Estimated total shown before payment
Scanning cost, H&P, vault, output media, and shipping estimates — all displayed before you confirm an order.
01 / Film Tiers
Three tiers for film. One standard.
Every film tier uses frame-by-frame scanning — never projector transfer. Tiers differ in resolution, output format, color correction depth, and documentation. Pricing is per-foot of film, not per-reel. The Preservation tier is the default recommendation. Tape and photo tiers are presented separately in their own sections.
Tier 1 · Access
Access
$0.42/ ft
- 2K frame-by-frame scan
- Auto white balance & exposure (scanner-native)
- Basic global color pass — operator review
- Basic stabilization
- H.264 MP4 delivery
- Vault access included
- Original film returned on new archival reels
For: Families who want a reliable digital copy to watch and share. Better quality than any bundle service; no ProRes or deep color work.
Tier 2 · Preservation
Preservation
$0.98/ ft
- 2K frame-by-frame scan
- Scene-by-scene color grading in DaVinci Resolve
- Topaz AI enhancement (upscaling, denoising, sharpening)
- Advanced stabilization
- Automated dust & scratch removal
- ProRes 422 HQ master + H.264 access copy
- Vault access included
For: Irreplaceable film that deserves an archival master. The tier most customers choose.
Tier 3 · Archival
Archival
$1.65/ ft
- 4K frame-by-frame scan
- Reference-grade color (custom LUTs, flicker correction, fade restoration)
- Topaz AI with operator-reviewed model selection
- Manual frame-by-frame restoration on problem sections
- FADGI documentation included
- ProRes 4444 + DPX + H.264 delivery
- Vault access included
- Chain of custody documentation
For: Professionals, institutions, estates, grant-funded projects. Archival masters of record with full provenance.
What you won’t see as an add-on (because it’s built into the tier)
AI enhancement, scene-by-scene color, ProRes mastering, advanced stabilization, dust and scratch removal — these are all included in Preservation, not stacked on top as per-foot upcharges.
4K capture, ProRes 4444, DPX delivery, FADGI documentation, chain-of-custody paperwork, manual frame-by-frame restoration on problem sections — all included in Archival.
We’ve eliminated per-foot add-ons because they create checkout pages with five or six per-foot line items that are hard to reason about. If you want more capability, upgrade the tier. The math is cleaner and so is the bill.
Want a deeper, line-by-line look at every difference between the three film tiers? See the full tier comparison →
02 / 35mm Rates & Modifiers
35mm priced separately, plus flat modifiers.
Section 01 covered 8mm, Super 8, and 16mm — the three formats that share the same per-foot rate card. This section adds the 35mm rate card (separate workflow), the three flat modifiers that apply across formats (sound, damaged media, bulk), and the scope rules that govern the whole pricing model.
35mm rate card
35mm
Post-1952 safety stock only · separate workflow · 1,000 ft reels common
- Access
- $0.68/ ft
- Preservation★ Default
- $1.45/ ft
- Archival
- $2.35/ ft
Nitrate-base 35mm (pre-1952) is out of scope — the 35mm page has referral information.
35mm uses a separate film transport, separate cleaning protocol, and reels are typically 1,000 ft instead of 50–400 ft. The per-foot labor is genuinely different from the 8mm / Super 8 / 16mm shared card.
For the small-format rate card (8mm, Super 8, 16mm) see Section 01 — Film Tiers.
Flat modifiers — applied across formats & tiers
Magnetic or optical, mono or stereo. Flat across all tiers and formats.
Vinegar syndrome, mold, brittle, shrunken. Inspected and quoted before any work — never an automatic surcharge.
Footage above 2,000 ft in a single order. Scanning only; applies to overage feet.
Order minimums — by service line
Estimated total (scanning + H&P, before output media and shipping). Below the minimum, we offer a tier upgrade first; if declined, we top up with an honest explanation.
Estimated total. Same upgrade-first / top-up policy as film. Most single-stack tape orders clear the minimum on their own.
