A shoebox of 35 mm negatives holds hundreds of pictures that nobody has seen in thirty years. Film changes colour and gathers dust with age, and the labs that once made prints from it are disappearing. Scanning gets those frames out of the box and into a form you can use.
What I scan
- 35 mm colour negatives and black and white negatives
- Uncut film strips and cut strips in sleeves
- Mixed boxes from several decades
Odd formats are covered on the non-standard negative page. Mounted transparencies belong on the slide scanning page.
How it works
- Tell me how many rolls or strips you have and what condition they are in.
- I quote the job and agree a resolution with you.
- Bring the film to Smoky Lake, arrange a pick-up, or post it with Canada Post. Pack it flat and dry. The guide to sending photos and film shows how.
- I scan every frame, correct the obvious dust and colour cast and deliver the files by secure download. The film goes back to you.
Why the original matters
A negative holds more detail than a print made from it. Scanning the film directly, rather than a print, gives you the best file the original can produce. Colour film also shifts over time, and a scan lets me bring the colour back toward what the camera saw.
Next step
Damaged frames can be repaired after scanning. See photo restoration.
