Preserve your memories ​forever and for others.

Helping you create safe, searchable and shareable photo collections.

Don't have time to prepare your photos for scanning? This customer enjoyed the no-hassle option for creating his ideal collection. Discover how I took his "not ready for primetime" photos and got them in "ready-to-scan" condition for him.

PREP AND SCAN SERVICE

SPECIALTY SCANNING PROJECT

Print with tape and adhesive stuck to the backside

Oversized paper on which photos had to be removed and cleaned

Customer Collection
This customer had a collection of family photos that were strewn about in a huge bin. Briefly reviewing the items upon arrival, I could see that some photos were in frames, others were taped to large pieces of paper, and the rest were loose. At first glance, they seemed to be in fairly decent condition.

HOW WE WORK OUR MAGIC FOR YOU

Personal Approach
In our phone conversation, the customer informed me as to the state of the family photos and that they had been kept in a house with a smoker. He shared with me why he was wanting them preserved and what his plans were for them. Because the items were not in ready to scan condition and might need a more thorough cleaning due to the smoke, I told him that I could prep his items for him for an additional fee to save him the trouble. He said that sounded good to him! I would remove the photos from the frames, clean the photos more thoroughly as needed and bundle and prep the photos for scanning. 

When he dropped off his photos, he confirmed that he wanted to go with archival quality resolution so that he and his family members could enlarge or edit the photos in the future and be assured of great results. I also did a quick overview of the items and gave him an estimated amount of time I thought it would take to get the items ready to scan. 

When I started work on this project and began sifting through the items, I discovered:

• many loose photos had tape, glue or paper stuck to the backside (can't use the auto scanner for these which is a less expensive way to scan)
  
• one photo was water damaged and stuck to the glass (that wasn't getting unstuck!)
• there were over 60 photos taped to several oversized sheets of paper with some photos overlapping each other (the paper was larger than my flatbed and overlapping photos can't be cropped out properly)
• the photos were quite dirty (photos are dust magnets), but they were flat and not curled or warped  (every photo would need a thorough cleaning to get the best scan)

It's usually an overlooked fact that it takes quite a bit of time and effort to get photos properly ready to scan so that a great result can be achieved.  As much as I wish it were true, photos and other items thrown into a box or bin cannot be pulled out and immediately scanned like ones that have been neatly bundled and are in ready-to-scan condition. Not taking the time to properly prepare the photos is a recipe for bad scans and a disappointing digital collection. 

Every photo must be checked for issues, bundled by size and condition (can they be auto scanned or will they need flatbed scanning?), dusted, removed from albums or envelopes, etc. This customer understood the time investment and was happy to have me do the grunt work for him. Of course, that's why I offer this option! To free my customers to do what they want instead of what they don't or would procrastinate on.

To get this collection ready, I sorted the loose photos by condition, removed the photos from the frames, as well as removed the photos taped to the oversized pieces of paper. I then cleaned the photos of dirt and any tape or glue that would easily come off. Although the loose photos with tape or glue could have been flatbed scanned from the get-go without removing it, it was more cost-effective to clean the easiest ones and put them through the auto scanner. I also cleaned the topside of the glass with the photo stuck to it prior to scanning to get the cleanest possible scan. 

Success Story

The customer was thrilled to get his new digital collection just a few days later. He enjoyed not having to do all the work prepping his photos which freed his time to engage in other activities such as enjoying time with his family or friends.

The photo that was stuck to the glass came out amazingly well! The method I used eliminated any possible damage to the photo. A photo editing program can be used to do some corrective and touch up work to get it looking great again if desired.

​In the end, the time it took to prepare over 300 photos for scanning was in line with his budgeted amount. I also came across a few duplicates, which I always try to be on the lookout for, especially when I'm doing the prep work for the customer.

Keep this Prep Service option in mind if you have a box of thrown together memories similar to this customer's. You'll enjoy knowing that an expert is on the job helping to make your life just a little bit less chaotic and a lot more joyful!

Same print with the tape and adhesive successfully removed

No Muss, No Fuss