What we scan

Below are the common types of film and slide we scan.


If your film type is not shown above please contact us and let us know what it looks like. We can scan almost any type of film!


We have no dark room facilities, so we only scan developed films. An additional charge will be made on any films we receive that require us to send them for developing.


We don't scan any form of cine or video film to digital. For cine / VHS transfer we recommend contacting Jeff @ https://videoencoding.biz/


Standard 35mm slide

digitize photographs

Viewable area : 35mm x 24mm - 1 3/8" x 15/16"
Frame size :50mm x 50mm or 2" square

Common manufacturers are : Kodak, Agfa, Ilford, Fuji, Boots and other unbranded makes.

Details / Pricing

Super 35mm slide

35mm slide scanning

Viewable area : 35mm x 28mm - 1 3/8" x 1 1/8"
Frame size :50mm x 50mm or 2" square

When transferred to digital approximately 1.5mm will be cropped from the top and bottom of the frame.

Details / Pricing

35mm Half frame slide

negative film scanning

Viewable area : 24mm x 18mm - 15/16" x 1/2"
Frame size : 50mm x 50mm or 2" square

Details / Pricing

126 slide

negative film scanning

Viewable area : 26mm x 26mm - 1 1/16" x 1 1/16"
Frame size :50mm x 50mm or 2" square

When transferred to digital about 1.5mm may be cropped from the top and bottom of the frame.

Details / Pricing

110 slide

negative film scanning

Viewable area : 17mm x 13mm
Frame size :50mm x 50mm or 2" square

The aperture is around a quarter of the size of a standard 35mm frame, therefore resulting in a smaller digital image.

Details / Pricing

110 sub miniature slide

negative film scanning

Viewable area : 17mm x 13mm
Frame size : 25mm x 25mm or 1" square

Same as the 110 slide above, but the frame is half the size.

Details / Pricing

127 "Super Slide"

negative film scanning

Viewable area : 40mm x 40mm
Frame size :50mm x 50mm or 2" square

The same frame size as the 35mm slides above, but the aperture is larger and square.

Details / Pricing

Medium Format slide

negative film scanning

Viewable area : 60mm x 60mm - 2 1/8" x 2 1/8"
Frame size : 70mm x 70 mm - 2.75" x 2.75"

Details / Pricing

35mm (135) film

digitize photographs

This is a standard 35mm filmstrip that contains up to 6 36mm x 24mm frames. The frame number is printed on the top and/or bottom of the frame. 135 format is exactly 35mm wide, which is where the term 35mm was originated.

Details / Pricing

110 / 16mm "instamatic"

35mm slide scanning

Each filmstrip contains up to 6 frames at 13mm x 17mm each. They are around a quarter of the size of a standard 35mm frame. The film quality is also notoriously poor resulting in grainy images.

Details / Pricing

126 "Instamatic"

negative film scanning

126 film is also sometimes mounted in a 2" x 2" frame with a viewable area of 26mm x 26mm.

Details / Pricing

Medium Format 120 / 220

negative film scanning

Medium format films vary in size from 6cm x 4.5cm up to 6cm x 24cm and can be found as negatives or reversal transparencies.

Single frames or strips of up to three frames can be scanned, though longer frame lengths or rolls will have to be cut prior to scanning.

120 / 220 film is generally sized at 6 x 4.5cm, 6 x 6cm, 6 x 7cm, 6 x 8cm, 6 x 9cm, 6 x 12cm, 6 x 17cm and 6 x 24cm.

Details / Pricing

"Large format" sheet film

negative film scanning

The majority of large format sheet film is 4 x 5 inch (10 x 13 cm), we can scan other less common sizes such as 5 x 7, 4 x 10 and 8 x 10. Please contact us for prices if your large format film is anything other than 4 x 5

Details / Pricing

What do we scan ?


