ScanMyPhotos Review: Photo and Video Digitizing Service

At a glance

Editors Rating:

4.5 /5

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What we like

• They accept and digitize popular media formats including KODAK® Carousel Slide
• You are able to choose the scan quality of photos, slides, and negatives
• Fast turnaround time (depends on order volume
• Easy to navigate and order online
• You have the option to download your media
• Positive customer reviews and ratings
• All scanning is done in their facility

What we don't like

• With the transfer box, you need to pay for the return or disposal of your original media

When revisiting old photographs from your childhood, it's not just a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Instead, it's an emotional journey as those pictures remind us of what life was like at that time. However, as time goes on, these photos may begin to degrade. To ensure they can be viewed and enjoyed for years, digitizing them may be a wise choice.

Digitizing old photographs, VHS tapes, etc., not only preserves them but also makes it easier to share them with friends and family. With the help of digitizing services like ScanMyPhotos, you can easily access your memories anytime, anywhere, and on any device.

In this review, we will examine ScanMyPhotos, a digitizing service that offers a wide range of options to preserve your memories for years to come. We will take a closer look at the company's services, pricing, and customer support to help you decide if ScanMyPhotos is the right choice for you.

What is ScanMyPhotos?

ScanMyPhotos is a reputable company with 30 years of experience digitizing physical photographs, negatives, film reels, and VHS tapes. 

For those looking to save their old photographs, ScanMyPhotos is the perfect company choice. They have specialized in digitizing photographs since the company's inception and have the expertise and equipment to produce high-quality digital copies of your slides. The digital copies will last longer and look much better than if they were taken with a phone camera or scanned on a low-quality scanner.

ScanMyPhotos is also a good option for converting old videotapes such as VHS, VHS-C, MiniDV, or Hi8 tapes into NTSC. The service allows you to send in these formats and convert them into DVDs or USBs for ultimate quality.

How Does the ScanMyPhotos Service Work?

ScanMyPhotos offers two options for digitizing your physical photographs and film negatives. The first option, "Pay-Per-Photo Scan," allows you to send in a small number of photos to be scanned and converted to digital format. 

The second option, "Photo Scanning Box," includes a prepaid box that can hold up to 1,800 photos. Once you have filled the box with your photos, simply ship it back to the service for scanning and digitization. This flexibility in ordering options makes ScanMyPhotos a unique choice for preserving your memories.

Additionally, ScanMyPhotos' pay-per-scan option has a minimum scanning fee of $25 for photos and $20 for slides and negatives. So, for example, if you're planning on scanning just a few photos or slides, your card will be charged upfront $25 or $20, depending on the media type. 

Once the scanning process is completed, the total cost will be calculated, and you will be charged based on the number of items and any additional services selected. This is a common practice among digitizing services, but it's worth noting that ScanMyPhotos has a reasonable minimum fee compared to others that can reach up to $99.

When placing an order with ScanMyPhotos, be sure to include a copy of your invoice inside the shipping box to ensure a smooth and efficient process. This will allow the staff to match your order and media. 

Once your media arrives at their facility, they will notify you of its arrival. The average turnaround time for digitizing orders at ScanMyPhotos is 2-4 weeks. They also offer a rush option for photo scanning, which can be completed within 1 day.

Digital Copy Options

The options for obtaining a digital copy of your media vary depending on the media type and service. The primary choice for photos, slides, and negatives is a digital download, but you can also opt for a DVD or USB. 

For individual VHS, 8mm, 16mm to DVD film transfer services, you can choose from DVD, USB, and cloud download or all three.

With the VHS and 8mm transfer box kits, DVD is the default option, but you can also choose USB, HDD, and cloud for the 8mm transfer box and USB and cloud for the VHS transfer box.

Returning Option

With the completion of scanning your media, there are two ways of getting your originals back.

1. If you order scanning, for example, "Pay-Per-Photo" or "Individual VHS to DVD," they will return your originals with no extra charge.
2. When ordering a prepaid media transfer box, you will need to pay for the return of your originals or the disposal charge. For example, if you order a Photo Scanning Box, the return of your originals will cost $29.29, and the disposal charge is $24.95. Keep in mind that one scanning box can contain about 1,800 photos.

What Services Does ScanMyPhotos Offer?

