There's two ways to scan your slides, negatives, and photos. There's bulk scanning, focused on speed. Then there's the professional way, focused on quality. Here's how to spot them...

1. Bulk, Budget Scanning Companies

Bulk or budget scanning companies make their profit by scanning as many of your slides and photos they can. Time is money. And the more they scan per hour, the bigger their bottom line.

There's nothing wrong with efficiency. But there's a big difference from efficiency and cutting corners. Here's a few ways bulk scanning companies speed up their scanning times.

One way to improve speed is reduce loading time. You might not think about it, but loading a scanner is time consuming. You have to set the DPI, choose a file name, position the slide or negative the right way, etc. So, to speed this up, the best way is to just load your slide or negative whatever which way. Some bulk scanning companies don't offer custom file naming, or charge you more for it -- now you know why.

But the fastest way to cut speed times is to use scan enhancement software. Most scanner's come with "Digital Ice" or "Photo Fix", etc. These features promise faster scanning speeds, and high quality. Press a few buttons, and let the scanner edit the digital images. But if you've ever tried scanning you know the frustration when you get a batch of horrible scans. You can't rely on your scanner to edit your digital images. But bulk scanning companies use Digital Ice, because it's a short-cut.

2. Professional Scanning Companies

Think of it this way, would you hire your buddy to be your wedding photographer? Sure, your buddy is cheaper. You'll get a few quick snap shots of the day. Good enough. But with a professional, you know you'll get images that capture moments your buddy could never capture.

That's the difference between a bulk scanning company and a professional scanning company.

Qualified scanning companies know better than to use scan enhancement software. They know that a scanner is meant to scan, not edit digital photos. So, instead of using "Digital Ice", a professional will edit your scan in a program designed for editing digital photos.

They will take time with your scans. Their focus is not speed, but rather quality. And why should you care about quality scans?

Well, these are your only copy of slides, negatives, or photos. And the whole point of converting them into digital is to preserve them.

I'm not saying avoid bulk scanning companies. Just know that what you save in price you will pay in quality.

3. How Pricing Is Actually Done

Before the days of scanning companies, you had to use a photography shop for all your scanning. Back then and now, expect to pay up to $100.00 per scan.

Check out Vistek scanning prices. Vistek is a great shop. And if you're a commercial artists, company, or museum, I recommend you use a photography shop to handle your scans.

But thanks to innovative entrepreneurs, who offer their services from a home-studio, the prices have gone down from $100 per scan, to $1.00. The same technology. The same scanning services. But affordable prices for somebody who has family scans.

But not all scanning services are the same. Besides the photography shops, you have bulk scanning companies, and professional scanning companies.

The bulk scanners get paid by how many they can do in an hour. There operations are set up like an assembly line. They have a line of computers and scanners. They go up and down the line feeding and unloading scanners. This is to get as many scans in per hour as possible.

The professional scanners companies do it differently. They focus on quality not scans-per-hour.

To give you an idea, using my Nikon film scanner, I can scan about 30 slides in an hour. Then I open the digital image in Photo Shop. And this may take another hour. So, 30 scans can take me 2 hours.

Now, say I wanted to boost my bottom line by finding a way to scan faster. First, I'd use a flat-bed scanner -- as they are faster then film scanners. Then I'd use built-in scan enhancement features such as Digital Ice to do a quck edit. This way I can zip through your slides, and scan about 100 in an hour.

Would I check your digital image in Photo Shop to make sure it's worth keeping? Nope. That slows down my scanning time. Onto the next slide!

Again, what you save in price you will pay in quality.

4. Find A Professional Scanning Company By Asking These Three Questions

Question One: How Do You Load My Slides, Negatives, And Photos

Remember how I said that loading time slows you down? Well, ask them what their procedure is when loading your scans.

A professional scanning company will do the following:
a) Clean your slide, negative or photo. This is so that no dust and debris gets into the scanners.
b) Position your originals correctly. If they scan the wrong side, you'll end up with a mirrored image.
c) Offer custom file and folder naming.

You can spot a bulk scanning company if they ignore these simple steps. When you only concern is speed, then saving you scan to make sure it has your family name on it, is NOT a priority. Professional scanning companies will take the time to properly load your scans -- no matter how long it takes.

Question Two: How To You Ensure Quality

First off, don't confuse quality with resolution or DPI. DPI is just a bunch of pixels. Quality is what you do with the pixels.

So if the scanning company starts explaining how they use 4000 DPI, etc, then you know that's a red-flag.

Or the scanning company may talk about "Digital Ice". I have nothing against Digital Ice -- it's a great technology. But the problem is, Digital Ice is used as a way to speed through scans. You can't press a few buttons and expect consistent results. Every slide, negative, and photo is different. You can't use the same settings for every single scan.

Professional scanning companies now better then to rely on a scanner to edit digital images. They will use software designed specifically to edit images. For instance, GIMP or Photo Shop are great tools to fix scans.

Question Three: What Is Your Scan Guarantee

It's very easy to buy a scanner, put up a website, and offer scanning services. But it's very difficult to offer quality scans.

A professional scanning company has nothing to hide. And they will have no issues offering you a simple, no hassle, 100% scan guarantee.

In fact, all scanning companies should offer a 100% scan guarantee.

About The Author

Hey, my name is Konrad. I'm a digital designer, and I've been editing and scanning since 2001.

If you're unsure about sending your family's 1000s of slides, negatives, and photos to some scanning company, then here's what you can do.

Send a small batch, for a free test-run. Make sure you're 100% comfortable with ScanCanada.ca to handle your family's slide, negatives, and photos.

You're under no obligation. And this is a free service from ScanCanada.ca.

To start your complimentary test-run, fill out the form below.

Best regards,

- Konrad Michniewicz