Frequently Asked Questions

If you have quite a large amount of items to send to us, we suggest you use a strong cardboard box or similar secure package, clearly addressed and securely taped closed. Please also label the package FRAGILE. For smaller amounts of media, a strong padded Jiffy Bag or similar is fine, this can be strengthened by adding a sheet of cardboard inside, and again labelled FRAGILE.

Yes, of course they can. If you package your original photos, slides and negatives into separate envelopes and you label those envelopes accordingly, we will keep the scanned images in the same sets, and in the same order that you despatched them in. These sets will then be in folders on your USB drive or DVD data disk etc. with the same names that you supplied for the set.

Upon completion of your order, Scanorama will carefully package up all of your original media, along with your selection of DVD's, USB drives etc. and arrange for a courier or Royal Mail to return them to you by a signed for, tracked service. We will let you know when your items have been despatched. If you opted for our White Glove service, then we will arrange a convenient time with you to personally return everything to your door.

We suggest you order several copies of your chosen storage medium(s). Ideally at least one can be kept at a separate address from the others to protect against loss by natural disasters. DVD data disks can be considered as a great long term backup to ensure that you always have a copy of your photographs etc. USB Flash Drives are slightly easier to use in many instances, they should plug directly into most computers and into phones, iPads etc via an appropriate adaptor. Scanorama can help you connect your USB memory devices to your gadgets.

Yes. There are numerous photobook companies online. You can upload whichever of your new JPEG files you want to and create your own photobook and then have it printed out.

Yes we can, if you especially request this. Higher resolutions will take longer to scan therefore will be charged at a higher price. We have ascertained that 600dpi for photos and 3,200dpi for slides and negatives will generally always produce very high quality digital files which can be enlarged to some extent and still provide a high resolution image and a manageable file size. For very small photographs we would normally increase the dpi (dots per inch) resolution to ensure that we capture all of the detail during the scan.

We keep your scanned images and transferred video and audio files etc. for 30 days from the completion of your order (when the final invoice is paid). After this 30 day period we will irretrievably erase all of your files. We will also have them deleted from any third-party download servers you may have requested Scanorama to use to provide you with your products.

Many programs and apps on PC and Apple Mac computers will open your JPEG digital images. You can create your own slideshows or edit the images if you wish to. There are various apps on Android phones, iPhones and iPads that will allow you to view your new JPEG files too.

Scanorama will upload your digital files to a secure server operated by WeTransfer.com. We will then provide you with a password with which you can access your files on the WeTransfer server and download them to your own computers/devices. You can also share this password with friends and family to allow them to download the files too. The files will be available as separate sets in folders, named in the same manner in which you sent them in to Scanorama. You can then backup your files in any way you decide onto your own hard drives, USB memory drives and suchlike. You will be able to download your files multiple times in this manner for one £10 fee.

Wherever possible possible photographs should be supplied, loose, out of frames and other storage wallets and suchlike. There should not be any stick residue on either side of the photos, such as blu-tack, staples, mounting glue etc. as this can damage our sensitive scanning equipment. Please have all of the photos facing the same way to ensure that the finished set of scanned images are all in the same orientation. Slides should ideally be in secure containers or secured with an elastic band and negatives in appropriate packaging to protect them from scratching and suchlike during transit.

Yes we can. This will result in a lower price for each photo scanned, but we charge a fee of £7.50 per album for this service. We will also not be able to re-attach the photos into the album afterwards, so we will carefully put the photos from each album into an envelope and insert the envelope into the relevant album before returning it to you.

If the album pages are A4 or smaller in size, we can scan one page at a time, so the resulting file will be an image of the whole page. This is great if you want to keep any annotations written in the photo album adjacent to the photos. We can instead scan the photos in the album one at a time while they are in the album.

You can share your new files with whoever you wish by using Social Media apps such as Facebook and Instagram, or simply attach a few to an email. Now your photos have been digitised you can share them with the world if you wish to! If you opt for the Digital Download method of receiving your photos and other files, you can share the download link with people of your choice and they will also be able to download the images etc.

Scanorama uses several different professional software programs to restore the colours within an image where necessary. Old printed photos will likely have suffered from fading over the years and old negatives and slides will often have issues where different colour dyes will have faded by different amounts. We have restoration profiles specifically for many of the better known brands of film such as Kodachrome, Agfacolour and Fujifilm. Colour slides and negatives can also have dust spots and other artefacts removed, but unfortunately this does not apply to black and white negatives or positives. We provide this service as standard and every single image is checked individually.

Not at all. If you can estimate the number of items, that would be helpful. We will keep you updated regarding how many we have scanned and the costs so far. We will accurately invoice you for the correct quantity upon completion of the order.

You can share your new files with whoever you wish by using Social Media apps such as Facebook and Instagram, or simply attach a few to an email. Now your photos have been digitised you can share them with the world if you wish to!

Scanorama uses several different professional software programs to restore the colours within an image where necessary. Old printed photos will likely have suffered from fading over the years and old negatives and slides will often have issues where different colour dyes will have faded by different amounts. We have restoration profiles specifically for many of the better known brands of film, such as Kodachrome, Agfacolour and Fujifilm. Colour slides and negatives can also have dust spots and other artefacts removed, unfortunately this does not apply to black and white negatives or positives. We provide this service as standard and every single image is checked individually.

Not at all. If you can estimate the number of items, that would be helpful. We will keep you updated regarding how many we have scanned and the costs so far. We will accurately invoice you for the correct quantity upon completion of the order.

Yes we do. We are extremely careful not to touch the surface of your slides and negatives. We gently remove any dust using a combination of an anti-static brush and an air blower. We do not use tinned compressed air since some of these products can contain chemicals. We also endeavour to remove any existing fingerprints from your items with appropriate soft cloths.

We will transfer your video tapes into digital MP4 files. This is a highly compressed and versatile video format providing high quality audio and video. These files can be opened in just about any video playing program, just double-click on the file and your operating system will open the file in your default video viewer. Android and iPhone natively support playback of MP4 files too.

Yes, most video editing programs support the editing of MP4 files. Just drag and drop your MP4 file into the program to make your own edits, add subtitles etc.

Currently we are able to transfer MiniDV and VHS tapes.