1360 DPI minimum, and Jpg image format are recommended when scanning slides for importing into PowerPoint. 1360 DPI, 35mm scans produce images about 1700 pixels wide on the long side. Today's digital projectors display at 1024 pixels wide, or less. Some large, wide aspect monitors display up to 1920 pixels wide. For this reason, 2000 DPI may be needed to avoid stretching images.

Industrial Photographer - Massachusetts

PowerPoint presentations for Windows Office - PowerPoint XP and Windows 97-2000 are available at no additional cost. To retain your display sequence, numbering of slides ( by you ) and scanning them in that order is required. An "in-sequence" price may be required.

If you'd like a PowerPoint presentation made from your scans, please let Jim know. If you're currently lugging bulky slide projectors and carousels to make your presentations, digitizing your slide shows will make the process so much easier.

Some slides needing conversion scanning for PowerPoint presentations have content, text charts and graphics example, very close to the slide mount border. This has resulted in the need for custom cropping of many slides after the scans are made. Because of this, all scans for use in Power Point may contain a small black border. Read on...

If your digital slides will be used in Powerpoint, use a black background on your Power point slides when importing your images. This allows a bit of your slide mount to be included in the scan, ensuring all is captured. The black border becomes invisible against the black background in your Powerpoint presentation slide.

If your slides are photographs only, not text, line art or graphics, the border can be cropped even when PowerPoint is needed.

• I'd like some prints made from the scans. Do you offer Slide Printing Services?

  Yes but in limited quantity. Only one size print is offered - 12x18 inches. The price per print is $29.00 plus shipping. Prints from your slides will be made with an Epson 2200 inkjet printer using Epson Ultrachrome archival quality inks and Epson Premium Semi-gloss photo paper.
  
  If you need smaller prints from your slides, they can be made using the jpg files on the CD's I provide. Most drug store digital print kiosks offer the most economical printing of slide film scans. Uploading your jpg scans to on-line digital photo print service providers is another economical slide printing option.
  
  

  I've paid a premium for drum scans of my slides. How do scans from the Nikon compare?

  Nobody will argue that drum scanning will extract the most from your film-based images. Drum scanner machines are very expensive and produce superior scans. Most drum scans require that your slide film be removed from the mount and immersed in a liquid solution.

  If you've been using a drum scanning service, ask about a free sample CD-R. You can compare the Nikon versus drum scans. You may discover this service offers an inexpensive alternative to drum scanning.

  What won't you scan?

  I won't scan pornographic or objectionable images. I only accept orders from customers within the United States.
  

  It is required that you are the copyright holder or that you have permission to scan every slide from the copyright holder. In most cases the copyright holder is the photographer.

  Which image format is best? Why is jpg not recommended as the only format to receive?

  TIFF format is recommended for professional archiving and printing of slide film based digital images. There are at least 4 compression methods for TIFF. Jim never compresses TIFF format scans. Be sure your computer has adequate power before ordering 64 + MB, 4000DPI scans.

  Need both formats for convenience? Jim can supply images as tif and jpg files at no additional charge. If you'd like jpg copies of your files included, indicate that on the order form.

  JPG format may be adequate for viewing images on a computer or DVD slide shows. Professionals, who want the highest quality 35MM film scans, always request TIFF format. As mentioned above, jpg files can be included with your tiff files at no additional charge.

  All orders are scanned and initially saved as TIF's so that when rotation and or editing is done, there will be no quality loss from re-saving a jpg. If the customer has requested jpg, the edited tif files are converted to jpg and then CD's are recorded.

  Some might be tempted to go with only jpg format for reduced file sizes, fewer CD's etc. Those experienced with digital imaging understand why jpg is not recommended as a master copy. If you're serious about archiving images, TIF is strongly advised. Do it right the first time!

  JPG files sizes are smaller, but detail, color depth and sharpness are always lost, in varying amounts, depending on compression factor settings. If you want to touch up a JPG file, with each edit/save cycle, the image quality deteriorates further.

  It should be noted that jpg files can be converted to tif and then edited without further loss but, they will not have the same fidelity as files initially created as tiff.

  Image files are saved in RGB color space.

  What if my Kodachrome slides are old and in poor condition?

  Most old slide film has dust, specks and other fine debris stuck to the film surface. When the film to be scanned is not Kodachrome, Digital Ice can do an amazing job at removing these specks.

  The outdated version of Digital Ice was not compatible with Kodachrome. It caused blurring and loss of detail.

  The new version of Digital Ice, Digital Ice4, combined with the Nikon Super Coolscan 5000 ED scanner, allows the dust and scratch removal option to be used on Kodachrome with minimized blurring and loss of detail. Unfortunately, when this new version of Ice is used with in conjunction with a Kodachrome film setting, the dust and scratch removal is only partially successful at removing large specks.

  Some of the slides I want on DVD or CD are blurred or out-of-focus. Can this be improved at the time of scanning?