Here is a complete list of the things they convert:

• Photo scanning (Per photo scan, Prepaid Box, and Family Generation Collection)
• Slide scanning (35mm, 110mm, 126mm, KODAK carousel slide)
• Negative scanning (35mm, APS, 120mm)
• Videotapes: VHS, VHS-C, Mini DV, and Hi8 (Digital 8) 
• Film transfer (8mm, 16mm)

Your photos will slowly fade if you don't take care of them. You risk losing your memories forever if you don't scan pictures and preserve them as digital copies.

Once scanned, your images are stored in the cloud and provided to you in the digital format of your choice, ensuring that you can easily preserve the memories captured in your photos for years to come.

Scanning Old Slides

If your old slides are in poor condition, ScanMyPhotos can digitize them. They offer two options for this service: the standard option, which does not include color correction, so if you want to retain the original colors, you should choose the premium option for higher-quality scans that look the best. For more details and explanations, you can check here.

Converting Old Films and Video Tapes to DVD

Home videos are often stored on tapes that degrade over time, regardless of storage and usage, as with old films. ScanMyPhotos offers a comprehensive solution for preserving your precious home videos and films. The company accepts a wide range of tape formats, including VHS, VHS-C, MiniDV, Hi8, and film formats such as 8mm, Super8, and 16mm. However, it should be noted that the service does not accept damaged, copy-protected, or copyrighted material.

With the option of a box kit, ScanMyPhotos will convert your tapes and films to standard DVDs, with additional options available for your convenience. For individual tapes and films, the service offers DVD, USB, and cloud storage options for your digitized footage. Overall, ScanMyPhotos provides a reliable and efficient solution for preserving your cherished memories.

Photo Scanning

As the name of the company says, it primarily focuses on photo scanning, offering a wide range of features and customizations to ensure your photos are scanned and preserved to the highest quality.

ScanMyPhotos offers four options when it comes to the resolution of pictures, and they are:

• 72 DPI (lowest scan quality, $0.13 per scan)
• 150 DPI (social media quality, $0.18 per scan)
• 300 DPI (archival quality, $0.23 per scan)
• 600 DPI (professional quality, $0.30 per scan)

After being scanned, your images are copied to a DVD so you can easily preserve the photos for years. In addition, you can view sample scenes to compare the differences in photo quality.

You can also have your photos stored in the cloud which can be downloaded as a digital copy. You also have the option to receive a DVD or thumb drive if you prefer a physical copy.

The process includes scanned photos in TrueColor, 24-bit JPG format, with a digital download sent to your email. Additionally, all original photos are returned to you.

For example, they can digitize 83 photos from 3x3 inches to 8x10 inches at 600 DPI professional resolution for just $25. This level of scanning quality is not easily found elsewhere.

Scanning Negatives

The next time you need to scan your favorite old photographs, remember that it doesn't have to be an expensive endeavor. ScanMyPhotos offers 35mm Negatives scanning for antique cameras and Advanced Photo System (APS) film rolls at reasonable prices, which professionals widely use.

They offer 2000 and 4000 dpi scanning options for APS (Advanced Photo System) film negatives and 35mm photos. In addition, they can scan the 120 mm negatives to a resolution of 1000 and 2000 DPI.

Is It Better to Scan the Original Negatives of Your Photos?

If you still have the negatives, then they are the best choice for scanning. They tend to be sharper and hold more information than printed photos, so they'll look great when converted. In addition, scanning your negatives may reveal details or colors in photographs that have otherwise been lost in your current photos.

Photo Restoration Service

ScanMyPhotos also does photo restoration, and this is where it also sticks out from most other services. 

Old photos fade, degrade and get dirty over time, so it is important to fix them before it is too late.

The restoration process costs $45.50 for any standard photo with a 20 days turnaround time. This is an excellent feature for your photos which hold immeasurable sentimental value.

How Much Does ScanMyPhotos Charge Their Service?

Photos

The Pay-Per-Photo scanning price depends on which scanning quality you pick.

• 72 DPI (lowest scan quality, $0.13 per scan )
• 150 DPI (social media quality, $0.18 per scan)
• 300 DPI (archival quality, $0.23 per scan)
• 600 DPI (professional quality, $0.30 per scan)

For the Photo Scanning Box, the price starts at $0.12 per scan and $220 per box with included free delivery. The Photo Scanning Box can hold about 1,800 photos. You will get your original photos back for an additional $39.95, or you can choose to dispose of them for a smaller amount of $32.92.

