How much does it cost?
top |
|
|
Standard Print Pricing
| Standard Prints include the most popular print sizes; loose prints up to 8x10"
that are in good condition. |
|
Qty |
300dpi |
600dpi |
|
1-4999 |
$0.39 |
$0.59 |
|
5000+ |
$0.34 |
$0.54 |
Pricing includes: Scanning, basic color correction, 1st disk free. Copies are
$6 per disk.
Visit our Smart
Pricing Calculator to get a custom quote.
|
If your prints do not fall into the category of loose
prints up to 8x10" (in good condition)...don't despair! We can probably still
scan them for a reasonable handling fee.
|
Non-Standard Type |
Price per scan |
Prints in Albums*
(page/print size up to 8x10") |
|
300 DPI |
$0.89 |
|
600 DPI |
$1.09 |
|
Prints in Albums*
(page/print size up to 11x17") |
|
300 DPI |
$1.29 |
|
600 DPI |
$2.29 |
|
Non-Photo Items
(ex. Newspaper Clippings) |
|
300 DPI |
$1.29 |
|
600 DPI |
$2.29 |
|
Scanning Prints Front & Back
(up to 8x10") |
volume pricing
+ $0.20 each side |
*Volume pricing does not include taking photos out of albums, we prefer the
customer remove the prints. We do not put the prints back in the album, we
recommend the customer purchase a photo storage box to have the prints returned
in or we can place them in Ziploc bags.
|
|
|
Do you offer a volume discount?
top |
|
We have a price break for standard prints at orders
over 5000. Please see the Pricing chart for more details |
What do you consider a Standard Print?
top |
|
Standard prints are loose, up to 8x10", and in
reasonably good condition. "Loose" is defined as not being glued to a page,
under glass (we will have to remove all photos from frames to scan them), or
mounted to cardboard. "Good condition" is defined as not curled, sticky, cut
into shapes, ripped, or torn. Color issues (such as fading) are not a factor in
determining condition. We will try to fix color issues as part of our basic
service. |
What if my project contains prints that don't
fall under the Standard category?
top |
|
Don't worry, we can scan your non-standard prints for a
small handling charge. Some common Non-Standard Prints we handle are over
8x10"(up to 11x17"), photos glued to an album page or heavy cardstock, or
Non-Photo documents such as newspaper articles and cards. See our
Pricing chart for common pricing. If you don't see what you
are looking for,
contact us! We'll be happy to discuss your project with
you. |
My prints are in albums. Is that a problem?
top |
|
No Problem. We can still scan your prints but
additional charges may apply. There are an assortment of album types so please
refer to the pricing
chart and then contact us to discuss your project if you have any questions.
Please note that if you choose not to remove your photos from albums,
we'll charge a small handling fee to remove the photos but we do not put the
prints back in the album. For this reason we recommend the customer purchase a
photo storage box in which to have the prints returned or we can place them in
Ziploc bags for return shipment. |
How do I determine which resolution is
best for my project?
top
|
|
We scan standard prints at 300 or 600dpi (dots per
inch). That means that from a 4x6 print at 300dpi you'll get an image that is
1200 x 1800 pixels or 2400 x 3600 for 600dpi. From our tests, 300 dpi provided
the best balance between quality and size using standard photographs for viewing
and printing purposes. If you plan to do significant cropping on the images, or
plan to make reprints at up to double the original photo's size, you may want
to consider 600 dpi. A good resource for learning more about resolution is our
Resolving Resolution
page. |
What about shipping charges?
top |
|
Shipping costs are separate from scanning costs. Through our partnership with
FedEx you can print out a label right from our website after you submit your
order form. You can use any courier that you wish to send the images to us, but
we recommend you use and air service with tracking whenever possible. You also
choose your return shipping method, and we charge you the published rates based
on the courier, weight, and shipping method of your package. |
What if my photo(s) have a copyright
symbol?
