Slide Scanning Service: Convert Slides to Digital

Base Pricing*

JPG Output:

  • 2x2 slides in Carousels 45¢
  • 2x2 slides in stacks/boxes 55¢
  • 2x2 slides in non-Carousel trays, sleeves, albums $1.00
  • Nonstandard transparencies
    Starting at $2.00
  • Color Correction, Colorizing & Digital Cleanup - Optional
  • RAW output + choice of export format - Optional

Before discounts. Flash drive additional (or provide your own). Shipping not included. Minimum order $85.

Request a Quote

Digitizing Slides and Transparencies

Advent Media started in 1982 producing complex multi-projector slide shows, so WE KNOW SLIDES! And now we can digitize them rapidly at very high quality. 

  • 2x2 Slides from 35mm, 126 (Instamatic) 127 (Superslides) or 110 (full size mount)
    • We offer lower prices if slides are in Kodak Carousel trays. (Not all round trays are Carousel.)
    • Slides in stacks or boxes take a little more handling
    • Slides in non-Carousel trays, sleeves or albums must be removed for transfer, and will be returned in stacks. These require considerably more handling.
    • 2x2 slides are transferred at fixed resolution of 4910x3264 (16 Megapixels) at the native 3:2 aspect ratio. 16:9 crop at time of capture is available.
    • 24 Megapixel transfer available at additional cost for 2x2 slides.
    • Square format slides are captured at standard resolution, leaving black bars on sides. Cropping to a square image size is optional.
    • Output in JPG standard. If ordering RAW, you may choose JPG or any other professional photo format for exported output. Uncompressed or lossless compression images will be larger and require larger output drives.
    • Pre-processed RAW source files and Adobe Lightroom catalog are provided with RAW transfers.
  • Nonstandard Transparencies
    • Transparencies larger than 2x2" from 828, 620, 127, 120, and 116 film, all sizes of cut sheet film.
    • Tiny transparencies from Minox or 110 slides (Pocket Instamatic). Quality may vary.
    • Stereo slides (one or both sides)
    • Overhead transparencies.
    • Nonstandard transparencies are transferred at fixed resolution of 6032x4032 pixels, (24 megapixels). Square format transparencies crop to 4032x4032 or less.
    • Standard output in JPG, but you may request any other professional format.
    • RAW source files and Adobe Lightroom catalog available at extra cost for storage
    • Costs vary per format and quantity. Provide detailed description on your quote request.

Options
(Extra cost)

Enhancements:

  • Color Correction
  • Digital dust/dirt/scratch removal
  • File ranaming/sorting
  • Batch scaling/compressing to smaller sizes for email/web

Deliverables:

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

Discounts

  • 10¢/slide discount if slides in Carousel trays are oriented for quick transfer.
  • Quantity discount for orders $200 or more. Request quote to see amount.
  • Unprocessed RAW output (without conversion to JPG or color correction) available at a discount.

Transfer Process

In the Advent Media production studio, we scan your slides with high resolution cameras with fixed resolution (described above). For "Basic" scans, images are captured in "Fine" quality JPEG (highest quality settings), and in-camera color correction (auto white balance) is applied. The JPG images are processed for orientation in Adobe Bridge, and the output delivered on a flash drive. You may request a lower resolution export for online photo sharing.

If RAW image capture is preferred, photos are captured on the same high resolution cameras in full 10-bit uncompressed format, preserving much more color information than JPG. Image processing is handled through Adobe Lightroom, where orientation is corrected, digital cleanup, cropping and color correction is performed, then the images are exported as high-quality JPG. You get both the RAW and the JPG files so you can continue editing or printing from the best possible source.

What You Get
(Future-Proofed Data)

On your flash drive or portable USB hard drive, you will receive your images in folders corresponding to the bundles, boxes or trays of slides you've defined. Slides will be numbered with sequential frame numbers from the camera. Custom numbering is optional (not recommended with JPG+RAW). 

If you order RAW+JPG you will get both files, the JPG to use for immediate viewing or sharing, and the RAW file for editing or printing.  You can also request the Adobe Lightroom catalog files. The RAW files are direct-from-camera without processing. If slides are in Carousels they will be upside-down and backwards, requiring horizontal and vertical flip prior to export.

You can also request lower-resolution JPG export of the images to use in online file sharing, website content, or social media posts.

If you order a Video Photo Album, you'll get an MP4 video file or a PowerPoint Show file (,ppsx) containing your images, along with the JPG or RAW images themselves. The MP4 can be played on any computer and most TVs. 

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.*

Slide Transfer 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 transfer slides as RAW images?

    Ninety percent of the time you won't notice the difference between a RAW image and a JPG image. JPG images capture in "24-bit" color, which produces 16.8 million discreet colors. That seems like a lot, but if an image has very subtle gradients, it can cause a "banding" artifact, because there's not enough data. RAW images capture in 48-bit color, which yields close to 300 Billion colors, so banding is virtually eliminated. For photo editing RAW provides the best source. If color correction is required, RAW works the best, but files are very large.

  • How do I prepare images for transfer?

    If slides are in Carousel trays, just bring them! If slides are in non-carousel trays, album books or storage sleeves, it's less expensive if you first remove them and bring them in stacks. Put slides in the numerical order you want them to appear, and number the stacks as to which one goes first, or by subject or date. If order is not specified, we'll number the boxes and the order may appear random. You can always resort by renaming files. We can place image files in folders corresponding to the bundles you provide. 

    To preview and sort slides, a computer monitor works as a good backlight.  Go HERE for our special backlight page.

  • Can you print my transferred slides?

    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.

  • 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. PowerPoint Show files can run on any PC, even one without PowerPoint.
  • What about faded slides?

    Sometimes we see slides that were shot on the wrong type of film (bluish when indoor film was used outdoors, and orangish if outdoor film used indoors). Our camera's automatic white balance will provide some color correction, but detailed slide-by-slide correction is an extra cost option.

    Color dyes of some slides have faded over time, due to manufacturing defect, processing error or improper storage. Usually we see the pink shift, but in worst cases all that's left is red. It green and blue have not totally faded, it may be possible to restore some of the lost colors, but if all the blue and green dyes have faded, it's sometimes best to convert to black & white. Purchased slides from the 60s and 70s, made from negatives, have almost all lost color information.

    We now offer the option to Colorize badly faded or black & white images. Learn more here!

  • 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
    Unless needed for preview or proofing, we do not provide digital download service. More on Digital Download

  • 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