Photographs / Prints

We scan all sizes of photographs, colour or black and white, provided they are at least 2" in size. Albums and mounted photographs are scanned using our large flatbed scanning service. All scans are made at 600dpi, meaning you get a larger, clearer image that will look great on your mobile device, PC screen, or TV. They can also be reprinted at least twice the size of the original.


Slides

All sizes of mounted slides are scanned, from regular 35mm projector slides to 60mm medium-format slides. Half-frame slides, 126 slides, 110 slides, and 127 "Super slides" are also scanned. All 40mm frames are scanned at 4000 dpi, giving a large image suitable for all uses. Due to their larger original size, 60mm frames are scanned at 3200 dpi, which helps to maintain a reasonable final file size.


Film negatives / Transparencies

negatives up to 8 x 10-inch Large Format film. Colour, monochromatic (black and white) and transparency film are commonplace. The most common is the easily recognisable twin sprocket 35mm film, but we can also scan 110 / 126 instamatic, varying medium format film sizes from 6 x 4.5cm up to 6 x 12cm and 4 x 5 inch; Large format film, though we don't process any form of cine or VHS film.




Why convert your images to digital?


Having your film negatives, slides or photos scanned and converted to digital images preserves them before they deteriorate and fade away. This allows you to view and share them using today's digital equipment, such as computers, TVs, Digital photo frames and mobile devices.
You can upload them to social networking sites like Facebook, X (Twitter), Snapchat, WhatsApp, or Instagram or share them with anyone you wish using our Online access system. The images can also be used for presentational use with high-resolution projection systems and are suitable for publishing, either as a personal photograph album or for commercial use.

Having your images scanned to digital allows you to distribute copies of the images to friends and family. It can make an excellent birthday, anniversary or Christmas gift for a family member or friend.


The scanning process

All films are cleaned before scanning. We use an Infrared system for colour films to detect and remove most of the remaining dust and scratch defects, resulting in a clearer image. The infrared system is not available for black-and-white film scans. All items are scanned using high-quality scanners at 4000 dpi for 35 mm-based film/slides, 3200 dpi for medium format films, and 600 dpi for photographs. We use scanners designed solely for scanning the type of film or photograph, not a general-purpose flatbed scanner. We then automatically adjust the colours, brightness and contrast levels in Adobe Photoshop®.


What you get back

The images are scanned and processed as 16-bit TIFF files, then converted to standard JPG files for return. You are free to use the images for any purpose. Professional users can also select to have the images returned in the original TIFF format.

All images are available to view or download online for 30 days and can also be returned on either a disc, USB memory stick or SD card.

After we return your images to you we keep a copy of them on our secure servers for up to 2 years. So should you lose your images, we can replace it for you without having to rescan your images.


Who uses our services?

We work with a wide variety of customers, including private individuals, businesses, professional and amateur photographers, publishing houses, local government, the NHS, commercial printers, museums and archives, charities, and organisations.

Some recent customers include British Museum, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, Haynes Manuals, Harewood House Trust, Cumbrian Railway Association, Watts & Co Ltd, University of Edinburgh, University of Central Lancashire, University of Oxford, Seymour Powell Ltd, Henry Poole & Co

No job is too big or too small for us. We regularly handle small orders of a handful of images to complete archives of many thousands of images from high-profile publishing houses, museum archives, universities, various private organisations, charities, and individuals.



Common Questions


How long does it take?

We normally try to complete each order within 10 working days, but this may be longer at peak times or if we have received a number of large orders. You can check our current estimated times here. If you are in a hurry you can select our Next day service.


Do you return the originals?

Yes, all original images are returned unless you specifically request us not to return them.


Do I need to register and place on order online?

No, you can simply send everything to us without registering.


Some of the images are faded, can you fix them?

Yes, all scans include Photoshop colour restoration, though extremely faded or colour cast images may require extra processing should you wish to restore them fully.


Do you lock the images or can I do what I want with them?

They are standard digital JPG or Tiff files which you can view and edit as you would any digital image. We place no restriction on editing, copying or sharing of the images, they are yours to use however you wish.