top |
|
If your photos have a copyright symbol we can scan them it if permission is
granted by the copyright owner or if you agree to sign a waiver that you will
only be using the DVD we make as a backup of the material you legally own and
not for resale or other commercial purposes. Download our
Copyright Waiver PDF, print, sign, and include in your shipment when placing
your order. |
Do you offer Rush Service?
top |
|
Yes. The additional cost for this service is 50% of the
scanning price ($50 minimum). Please contact us
about rush orders as we will have to approve rush orders on a case by case
basis. |
Will my photos be sent anywhere else?
top |
|
All of the processing work is done at our location in
Arizona. Your photos only leave our facilities when they are on their way back
to you. |
Can I see some samples of your work?
top |
|
Of course! We have a few customers who were kind enough
to allow us to use their photos on our site as examples of our work. Use the
link below to have a look. If you have any questions or concerns,
contact us!
Samples of our print scans |
Can I try you out before I send all my
photos?
top |
|
Sure! We have no minimum so you will just pay for what
you send. We are confident you will be satisfied with the quality of our
service. |
Should I choose to get my scanned images on
CD or DVD?
top |
|
The most important difference between a DVD and a CD is
the amount of data it can hold. While a CD can hold 650MB of data, a DVD can
hold 4.7GB of data or nearly 7 times as much. We can store about 7 times more of
your digital photos on 1 DVD data disk as we can on 1 CD. That means you'll have
fewer disks to manage and you'll save money on discs. Please note: A DVD Data
Disk is not a movie. DVD is a storage medium just like the CD. It can hold any
kind of data, including digitized movies but it is not exclusive to movies.
If you would like to watch your photos on your television as a slideshow, we
recommend that you order one of our
DVD Slideshow Movies. |
Should I choose to get my images back in
TIFF, JPEG, or BOTH file formats?
top |
|
TIFF is the original file format your photos are
scanned into. TIFF files are recommended if you will be doing enhancement or
editing your files. The downside of TIFF files are their large size, and that
they are less a common file format than JPEGs. JPEGs are compressed, so they are
about a fourth the size of the TIFF files. JPEGs are the most commonly used file
format for images, so most any application that deals with images will be able
to deal with JPEGs. You can read more about file formats on our
Resolving Resolution
page. |
Can I watch the DVDs you create in my DVD
player?
top |
|
When we refer to storing your images on a DVD, we're
talking about storing the JPEG or TIFF files on the disc for use on your
computer. As an add on service we can also make a
DVD Slideshow Movie using your images to make a slideshow with music that is
formatted to play on most DVD players. |
How Many Photos Fit on a Disk?
top
|
|
A CD can hold 650MB and a DVD can hold 4700 MB (4.7
GB). Here are the numbers for prints (these numbers are estimates, actual
results may vary):
|
Will I be able to edit my photos after they
are transferred?
top
|
|
Sure! These are your photos to do with what you like.
The disks we send you will be read-only (meaning you won't be able to make
changes to that disk), but once you copy them to your computer, they are no
restrictions. We even have a
CD to Hard Drive Utility
available to help you copy your images from your disk to your hard drive (PC
only). It will also give you the option of converting TIFF files to JPEG and
will take off the read-only attribute from your files after they're copied. |
Can I order extra copies? How much do
they cost?
top |
|
We keep all the files we need to make additional copies
for 14 days after your order is completed. Simply call us and we'll send more
copies your way or even deliver them to a friend or relative as a gift. The cost
is $6 per disc. |
Can I make copies of the CDs and DVDs
myself?
top |
|
Yes. These disks are yours to do with what you like.
You must have the proper burning software and CD/DVD Burner Drive installed on
your computer. |
I've seen some photo feeding scanners
at the store. How well do they work?
top |
|
There have been some attempts by scanner manufacturers
to mass market photo scanners that can feed a batch of standard prints. We test
these products whenever they come out. We've found them to have the following
problems:
- They drag your photos across the glass as they feed them. This causes pieces of
dust to scratch both the prints and the glass.