Estimated total. Same policy — most photo orders above ~70 prints or ~50 slides clear the minimum at Standard tier.
Scope & rules
- Institutional bulk
- 2,000+ feet of film, 2,000+ photos, or 50+ tapes gets a custom quote. RFP submissions welcome — see the Institutional page.
- Rates are tentative through 180-day review
- The card is under formal review at 90 and 180 days post-launch. Your confirmed quote at order time is locked regardless of later changes — adjustments apply only to new orders.
03 / Videotape Digitization
Tapes, two tiers. Standard and specialty formats.
Videotape digitization is a full service line — not a film add-on. Two tiers per tape (Access and Preservation, with Preservation as the default recommendation). Standard formats and specialty formats use the same two-tier ladder, with a $20 specialty surcharge that reflects deck setup and per-format calibration. ProRes mastering, scene-by-scene color, and TBC are bundled into Preservation — never per-tape add-ons.
Tier 1 · Access
Access
$32/ tape
- SD-resolution capture from a calibrated deck
- Auto color and exposure correction
- H.264 MP4 delivery
- Vault access included
- Standard $32 · Specialty $52 (+$20)
For: Customers who want a reliable digital copy of family video — better than any bundle service, no ProRes or scene-level color work.
Tier 2 · Preservation
Preservation
$52/ tape
- Time-base correction (TBC) for stable signal
- Scene-by-scene color correction
- Noise reduction and detail recovery
- ProRes 422 HQ master + H.264 access copy
- Optional Topaz AI upscale to HD on request
- Vault access included
- Standard $52 · Specialty $72 (+$20)
For: Irreplaceable home video and family broadcasts. The tier most customers choose.
Standard formats — flat rate
- VHS
- VHS-C
- Hi8
- Video8
- MiniDV
- S-VHS
- Digital8
Specialty formats — +$20/tape
- Betamax
- U-Matic
- PAL/SECAM
Order minimum (tapes): $85 estimated total. Damaged tape (mold, sticky shed, shell damage) is quoted after inspection — see the FAQ for the policy. Need full format-by-format depth?
Tape service hub04 / Photo Scanning
Photos, slides, negatives. Per-unit pricing.
Photo scanning is a full service line — not a film add-on. Two tiers per unit (Standard and Preservation). Photos, slides, and negatives use the same two-tier ladder, with a small per-unit surcharge on slides and negatives that reflects holder setup and per-frame inversion. Manual color correction and dust/scratch repair are bundled into Preservation.
Tier 1 · Standard
Standard
$0.85/ unit
- 1200 DPI flatbed scanning
- Auto color and exposure correction
- Auto dust removal
- JPEG delivery
- Vault access included
- Prints $0.85 · Slides/negs $1.15 (+$0.30)
For: Customers digitizing prints to share with family — fast, accurate, and good enough for everyday viewing.
Tier 2 · Preservation
Preservation
$1.25/ unit
- 2400 DPI flatbed scanning
- Manual color correction per image
- Manual dust and scratch repair
- TIFF master + JPEG access copy
- Color negative inversion (slides/negs)
- Vault access included
- Prints $1.25 · Slides/negs $1.55 (+$0.30)
For: Archival prints, slide collections, family album reproductions. The tier most customers choose for keepsake photographs.
PrintsUp to 8×10 standard · 11×14+ quoted
Slides35mm, medium-format · holder setup included
NegativesB&W and color · inversion at Preservation
Order minimum (photos): $85 estimated total. Bulk orders over 2,000 units get custom pricing. Need full format-by-format depth?
Photo service hub05 / Delivery & Output
Vault-first delivery, physical media optional.
Two distinct delivery layers. Subsection A is the FPL Vault — your archive's permanent home, included free for the first year on every order. Subsection B is optional physical media: USB drives, SSDs, LTO tape, or your own drive returned loaded. Most customers take the Vault and add a single drive for offline backup.
