Terms & Conditions

#1 Order Forms

You must fill out our online order form with your order. If you do not, it will be assumed that you have read all our directions and terms and conditions and agree to them. If you do not send an order form, it makes processing your order much harder for us and you will not have an estimate of what your return shipping will be.

#2 Please Clean Your Slides

We advise everyone to go over their slides with a very soft cloth before sending to us. The slides are hit with a small puff of air before scanning but that does not remove anything other than loose material. For the most part, the slides are somewhat greasy, and dust or lint will stick there until you remove it with a soft cloth. We advise you do the cleaning before we scan them.

The same is true for View-Master Reels. Because these get magnified even more than regular slides, dust is going to show up even more if you do not clean them—both sides.

#3 Please Clean Your Paper Photos

We have very clean conditions. We want to give you the very best scans that we can. Any dust or lint that shows up in a scan generally originated on the items you send us. We wipe down our scanning glass periodically but a few scans might get through with some kind of unwanted material scanned into your image. At our low pricing we can’t go back through thousands of photos to rescan singles because of debris you sent in on the photo.

#4 Unedited Scans

We do not send out unedited scans under any circumstances. Original scans are deleted after the job is sent out. All scans are worked by our Photoshop experts and nothing leaves our offices in a “raw” condition.

#5 Artists, Professional Photographers, Hyper-critical people

Those who are hyper-critical should realize you are not getting a $30 drum scan for our minimal 49¢ pricing. Because we may be scanning thousands of slides, there are no do-overs at this low rate. Send only what you are prepared to pay for. Try our free sample scans or send a small order first. Requests to pull and compare slides after scanning incur a per-hour charge (e.g., $30/hour or our current editing rate).

#6 Counting your slides

With more than 50 slides it’s hard to get an exact count. To avoid refunds for under-counts, do a rough count and pay only the DEPOSIT on the order form. We’ll bill you the balance. If you want an overpayment treated as a “tip,” note that on your copy of the order form.

#7 Thicker Than Normal Slides

Pricing covers 35mm or other slides in normal thickness: ≤ the thickness of a quarter coin in standard 2"x2" mounts. We do scan glass-mounted slides, special 3D viewer slides, or extra-thick mounts, but they cost extra—see the order form options or call.

#8

 

#9 Mac Computers

Since 2002 we have not had a case where a Mac could not at least read our disks to copy images. As with PCs, user familiarity matters.

#10 Organization And Orientation

1) 99.9% of the time, the side with the “Logo” is the FRONT of the slide (faces the screen). Some say “This Side Faces Screen.”
2) All numbering goes on FRONTS (logo side).
3) Rotate all rectangular slides to the same horizontal orientation; don’t rotate for subjects (we correct orientation when Photoshopping).
4) In stacks, the TOP slide (logo up) is scanned FIRST and becomes image #1; the bottom is last. Keep FRONTS facing UP.

#11 Organization And Orientation

35mm slides or photos should be organized in the order you want them to appear. Please check our movie instructions for directions on how to stack your slides properly for scanning.

1) Logo side is FRONT; projector light goes through the BACK and out the FRONT.
2) Number slides on FRONTS only.
3) Keep all rectangular slides oriented the same; we’ll correct final rotation during editing.
4) In stacks, the TOP (logo up) is #1 and scanned first; FRONTS face UP.

#12 Storage Containers That Incur “Slide Prep” Charges

These types of containers slow our process and increase handling time. When we can’t grab a handful to scan, we must re-stack and orient slides. If you send slides in these or similar containers, we charge a minimal “slide prep” fee (see order form).

If you send your slides to us in these types of containers, or similar, we have to charge you our “slide prep” fee as above. See the order form for our minimal fee for slide prep.

#13 Slide Condition & Final Images

We take the steps we deem necessary to produce pleasing results, including converting severely color-shifted images to black & white or sepia at our discretion. During scanning, shadows can block up; our editors reopen shadows to reveal detail, which can reduce contrast. We edit for overall pleasing color; some areas may be sacrificed for the whole. We do not guarantee that the images will match your memory of the originals or every screen you view them on. Please consider sending ten slides for a free sample scan if unsure. Many slides carry dust or fingerprints—we do not clean slides. Warped film (e.g., from projector heat) may be partially out of focus and cannot be “un-warped.” Also see my slides look good but my scans are out of focus.

#14 View-Master Reels

View-Master reels sometimes warp and dry out. We may need to flatten them, and dried glue can fail so films may come loose from the reel; if so, we place the films in an envelope for return. Clean both sides to reduce dust visibility.

#15 Disc Camera Negative Reels

Disc negatives are often inherently blurry. We do what we can. Pricing reflects a dedicated scanner station required for these; if the price is too high for you, we understand.

#16 VHS, VHS-C, Video8, MiniDV, other tapes

We no longer scan tapes or movies.

#17 Order Changes: Do Not Assume Anything

If you change your order after we receive it, you must document the change clearly by email or mail, before we create disks. For example, changing disk format or music options must be stated explicitly. Please don’t assume—use the order form options and confirm any phone discussion in writing.

#18 Return Shipping and Final Payment

We return everything you send and charge only our cost for shipping. We can’t quote shipping before receiving your materials since weight and containers vary. Once we receive your final payment, we ship everything.

#19 We Try to Keep Backups of All Scanning Projects

We have maintained backups of image scans since 2002 on backup hard drives. If you lose files later, we can often restore them for a fee. We strongly recommend you make and keep your own off-site backups.