Why Digitize?

To future-proof your photographic material

All celluloid and photo paper deteriorates over time, suffering fading colours and eventual disintegration. Properly scanned however, the images will last forever!

Furthermore, digital restoration can undo some of the damage photos have already suffered, and in many cases make the final images look better than the originals ever looked.

The key is proper archival scanning, to capture 100% of the details. A “photo of a photo” (especially with a cell phone) will invariably distort, blur, clip the dynamic range, and introduce noise. Only proper archival scanning can preserve the image for posterity.

Proper archival scanning means that the original photo could be recreated from the digital file with no detectable degradation when compared with the original material.

“Can you show what you mean…?”

This family photo was taken in 1894 – the original is a sepia toned contact print (no optical enlargement). Close examination of the print shows the high level of detail that the 19th century large format glass slide cameras were able to record. To digitally capture all this detail requires a photographic quality flatbed scanner, with native (optical) resolution of at least 4000 dpi.

Consumer scanners may claim to output 4000 dpi resolution, but they achieve this by “cheating” – by creating extra pixels between the actual measured pixels – using guesswork. The image above was obtained using our photographic flatbed with 4800 dpi native resolution, and then digitally converting the sepia to monochrome (black and white).

Below is a demonstration of the advantages of correct scanning, compared with “taking a photo of a photo”…

Photo of a Photo

This is the best result that could be obtained by using a good quality digital camera to take a photo of the original sepia print. There are various problems – digital noise is evident (introduced by the camera’s sensor) and the contrast does not do justice to the original contact print. The resolution is not high enough to see the film grain. Shadow areas are dominated by noise.

A Flatbed Scan

The flatbed scanner ensures no optical distortion, and due to its superior contrast sensitivity and controlled lighting, it is able to capture the subtle shading of the girl’s face, her hair texture and the folds of her dress. The resolution is high enough to sample the film grain, and is thus able to show the girl’s eye details and intricate lace collar. Shadow areas are free from noise.

Additional Examples

We scanned several thousand 35mm slides dating from 1990, as part of a project to create a historic travel blog. Many of these slides were somewhat faded. All were dusty, and most were scratched due to having been initially handled and stored in an unmounted state. Some even had fungus growing on them!

Our Nikon 5000ED and NikonScan software was able to correct the fading, clean the dust, and remove the scratches. We used Photoshop where necessary to compensate for lost saturation and to repair any major damage.

The link to the finished blog is here: Round the World Blog

Below are a few typical photos from this project. Click to enlarge.