A. VaultIncluded · Year 1
FPL Vault — your archive lives here
3 tiers · annualStream from any device, download originals, share with family, control access. Your scans and originals stay in the vault even if you delete a local copy. Pricing is annual; subscription is optional but included free for the first year on every order. Full Vault details →
Vault Lite
$29/yr
- Up to 20 GB storage
- Owner only
- Stream and download
- Single-format orders
Most customers choose thisVault Family ★
$79/yr
- Up to 150 GB storage
- 5 family members
- Stream and download
- Most family-history orders
Vault Archive
$179/yr
- Up to 500 GB storage
- Unlimited members
- Stream and download
- Large estate & institutional
Vault product is in active development; tiers and feature details are tentative and may evolve before launch. First-year vault access is included on every order regardless of subsequent subscription choice.
B. Physical mediaOptional · one-time
For customers who want an offline backup alongside the Vault. Pricing is at-cost plus a small handling margin — no marked-up “archival packaging” tier.
| Optional physical media | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| USB 128 GB | $65 | Small collections under ~60 GB. Suitable for film-only orders at Access tier. |
| USB 512 GB | $129 | Most mixed-media orders fit. Sweet spot for Preservation tier collections. |
| USB 1 TB | $189 | Large archives, Archival tier work, or institutional backups. |
| Samsung T7 2TB SSD | Market + $75 (~$335) | SSD market is volatile in 2026; quoted at current market plus $75 margin. Today's price shown at checkout. |
| Bring your own drive | $45 loading fee | Ship us a USB or external drive with your order. We load your files and return it with your originals. |
| LTO-8 tape (12 TB) | $240 | Institutional archival standard. Long shelf life, requires LTO tape drive to read. |
Rush turnaround
+35% / +60%
10-business-day (+35%) or 5-business-day (+60%). Subject to capacity. Tentative — contact us to confirm availability before ordering.
06 / Handling & Preparation
A handling fee, per service line.
Handling & Preparation (H&P) is a separate line on every order. Each service line — film, tapes, photos — has its own H&P fee that follows the same pattern: a base charge plus a small per-unit cost. The base reflects fixed intake work that happens once per service. The per-unit cost reflects the real labor for cleaning, prep, and QC on each item.
$50 + $6/reel
$50 base covers intake, QC, and return prep. $6 per incoming reel covers cleaning, splice repair, and the new archival-grade plastic reel your film is consolidated onto.
- 6 reels
- $86
- 12 reels
- $122
- 30 reels
- $230
$40 + $3/tape
$40 base covers deck setup verification, head cleaning, intake logging, and return prep. $3 per tape covers individual condition assessment and digital file organization.
- 5 tapes
- $55
- 12 tapes
- $76
- 25 tapes
- $115
$30 + $5/100
$30 base covers intake, condition assessment, and return prep. $5 per 100 units (photos, slides, or negatives — any combination, rounded up to the next 100) covers cleaning, organization, and QC.
- 100 photos
- $35
- 300 photos
- $45
- 1,000 photos
- $80
Why per-service-line instead of one shared fee?
Mixed-media orders genuinely involve separate intake workflows. Film goes through cleaning, splice repair, and consolidation. Tapes go through deck setup, head cleaning, and condition checks. Photos go through batched scanning and digital organization. Pretending these share a single workflow would either mean overcharging single-service orders to subsidize mixed-media ones, or undercharging mixed-media orders and absorbing the loss.
The base + per-unit pattern reflects actual cost behavior. Each service line has fixed intake costs that happen once, plus a small marginal cost per item handled. Showing both components separately makes the fee structure inspectable rather than mysterious.
A typical 6-reel Super 8 order pays $86 in H&P. A typical 12-tape VHS order pays $76. A typical 200-photo order pays $40. A mixed order with all three pays the sum — $202 — because the work really is additive.