You can choose from some of the popular prepaid boxes:

• Lowest 72 dpi resolution for $220 per box
• Social Media 150 dpi resolution for $380 per box
• Archival 300 dpi resolution for $400 per box
• Professional 600 dpi resolution for $460 per box.

Besides scanning prices, there is also the included upload of your digitized photos:

• $5.95 for five days
• $16.95 for one month
• $19.95 for two months
• $24.95 for six months
• $29.95 for one year

Optional services you can include:

• Personal helper - You can pay an expert helper to monitor your order for $15.95 from start to finish.
• Express scanning - paying an additional $0.06 per scan. Your order can be next in line regardless of when it arrived.
• Scanning in order - This is one of the most popular addons. They can scan your photos in a specific order for an additional $0.09 per scan.
• Photo Soap - Helps make old photos look new. For $0.09 per scan, it offers a color correction to get an image's true natural color using a computerized image correction process. This process brings photos to life but does not remove dirt and scratches.
• Image rotation - They can rotate your photos after scanning for $0.10 per scan.
• Dual Side Scanning - We like this feature because if you have important notes and dates on the back of photos, they can scan both sides. This feature costs an additional $0.10 per scan.
• Delivery Signature Confirmation - ScanMyPhotos highly recommend this feature to ensure the box is to you and not just left on the porch to get wet in the rain. This feature goes for $16.95
• DVD - For $9.95 per DVD, they can also save your photos on DVD.
• Thumb Drive - For $15.95 per 3,000 photos, you can have them saved on USB over a standard DVD.

Slides

The professional technicians scan each slide and carefully adjust the images to achieve the optimum color and density, ensuring each image is at its best. Most slides are scanned using Kodak's Digital ICE technology to reduce dust and surface scratches.

During ordering, you have the section "Digital ICE preference," where you can choose from:

• I will group my slides by type to be scanned with Digital ICE on and off accordingly
• Scan ALL slides with Digital ICE on
• Scall ALL slides with Digital ICE off

Negatives

Prices for 35mm Negative Scanning Service:

• $0.47 per frame for 2,000dpi 6MP
• $0.87 per frame for 4,000DPI 16MP

APS Negative Scanning Service:

• $7.95 per roll for 2,000dpi 6MP
• $12.95 per roll for 4,000dpi 16MP

120MM Negative Scanning Service:

• $2.48 for 1,000dpi 6MP 
• $4.96 for 2,000dpi 16MP

Individual VHS to DVD

Individual VHS to DVD conversion starts at $19.95 per tape, including archival-quality DVDs. Besides DVD, you have the option for digital download and USB. The USB price is:

• $15.95 for 8GB MPEG-4 file + $5 for additional tapes
• $55.95 for 64GB MPEG-4 file + $5 for additional tapes

The price starts at $4.95 + $5 per tape for a 5-day upload for digital download.

VHS to DVD Transfer Box

VHS to DVD Transfer Box can fit up to 14 tapes, and the price is $245.00 per box with free delivery included. You can also convert it to MPEG-4, transfer it to USB, or digitally download it. Converting to USB goes for $125.95 per 64GB, and the digital download starts at $74.95 for 5-days.

Individual Old Films to DVD

Individual old films to DVD conversion starts at $0.19 per foot of 8mm film and $0.25 per foot of 16mm, including archival-quality DVDs. Besides DVD, you have the option for digital download and USB.

8mm Reels to DVD Box

8mm Reels to DVD Transfer Box can fit approximately 55-3" or 10-7" reels, and the price starts at $0.17 per foot or $599.00 per box with free delivery included. You can also convert it to MPEG-4, transfer it to USB, or digitally download it.

Should You Go With ScanMyPhotos Service?

ScanMyPhotos is a reputable and well-established company that specializes in digitizing photographs. With over 30 years of experience in the industry and a growing number of satisfied customers, the company has established a solid reputation as a provider of high-quality photo scanning services.

The company offers a range of unique features that are designed to enhance and preserve photographs for future generations. These features include advanced scanning techniques, professional color correction and retouching, and archival-grade digital storage options.

Given the importance of preserving historical photographs, I would highly recommend ScanMyPhotos as a reliable and effective option for safeguarding memories. The company's expertise and commitment to quality make it an excellent choice for anyone looking to digitize their photographs for posterity.

Conclusion

If you are looking for a quality digitizing service, especially for photos, we recommend ScanMyPhotos. They are reliable and affordable, with high-quality photo scanning and positive customer feedback. Make sure to choose 300dpi when having your photos scanned – you won't regret it.