  Blurred slide film will always result in blurred digital files. Although apparent sharpness can be improved slightly, post-scan, with image editing software, scans from out of focus or blurred slides can not be made sharp. Lack of sharpness in slide film photographs can have many causes. Some of those are: camera movement during the exposure, lens not focused on subject, dirty or fogged lens. Due to the limited depth-of-field of the scanner, warped slide mounts and film not sitting flat in the mount can result in soft areas in the scan.

  Some of my slides are dark or under-exposed. How will the scans from those slides look?

  Hold your slides up in front of a daylight-lit window. Are they bright and vivid? Are the darker details difficult to distinguish? Are there too many words beginning with D in the last sentence?

  The best scans come from properly exposed slide film. Many old cameras under-exposed slide film subjects due the simplicity or inaccuracy of light meters. Inadequate flash is often a cause of under-exposed film. Another cause of under-exposed subjects is a bright background, usually the sky or snow. Exposure levels are more critical with slide film than with print film, especially with Kodak Kodachrome slide film.

  The quality of a film scanner is often measured by how much detail it can reveal in the shadows and darkest parts of an image. The Nikon scanner I use claims a dynamic range of 4.2 and will extract more from your film than lower quality scanners but...

  When under exposed slides are scanned, the resulting scans can be unacceptable. Scans of under-exposed slides will not not reveal the same amount of detail as projection of that slide. This is even more of a problem with Kodachrome film, its emulsion is very dense. Kodachrome is great film but not the best for scanning. Most projectors use powerful bulbs, 300 watts or higher. Don't expect under-exposed slides to result in great scans.
  

  It is possible to improve the appearance of scans made from dark slides with an image editing program. I brighten dark slides from family slide collections at no additional charge, except when the reduced, NO-EDITS pricing is chosen.
  
  

  Most digital image files made from scanning film will look their best after adjustments are made.
  

  How will viewing a slide scan on a monitor compare to viewing a projected slide?

  Projecting 35MM slides in a darkened room is the absolute BEST way to view them. It's not reasonable to expect slide scans to look that good, no matter how they are viewed. However, most slide scans look great on a properly adjusted monitor.

  When viewing projected slides, powerful 300W, or higher, projector lamps shine through the film displaying the image with extreme realism, almost as if the observer was viewing the original scene. The brightest highlights and darkest shadows are usually preserved, even with slightly inaccurate film exposures. Slide film scans will not show the same amount of detail as projected slides. With a digital version, the areas of an images which are the darkest, shadows etc, will often show less detail than projecting that same slide. Colors might not be as vivid or saturated in a scan as compared to view a "projected" slide.  Color saturation can be enhanced, post-scan. Frames which were slightly under-exposed by the camera might look acceptable when projected, but often those darker shots result in disappointing scans, even after they are enhanced.

  High-Contrast 35MM Slides
  

  A typical high contrast slide might be composed of a bright sky with white clouds in the background while the foreground and subject is in overcast or shadow. Bright backgrounds often cause under-exposure of a subject.
  

  Photographing high contrast scenes like the one described above requires a compromising exposure value within the camera. Not quite enough exposure for dark areas, maybe a little to much for the brightest highlights in a scene, an exposure somewhere in between the perfect exposure for each brightness level in the scene.
  
  Here is an example of a slide which would be very difficult to get a good exposure from. If the original is Kodachrome, a polarizer was used and the scene is extremely high contrast with harsh lighting. The use of a polarizer often causes a variation in sky brightness which can be exaggerated in the scan. Another issue a polarizer often causes when scanning is exaggerated grain, especially on overly darkened skies. These types of slides might look OK when projected, but scans of them are often a disappointment. A recent customer sent lots of slides of the coast of Hawaii. The film was Kodachrome, a polarizer was used, there were white bright clouds in the background, white foam from waves, and the foreground was often in shade and consisted of black lava rocks. The darkest shadows could be brightened, but the scans still did not look great even after enhancements. The darker areas of those slides were under exposed in the camera The quality lost during scanning amplifies this. I did not bill him for many of those scans.

  Digital camera images can often "outshine" slide film scans. The digital camera eliminates the scanning step. Digital cameras are often better than slide film at recording both the brightest and darkest areas of a scene.
  

  In most cases, high contrast scans are enhanced manually in Adobe Photoshop CS2.

  Before scanning slides to CD, do you clean them?

  Yes, if needed. If they appear dusty. Old Kodachrome slides are sometimes brushed lightly with a soft brush, then blown off with low-pressure, compressed air. If your slides are very dusty, it is recommended that you brush both sides of each slide before sending them for scanning. If you brush your Kodachromes, please make a note on the order form. Use only a clean, very soft brush. This will help loosen debris on your slides.

  From the minute your film leaves its canister inside your camera, it is subject to environmental contaminants, moisture, etc. Condensation can leave water spots on slide film. Tiny specks can be an issue when scanning film, especially at high resolution. If you plan on making large prints from your scans, expect to have to clean up the image files before printing.