What H&P covers — by service line
Film
- Intake inspection & logging
- Cleaning solution & applicator
- Splice inspection & repair
- New archival-grade plastic reels
- Reel consolidation (1,000–2,000 ft)
- QC review of scanned output
- Return packaging & labels
Tapes
- Deck setup & calibration verification
- Head cleaning before each session
- Per-tape condition assessment
- Tracking and signal verification
- Digital file organization
- QC review of captured signal
- Return packaging & labels
Photos / Slides / Negs
- Intake inspection & sorting
- Per-batch condition assessment
- Slide / negative holder setup
- Surface cleaning before scan
- Digital organization & naming
- QC review of scans
- Return packaging & labels
07 / Shipping & Insurance
At cost, both ways. Insurance included.
Shipping is at-cost pass-through, both inbound and return. We use FPL's commercial FedEx and UPS account, which is typically 20–30% below retail. You pay exactly what the carrier charges us. No markup. No bundled 'shipping protection' upsell. Full insurance is included in the rate at the greater of order value or $2,500.
One model, both directions
Model: At-cost on commercial account · insurance bundled
You see an estimated shipping cost at checkout based on your declared package weight and zip code. The actual rate is billed against your order at label generation. If the actual rate exceeds the estimate by more than $5, we notify you and confirm before activating the label.
Return shipping is calculated after digitization is complete, based on the actual return package weight (your originals plus any output drive plus packaging). You’re notified of the actual return cost before we ship.
Insurance: Every shipment is insured at the greater of (a) declared order value or (b) $2,500. This is non-negotiable operational policy given the irreplaceable nature of customer film. Insurance is included in the at-cost rate — never an upsell, never optional.
What real shipments cost
Estimates based on commercial FedEx/UPS rates · April 2026
- 6 reels Super 8 in shoebox2–3 lbs · domestic
- $14–22
- 12 tapes in padded mailer4–6 lbs · domestic
- $18–28
- 400 photos in archival box3–4 lbs · domestic
- $16–24
- 30 reels 16mm, heavier box15–20 lbs · domestic
- $35–55
- Institutional 50+ reels40+ lbs · freight class
- $60–120
- International ordersCustoms handling required
- Quoted
08 / Sample Order Totals
What it actually costs.
Six real-world orders with every line item — scanning, H&P per service line, vault subscription, output media (where applicable), and at-cost shipping. Mixed-media orders show H&P stacked per service line, because each service has its own intake workflow.
access tier
2× Super 8 reels
100 ft at Access tier. Falls under the $150 film minimum; calculator offers a Preservation upgrade first, then tops up if declined.
- Scanning · 100 ft @ $0.42
- $42
- H&P · $50 + ($6 × 2)
- $62
- Subtotal
- $104
- Top-up to $150 minimum
- +$46
- Vault Family Y1
- $79
- Shipping (both ways)
- ~$28
Total~$257
Access · minimum cascade
preservation tier
6× Super 8 reels
300 ft at Preservation tier. The default scenario for most family orders. Includes ProRes master, scene-by-scene color, and Topaz AI.
- Scanning · 300 ft @ $0.98
- $294
- H&P · $50 + ($6 × 6)
- $86
- Vault Family Y1
- $79
- Inbound shipping
- ~$18
- Return shipping
- ~$16
Total~$493
Preservation · typical
preservation tier
10× Super 8 reels with sound
500 ft, 150 ft of which has magnetic sound stripe. Adds USB 512 GB backup to the vault subscription.
- Scanning · 500 ft @ $0.98
- $490
- Sound · 150 ft @ $0.18
- $27
- H&P · $50 + ($6 × 10)
- $110
- Vault Family Y1
- $79
- USB 512 GB backup
- $129
- Shipping (both ways)
- ~$38
Total~$873
Preservation · with sound
access tier
10× VHS tapes
A stack of family home video. Access tier delivers SD H.264 from a calibrated deck — no TBC or scene-by-scene color, but a clean digital copy of every tape.
- Scanning · 10 tapes @ $32
- $320
- Tape H&P · $40 + ($3 × 10)
- $70
- Vault Family Y1
- $79
- Shipping (both ways)
- ~$22
Total~$491
Access · tape-only
preservation tier
12× S8 + 5× VHS + 200 photos
All three service lines in one order. Three H&P fees, but one vault subscription, one shipment, one project to manage.
