Convert Slides to Digital – Go from Closet to Screen!

Slides in a box are just not that useful. I know, you see the boxes from time to time and fondly remember all the vacations, tourist traps, birthdays, and anniversaries that you love so much. But what about actually SEEING them again? On your computer? On the TV? Smartphone? Facebook? Wouldn’t you like to actually see the old memories again, not just the label on the box?

OK, c’mon – when is the last time you got out your slide projector? Do you even have a projector? Whether you do or not, soon there will no longer be any working ones, and parts – well, impossible. Then you will have to pay next year’s prices!

Wouldn’t it be great if every image was a digital .jpg file that you could look at any time you wanted to? On any device that you wanted? Share with friends and family all over the world?  Preserve permanently? You can do al of this and more, when you scan slides to digital.

Slides Deteriorate Over Time

That’s right. Just sitting in a box, even in good environmental conditions, the color will fade, layer by layer, and the cellulose will become brittle while mold spores search for something to eat. The glue in paper slides becomes, well, unglued, and the film is therefore unframed.

Eventually, there is not enough ink to see the original image, the film falls out and is lost altogether, or there is too much mold to see the picture. Flaking, fading, and yellowing are just a few of the problems with slide deterioration.

Amazing Restoration!

The good news is that today’s flatbed scanners and editing software are engineered for amazing recovery of faded, scratched, and discolored slides and negatives. Color correction can produce miracles – or almost. As long as some of each color is still present, I have seen absolutely amazing restoration happen. Yellowed and overly red slides can be especially spectacular.

Beyond that, one of the favorite options that customers choose is to have me individually inspect each scanned slide, edit out individual dust and scratches, and even eliminate small mold spots.

Many Options to Digitize Slides (and Photos or Negatives)

Customers have many options to choose from to convert their slides to digital.

Customers have many options to choose from to convert their slides to digital.

  1. Resolution: Anywhere from 1800 dpi for normal family viewing to 6400 dpi for enlarging images as large as a poster.
  2. Editing:
    => Dust and scratches eliminated – anywhere from minor to full restoration
    => Color correction – see above
    => Light correction – light can be added or reduced and dramatically improve scanned slides
  3. Slideshow: in addition to scanning each slide into individual .jpg files, they can also be arranged and formed into video slideshows – either an mp4 or DVD that plays the sequence
  4. Organization: like the rest of us, many of you have slides in boxes (and boxes) without rhyme or reason to their order. I can help to make the most of your slide collection into a manageable structure.  Three great, simple strategies are:
    => Keep them in the carousels they are already in. Each one will get its own folder.
    => Sort them into baggies – each one will get its own folder, too.
    => Slide pages – three hole punched pages that hold 20 slides each are another good option.

All of Your Devices plus All of Your Family and Friends

Just think – all of your old slides digitized, stored on the cloud, shared to all of your devices and with all of the family and friends that are in them. That’s right, not only can you have them ready to view at any time, but both the slides and slideshows can be shown on the USB port of your smart TV, your family across the world on their smartphones, or simply on your laptop. Think about sharing your anniversary pictures with your kids all over the country/world.

Mix and Match: Slides, Negatives and Video to Digital

Photos and negatives are often found in the same hiding places that you find your slides! Fortunately, you can scan them as well: Scan Photos and Scan Negatives. Even better, slideshows can combine digitized slides, digitized photos, and digitized negatives as well ad digitized videotape into one comprehensive video for memorials, birthdays, and anniversaries.

Sometimes it is… Just Black and White

Spectacular! When a professional photographer shoots a wedding, for example, in black and white, the event can be captured in an absolutely spectacular fashion. Unfortunately, the black and white slides fade and deteriorate just like the colored ones. Same for negatives. Fortunately, these can be scanned and the sharp, crisp, black and white can be restored as well.

Next Steps to Convert Slides to Digital

  1. Call or text Jamey (About Jamey) at 720 204-5464
  2. Set an appointment (every project receives my individual attention)
  3. Drop off your tapes (and records, cassettes, slides, or negatives, too)
  4. In a week or less, pick up your new digitized VHS (and other).

James Nordby

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