us know.  Price also includes printed contact sheets with all medium format scans and 4000 dpi 35mm scans.

File Format

For file format we recommend the TIFF format which is an uncompressed file, although many people still choose JPEG because of the reduced file sizes as well as many television DVD players now play CD-R with JPEG files.

JPEG is fine if you don't plan on further editing your images and resaving. The process that the JPEG file uses to compress actually causes a loss of pixels and each time you edit and resave the image, more pixels are lost which leads to degradation of the image. This pixel loss does not occur when editing and resaving TIFF files.  We’re also able to work with a variety of other file formats so if you need something special, just ask!

CD or DVD?

We use CD-R, DVD+R or DVD-R disks to store your images. Each is considered a “data” disk and can be viewed using your computer’s CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive respectively. The disks are also MAC compatible.

Check with your disk drive manufacturer for disk compatibility. 

We only use Verbatim Data-Life Plus disks which are renowned for their reliability & long lasting life.

For images on DVD for Television viewing click here.

How Many Images Can I Fit on a CD? or DVD?

The amount of images that you can fit on disk will depend on the file format as well as the resolution of the images.  For help in determining this answer, please refer to our Resolutions & File Size Charts.

Which Resolution (DPI) is Best For Me?

The resolution and file format you select will really be dependent on your intended use of the images and the capabilities of the computer system used for working with the files.

The highest resolution of 4000dpi in TIFF format from a 35mm slide scan will result in a file size of approximately 55MB at 24-bit; 110MB at 48-bit. At this resolution the Nikon® scanner produces a near drum-quality scan. This type of scan for example would make professional quality prints up to 11x17 in size without interpolation. (Interpolation is when your software attempts to increase the dimensions of your image by "making up" or creating pixels to increase the image size.) Also, unless you’ve recently upgraded or purchased a new computer, your system may not be capable of processing such large image files easily and cause delays while waiting for these image files to open. 

In choosing a resolution for family photos, most people select 1200 to 2800 dpi (1700 most popular).  If your interest is only to present the images via digital projector or on computer screen, we would recommend going with the 1200 dpi resolution, thus keeping the file size minimal, yet still allowing for a small high quality print.

If you plan to use your digital images for PowerPoint® presentations, we offer special optimization services. Find out more about these services here.

Keep in mind that selecting the highest resolution allows you the most flexibility as you will always be able to convert your images to lesser resolutions should you need a smaller file later, however attempting to increase resolution from a smaller file may lead to disappointment in the image quality.

To assist you in determining files sizes for each resolution, you will find our Resolutions & File Size charts helpful.

A  35mm 1200 dpi trial image is provided in both JPEG & TIFF format for download.  Simply right click each file and save to your hard drive. If you’re not sure what file resolution/format would work best on your system and would like the chance to see examples in higher resolutions, we suggest ordering our trial disk, the price of which is refundable when you place a scanning order with us.

Color Profiles

Your images are saved in Adobe RGB (1998) color profile, which is the recommended profile for digital images that will be used for printing. Alternate color profiles are available upon request. Please contact us for more information.

Project Organization & File Naming

Digital image files will be stored on disk with alpha/numerical sequence file names. If specific grouping and/or file/folder names are desired, please organize your slides/negatives as such and indicate file/folder names to use.  A common method is to divide the images up by year or occasion then we would prefix each image with the year or occasion followed by a numerical designation e.g. 1961-001, 1961-002,  etc. or  SkiTrip68-001, SkiTrip68-002, etc. 

Shipping

Send your order to us using the courier of your choice.  The best choices are FedEX, UPS, or the United States Postal Service. To avoid untimely delays, do not use DHL / Airborne Express.  They do not deliver directly to us and will re-route your shipment to us via the United States Postal Service adding 3-4 days to the overall shipping time. Please make sure your slides/negatives are packed well so any organization you have done will not be disturbed in shipping. It’s also a good idea to enclose them in plastic.

If desired, we can return ship via the courier of your choice. Some clients prefer we ship FedEx under their account number.  If you have a special request, please contact us in advance to discuss your needs.

Order Processing Time

We will notify you when we receive your shipment so you know it has arrived safely.  Most smaller 35mm orders with basic scanning requirements are usually completed in 1- 2 days. Larger orders, medium format,  or those requiring other than basic scanning will take longer.  If time is of the essence, please contact us in advance to discuss your needs.

When your order is near completion we will notify you and give you a private web address where you can preview your thumbnail images. We will notify you one last time when your order has been shipped. 

Quality & Pricing

Cheapest isn’t always the best.  How true that statement can be! While our prices might be low, we want you to know that our quality is not, as our many satisfied customers will tell you.  We take pride in what we do and we do it well.  The love of our work and our low overhead couple together to bring you fantastic prices.  Bottom line…. we want you to be satisfied!

Quantity Discounts

It has always been our goal to provide the best quality services at the lowest prices so that even the every-day non-professional person could afford to archive their  family photos.  The only way we could afford to lower our prices would be to cut out some of the services that are included with our scanning.  Since we feel that this would compromise the quality of service we provide, we simply aren't willing  to do that.

Some of the services that we provide that are included with your scanning are most often charged as extra services with other scanning  providers.  These services include:

• Cropping away excess borders.  When your slides are  scanned, a small portion of the slide mount also appears in the scan.  We crop this away leaving just your image behind.
• Rotating your images to their proper vertical/horizontal aspect.
• Use of Digital ICE™ infra-red technology to eliminate dust, fingerprints, and scratches  from your color slides
• Use of Digital ROC™ for color correction on  older-faded color films.

So please forgive us for not discounting, but we're sure you'll be satisfied with the professional attention to detail and services we provide.

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