- Film · 600 ft S8 @ $0.98
- $588
- VHS · 5 tapes @ $52
- $260
- Photos · 200 @ $1.25 (Pres)
- $250
- Film H&P · $50 + ($6 × 12)
- $122
- Tape H&P · $40 + ($3 × 5)
- $55
- Photo H&P · $30 + ($5 × 2)
- $40
- Vault Family Y1
- $79
- Shipping (mixed)
- ~$54
Total~$1,448
Preservation · full estate
preservation tier
5,000 ft 16mm — bulk pricing
Large project (~12 hours of footage). Bulk discount activates above 2,000 ft. Customer saves $441 on scanning vs. flat-rate pricing.
- Scanning · first 2,000 ft @ $0.98
- $1,960
- Scanning · next 3,000 ft @ $0.98 × 0.85
- $2,499
- H&P · $50 + ($6 × 13)
- $128
- Vault Archive Y1
- $179
- USB 1 TB backup
- $189
- Shipping (both ways)
- ~$100
Total~$5,055
Preservation · bulk activates
Multi-format orders
Mixed media ships as one order — with one shipment, one vault subscription, and separate H&P per service line.
The H&P fee is per service line because the work really is separate — film cleaning is not the same as deck setup, which is not the same as photo batch scanning. But everything else (shipping, vault, project management) consolidates into one order. The calculator handles any mix automatically.
Build your multi-format estimate09 / Where We Stand
Pricing in context.
For a typical 6-reel Super 8 order (~300 ft), here's how FPL stacks up against major competitors. The market is stratified into four tiers — bundle/volume, mid-consumer professional, regional/specialty, and archival/institutional. FPL operates across the top three through tier structure, not by being one thing for one buyer.
| Provider | Estimated total (300 ft) | Resolution | Scanning method | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legacybox bundle | ~$45–75 | SD (projected) | Volume bundle | Volume bundle, SD-level capture, no master file |
| EverPresent base | ~$165 | 2K HD | Frame-by-frame | Frame-by-frame at 2K, basic processing, H.264 only |
| FPL Access | ~$257 | 2K | Frame-by-frame | 2K + vault subscription Y1 included |
| CinePost 2K flat | ~$285 | 2K | Frame-by-frame | 2K flat-rate, scene color billed at $195/hr |
| EverPresent Professional | ~$295 | 2K ProRes HQ | Frame-by-frame | ProRes HQ, AI and stabilization not included |
| FPL Preservation ★ | ~$493 | 2K ProRes HQ | Frame-by-frame | ProRes HQ + Topaz AI + advanced stabilization included |
| Pro8mm / Dijifi (archival) | ~$700–1,200 | 4K DPX | Frame-by-frame | 4K DPX archival studio rates |
The three pricing stories
Story 1. FPL Access at $0.42/ft is $0.06/ft above EverPresent’s base rate. The premium covers vault delivery, real 2K capture (vs. variable HD), and our included basic stabilization and color pass — features that EverPresent considers add-ons or upgrades.
Story 2. FPL Preservation at $0.98/ft is $0.17/ft above EverPresent Professional ($0.81/ft) and $0.18/ft above CinePost’s 2K flat rate ($0.80/ft). The premium is defensible on Topaz AI enhancement and advanced stabilization — neither competitor includes these at that tier. Scene-by-scene color, which CinePost charges $195/hr extra for, is bundled.
Story 3. FPL Archival at $1.65/ft is materially below Dijifi and Pro8mm archival rates ($1.50–3.00/ft typical) while delivering 4K, ProRes 4444, DPX, FADGI documentation, and manual frame-by-frame restoration. Institutional customers see FPL as the value option at archival quality.
Build your estimate
Get an estimate Stop comparing rate cards line by line. Tell us what you have — we’ll show you the complete number, every charge included.
Competitor prices from published rates as of April 2026. FPL totals include every line item (scanning, H&P, vault subscription Y1, at-cost shipping both ways).
10 / Pricing FAQ
Pricing questions, answered.
The pricing and billing questions customers ask most often.
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