- They still scan through glass so dust and scratches are still a problem
- The scratches on the glass begin to show up on every scan. The first few batches
won't have the scratches but once the glass is scratched, every subsequent photo
will show the scratches
- They jam or double feed often and the problem worsens over time.
- The images still need to be cropped, rotated and color enhanced so just scanning
them isn't enough. They require a lot of work afterwards, too. They usually
include software that will do the color enhancement automatically, but we've
found it to produce an image with poor contrast and washed out colors. It looks
like a print that was scanned and not a crisp clean digital image.
Those scanners may save you a little time but at the expense a quality image.
|
What about high speed color document
scanners?
top |
|
We've tried a variety of these, too. Some costing
thousands of dollars. They are fast! And they offer some incredible automation
capabilities but they still suffer from some serious flaws with respect to
scanning photos. They still scan through a piece of glass so dust and scratches
are a constant problem. They are also designed for scanning documents, not
photos. We worked with Kodak to try and modify one of their high speed scanners
for our purposes but ultimately we could never get their high-end, high-speed
color scanners to consistently produce an image we considered acceptable. |
What photo scanning equipment do you use
for prints?
top |
|
Scanning prints is more difficult than it sounds. The
design of all flatbed scanners makes producing high quality images quickly very
challenging. They are not only slow, but because you place each photo on a piece
of glass and move it around to get it into position the glass gets dirty and
even scratched. If you don't clean the glass between each scan, the dirt and
dust left behind by the previous photos will appear on all subsequent photos and
scratches never go away so they also appear on all photos even if you clean the
glass. Clearly you can't do any kind of high quality, large volume work on a
flatbed unless you're willing to invest a tremendous amount of time and man
power. When selecting the equipment necessary to scan prints, we needed speed to
keep the costs down but we also needed to produce a clean, crisp, high quality
image. We ultimately decided that we needed a special piece of equipment
designed specifically for the task of scanning prints. Our solution wouldn't be
found at OfficeMax or CompUSA. Our proprietary solution involves custom hardware
and software that is unique to DigMyPics! and it solves all of the problems of a
flatbed scanner while producing a quality image unmatched by any other scanning
solution we've seen. Some oversized and delicate photos can not be scanned by
these devices and will need to be scanned on a high quality flatbed scanner (we
frequently use Epson brand, but we do a lot of market testing on scanners, so if
we find a newer model of another brand works better, we'll upgrade until the
next better one comes out). |
Do you crop and rotate the images?
top |
|
We will manually rotate images to the correct
orientation for no additional charge. We also will crop your images to remove
any border left by the scanning equipment |
Some of my photos are faded or discolored,
can you make them look better?
top |
|
We do basic color correction to each image in out Post
Production Department. Using Adobe Photoshop, we can do a lot to improve color
problems and fading. We cannot correct any problems with the photography itself
such as out of focus subjects and motion blur. If your images need more serious
enhancement or damage (such as creases and rips) we have also restoration
services available. We recommend that you have the photos scanned through the
normal process, view the scanned and color enhanced images online, and contact
the restoration department with
the specific file names you are interested in. Our restoration department will
then send you a quote for each image. Restoration cost vary between $5 to $45. |
How long will it take?
top |
|
Our current turn status is listed on the left hand side
of every page on our website. |
Will you return my originals?
top |
|
All your original materials sent with your order will
be sent back along with your digitized materials. |
How should I organize my photos?
top |
|
We recommend that you group your images chronologically
and by short subject. We ask that you keep your groupings to 40 or more
pictures. We charge a handling fee of $1 per group if your groups are
consistently under 40 images. |
Are my photos safe? Will they be kept
confidential?
top |
|
We ensure our customers that we provide safe and
confidential
photo scanning. We take multiple precautions to ensure that each and every one
of our customers priceless materials sent to us is kept safe throughout our
transfer process. |
Sounds great! How do I proceed?
top |
|
Simply fill out our online order form. When you click
the Submit Info button you will be given the option to schedule a FedEx pickup,
drop off or you can print a generic label and ship via the courier of your
choice.
Here is the order page. |