Photo CD to Digital Conversion - Digital Media Transfer Service

Base Pricing*

Per Item (Disk/disc or Chip)

  • Floppy Picture Disk $12 ea.
  • Camera Cards (SD, CF, Memory Stick) Starting at $10 for 2GB or less
  • Optical Photo Discs CD/DVD $15 ea.
  • "Bare" or portable hard disks USB, PATA, SATA, (Ask)

Before quantity discount. Flash drive additional (or provide your own). Shipping not included. Minimum order $85.
(Not a data recovery service.)

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Legacy CD, Camera Card, and Disc Transfers

It seems like only yesterday,  filmless still picture capture became a reality. The miracles of photochemicals are now long forgotten as everything is on some kind of memory device. And just like that, many of those early devices have become obsolete. We can help retrieve your content from devices you can't use anymore.

  • The first digital cameras wrote stills and video to 3.5" floppy disk (remember those?) We can read your old camera floppies and transfer them to modern drives, while converting obsolete image formats if necessary.
  • Solid state camera cards came next, and include Secure Digital, aka SD and MicroSD (still in use), Compact Flash (CF), and Sony Memory Stick. If you've lost your card reader, we can extract the data to USB drive, and do any file conversions you may need.
  • If you previously had transfers written to optical discs (full size or mini CD or DVD), or you used an optical disc in a camera, those recordings are AT RISK. Writable optical media has a 10-15 year shelf life, meaning they need to be recopied periodically. We can transfer that content to flash drives and convert files to current formats.
  • And you may have pictures or video stuck on an old hard disk from a computer that conked out. It's very likely we can retrieve those too.

Options
(Extra cost)

Photo Enhancements:

  • Obsolete format conversions
  • Color Correction
  • Photo editing (crop/object removal)
  • Batch downscaling for email/web

Deliverables:

  • Image files on flash drive
  • Image files on CD/DVD (read only)
  • Video Photo Album 

Photo Data Transfer Process

There are three stages in this data transfer process. First, we load your disk, disc or chip into a compatible player then copy the data to a hard disk. Second, if necessary, we transcode the files to make them playable on modern equipment. Finally we copy these files to the release flash drive, putting them in folders that relate to source devices.

What You Get

We'll copy your data to a fresh USB flash drive or portable hard drive, in folders related to the items you provided. If we transcoded items, you'll also have the source files, which could be beneficial for future editing or transcoding to newer file formats. We include instructions to backup this data to protect your investment.

How it works.

2. Drop Off
3. Pick Up

Turnaround Time:1

Typically within 1-2 weeks. Larger orders may take longer. Rush service available (extra cost).

We're located in NW Columbus, Ohio, very near the OSU airport.
(We accept major carrier shipments if you're not in the Columbus area. You provide the box!)

$85 minimum per order.*

Digital Photo Conversion Q&A

  • What do I need to provide for an accurate quote?
    • The TYPE of materials you want to transfer (Video, movie, stills, etc.) Combination orders are welcome and qualify for greater discounts
    • If a tape, the LENGTH of program on the tape. If you don't know how full the tape is, just report the number on the case, e.g. T120.
    • If a tape, the SPEED at which it was recorded, if you know. 
    • And the QUANTITY of each type of material
    • If tape is damaged, describe the problem
    • Whether you want your files on a flash drive or optical drive (DVD)
  • Why would I need to copy my digital media?

    All digital media have a "shelf life."

    Writable optical media use organic dye layers to store the data, while manufactured recordings use a more permanent aluminum layer with physical pits. The organic material can fade if exposed to UV radiation or adverse environments, can grow mold between the layers, and some varieties just had manufacturing defects. It's important to recopy writable optical media about every 10 years, or back it up on a hard disk.

    Hard disks can also lose magnetic potency over time. Generally they fade more gradually than optical media, but the mechanics and electronics in the drive can fail, so it's important to keep redundant backups.

    Memory cards and flash drives can also lose data over time, and they're so small they're easily lost or broken.

    Backup is easy to do yourself, provided you have means to read the old media. If you don't have the devices to read the media, we can probably help.

  • How do I prepare images for transfer?

    Make sure the discs or chips are labeled and bring them over. If they're unlabeled we'll attach a number to the device and place its images in a folder with the corresponding number.

  • Can you print my transferred photos?

    No, with rare exceptions we do not offer printing services. You can print your transferred photos just as you would any digital photo using a desktop printer, a photo kiosk, or an online service.

    If you have a specialty printing need we may be able to help. Let us know details and we'll help you explore your options.

  • What is a Video Photo Album (VPA)

    A Video Photo Album is either a video file or a PowerPoint file with your images sequenced to change every few seconds.

    • VPA VIDEO provides a single video file compatible with any modern media player or set-top optical player. If delivered on a flash drive, we can render in full 4K resolution. Blu-Ray can handle HD, and DVD will be in SD widescreen. You can choose whether to "pillarbox" the images, or have us crop to the full 16:9 HD video frame. Music from our royalty free library can be added to a VPA Video at extra cost.
    • VPA PowerPoint provides a PowerPoint show file that will play on any computer with PowerPoint. PowerPoint is resolution independent, so it will adapt to whatever size screen you play it on. PowerPoint files can be edited, so you can resort, hide or delete images before running it for your event.

    Images and video from any of our transfer services, plus your own digital images can be merged into a Video Photo Album. They can also play just one time through or loop for kiosk viewing, depending on player.

  • What about damaged ditgital media?

    THIS IS NOT A DATA RECOVERY SERVICE. If the media is unreadable, we can recommend data recovery vendors you may wish to try. If the drive is readable and can be repaired via standard disk checking utilities, we will attempt a repair (with your authorization.)  If a single file is corrupt, we will attempt to retrieve it, but that may not be possible.

  • What are my delivery options?

    USB Flash Drive:
    Most of our customers choose delivery on a USB flash drive or portable hard drive. With so many sizes available, we can usually fit all your content on one USB drive. Most modern TV sets and all computers (Mac/PC) will play content from a flash drive. We include instructions on how to backup and safeguard your investment

    DVD/Blu-Ray ROM
    Optical discs are an option, but images cannot be renamed or reordered on disc. If copied to a computer, they may be edited after removing the read-only attribute.

    Digital Download
    Except for preview or proofing purposes, we do not provide digital download services. More about Digital Downloads

  • Can I provide my own disk for output?

    Yes, we support BYOD (bring your own disk). While we normally provide output on our media (cost varies with drive size), you can instead provide a new-in-box (sealed) flash drive or portable hard disk/SSD at no extra charge. We can estimate drive size needed with your estimate, and confirm it when transfers are complete.

  • Can I make my own copies?

    Absolutely! We make no copyright claim on your content, so you are free to make copies (provided, of course, the material is not copyrighted by a 3rd party). If you prefer for us to make your copies, they're available for only the cost of the media.

    Additional copies may be ordered from our master files with or without the source files for up to 3 months following delivery. Our masters are scheduled for deletion after 3 months unless you choose the archive option.

Take the next step.
Let us know what legacy materials you have to see how we can help.
Get a quote