What actually happens from the moment you submit an estimate to the moment your originals arrive back at your door. Seven phases, the work behind each, and the specific documentation you receive at every stage. Billing happens once, at the end — not up front.
Looking for the customer-experience walkthrough — every email, every page, and the timing of each? See How it works →
The process starts with a decision about what you need and what it will cost. There are two paths, and both produce the same thing: a structured quote with every line item visible. No card up front, no deposit — billing happens once, at the end, after the work is complete and you have approved it.
If you know your format, reel count, and tier preference, the wizard on the start page produces an estimated total in under a minute. Scanning cost, handling fee, inbound shipping estimate, return shipping — every number displayed. Submit and you land directly on a tracking page; a confirmation email with your magic link arrives within seconds.
If you’re not sure what you have, or your project has specific output requirements, the inquiry form captures your collection description and routes to us directly. We respond within one business day with a structured quote and any clarifying questions. For institutional inquiries, this is also where we offer the free pilot scan option.
The prepaid label we send uses our FedEx or UPS commercial account — which runs 20 — 30% below retail shipping rates. You pay exactly what the carrier charges us; nothing added. The actual cost depends on your zip code and package weight, and it appears as a line item on your final invoice at the end of the project.
Packing film correctly is simpler than it sounds. Our emailed guide walks through it specifically: reels boxed upright rather than flat, light padding around them, nothing compressed, a small amount of paper labeling if you want to keep track of which reel is which in your original order. Most households already have everything needed.
Every shipment includes $500 declared value insurance automatically. For estates, large collections, or irreplaceable original footage, higher declared values are available at roughly $1 per $100 of additional coverage — requested at order or by email before shipment.
When your package arrives, it’s unboxed and photographed on arrival. Every reel is individually barcoded and logged into our custody database with a unique identifier that will follow it through the entire process. Then each reel is visually inspected — film base type, shrinkage, vinegar syndrome, splice condition, edge damage, signs of mold or moisture exposure, anything that affects how we prepare it for scanning.
From that inspection, we produce a condition report. For most orders this is a summary document covering the collection overall and flagging any specific reels that need attention. For Preservation and Archival tier orders, the report goes deeper — per-reel footage measurements, deterioration type, splice count, specific repairs required before scanning.
You receive this report before any scanning begins. If any reels require damaged-film surcharges, we quote them now and wait for your approval. If any reels cannot be safely scanned, we explain why and return them untouched. You have a 14-day response window to approve or decline each proposed surcharge individually. If we don’t hear back in that window, we continue with the standard scope so the order isn’t held up — proposed surcharges become negotiable at final invoice time, never auto-applied. See what’s in a sample report →
Before any film runs through a scanner, it needs to be ready for it. Cracked or dried splices get hand-repaired — old tape splices that would let go at the scanner gate are redone, cement splices that have failed are cleaned and rebonded. New leaders and tails are added if the original ones are damaged or missing. Reels are rewound cleanly, and cores are replaced if cracked.
Cleaning depth varies by tier. At the Access tier, film receives a basic hand wipe to remove surface dust and loose debris. At the Preservation tier, reels go through full hand cleaning — conservation-grade pads and solutions worked carefully across the emulsion side, splices repaired by hand, and the reel rewound onto a new plastic industry-standard reel. At the Archival tier, the same treatment is followed by archival packaging and documented per-reel inspection notes for institutional records.
For film with heavier deterioration, this phase is where specialized handling happens. Shrunken film is allowed to acclimate to lab humidity. Brittle reels are handled with extra care to avoid snapping. Film with any unusual condition — residue, tape adhesive, lubricant migration — gets specific treatment before touching the scanner.
Scanning is the step most other digitization services compress or shortcut. For us it’s the phase where the choice of sprocketless transport and frame-by-frame capture pays off. Film is held by its edges, not pulled through a gate by the sprocket holes — which means damaged, shrunken, and vinegar-affected film scans safely at the same quality as clean film.
Each frame is captured individually at your chosen resolution. Tier-specific specs below.
After scanning, the RAW capture isn’t the final product — it needs color correction and quality assurance before it becomes something worth delivering. This phase often takes longer than the scan itself, especially for faded Ektachrome or Eastman Color stocks where recovery work genuinely matters.
Color correction approach depends on the tier:
When QC clears, we send a final invoice from Stripe — measured charges (not the original estimate) plus actual return shipping at cost. The total on your tracking page mirrors what Stripe shows; you can pay either via the link in the Stripe email or from your tracking page. We never see your card details.
Once payment lands, the Stripe webhook releases your Vault access immediately and your originals ship the same day via insured, tracked FedEx or UPS. Vault includes Y1 access free; the digital retention period depends on tier (30 days at Access, 1 year at Preservation, 1 year plus LTO options at Archival). The physical film is never held longer than the project requires.
For institutional and professional projects, we also support secure file transfer directly to your servers or storage systems, and LTO-8 tape delivery for archival-grade long-term storage.
A consumer order of Super 8, 8mm, or 16mm film at Preservation tier. Institutional and 35mm projects run 4 — 6 weeks. Rush service is available at +35% (10 business days) or +60% (5 business days), subject to scanner availability.
A lot of digitization services compress this lifecycle to compete on price. Here's what gets dropped when that happens, and what we keep.
Most services inspect only if something goes wrong during transfer. We inspect before anything runs through a scanner — which means damage gets quoted, acknowledged, and approved before you pay for work that might not succeed.
Scene-by-scene color correction is the default at the Preservation tier, not an upsell. Automated white-balance passes don’t recover faded Ektachrome; a colorist working reel by reel does.
Every original reel is returned via insured tracked shipping. We don’t offer “destruction” or “recycling” as an option because the original is the historical object. The digital copy is a reference, not a replacement.
Start an order from the wizard for an instant estimate, or send an inquiry if you have questions or a collection you’d like to describe first. Either way, you’ll be working with a lab that tells you what’s happening at each phase.