  Very dirty transparencies will definitely benefit from the Digital Ice dust and scratch removal process. As noted above, Digital Ice does not work as well on Kodachrome slide film as it does with other film types, such as Fuji Provia, Fuji Velvia , Kodak Ektachrome and KODAK ELITE Chrome slide film.

  Brushing and blowing slides off does not remove stains, fingerprints and other tiny debris, which has become stuck to your film over time. Most slides have tiny specks, lines and surface blemishes, especially noticeable in bright, single color areas of the image, like the sky. Small specks are much less noticeable on dark sections of an image. High resolution scanning will reveal the tiniest imperfections on your film. Read here for more information about the Digital Ice dust and scratch removal option.

  Some transparency film types are vulnerable to fungus that eats film emulsion. Old Kodak Kodachrome slides, stored in less than perfect conditions, are exceptionally vulnerable to fungus.

  Slides can become coated with fine debris or stains. Sometimes customers are surprised to find these conditions when viewing high resolution scans of their film. That is why...

  You are urged to inspect each of your slides before shipping! A magnifier or light table won't do it. Projecting them large, and viewing up close, on a white wall (not a rough surface slide projector screen) in a very dark room will help you see flaws and marks on your film. You'll be surprised at how dirty some transparencies are. From experience with my own slides, even transparencies direct from processing labs can be dirty. I won't use the Phoenix, Arizona Fuji film processing lab again.

  Negative film is more prone to scratching than slide film. Digital Ice is often needed when scanning negatives, Kodak color negatives etc.

  Will your slides on CD ROM 's & DVD s work on the MAC platform?

  Yes. When DVD's are requested, DVD-R format disks are used for Mac compatibility.
  

  My slides are sorted by roll and frame number. Can you name the files accordingly?

  Can you scan my slides in order?

  What about grouping?

  Scanning your film based slide presentation in order is especially helpful when you're converting slides to digital for PowerPoint presentations.

  Call Jim if you need a PowerPoint presentation made from your slides. Special arrangements can can be made to scan slides in sequence for PowerPoint.

  Image file names will be assigned by the scanning software. In most cases they are sequentially numbered. Once you copy the image files to your hard drive, you can rename the image files to meet your needs.

  I'm often asked to separate groups of slide scans into folders on the disk, with groups labeled by date for example. In the past I have done this. A recent order of 350 slides was separated into 16 different groups, dramatically increasing the job time. Due to the increased processing times involved, separating slides by groups is no longer an option except in special circumstances. A $5.00 fee per group may apply for each group / folder required.

  Do you rotate the slide scans when needed?

  Always, unless you indicate it's not needed on the order form. With some photographs, especially medical and dental images, it's impossible to determine landscape or portrait orientation. In those cases, no rotation is done. Each image is reviewed to ensure quality, sharpness etc.

  Can you make digital slide shows?
  

  Call Jim if you need a PowerPoint presentation made from your slides. Special arrangements can can be made to scan slides in sequence for conversion to PowerPoint.

  Jim can create pleasing computer slides shows (for the PC, Windows 98 or better) with smooth dissolves from one image to the next and background music. Slide shows can be added to a CD-R and can be made to run when the CD-R is inserted into a drive. Jim uses Slide Show to Go. A free 30 day trial version of this software is available for you to download. If you need a slide show created from your slides, call Jim for details. If you buy Slide Show to Go, ($20.95 on CD) you can make your own slide shows from Jim's scans of your images. Windows XP has a built in, but very limited, slide show feature.

  Can you create DVD Slide shows for TV?

  The scans Jim provides can be converted to a DVD side-show by you if you have access to a computer with a DVD write drive.
  
  Jim creates data DVD only for computer file access. Although I have the capability to create DVD slides shows on DVD, I'm not offering that service at this time, only data DVD. If you need a DVD slide show for TV viewing, I can refer you to a reputable DVD slide show provider.
  

  If a DVD slide show from slides, for TV viewing only, is your primary goal call, Jim at ( 781-244-5655 ) for a referral to a well established professional in the DVD slideshow field.
  

  Most of the newer DVD players (for televisions) will display jpg images from CD-R and data DVD on your TV. Don't expect the same image fidelity from TV, that you'll see on a computer monitor. Most television sets don't have near the resolution (sharpness) or color quality of a computer monitor. Televisions are designed to display moving pictures, not still photos. Flicker is sometimes a problem with still images displayed on TV's.

  How long will slides on DVD or CD last?

  I don't know ! The more copies you have, the better. The first thing you should do when receiving slide scans on disk is to copy all files to your hard disk. If you have more than one computer, copy files to all computers. YOU SHOULD MAKE BACK-UP COPIES OF YOUR DISKS. The CDs and DVDs I provide are basically a means of delivery. Optical disk shelf life can be limited.

  If long-term image preservation is your goal, make more than one back-up copies of your DVD or CD. Store sets off-site, and in other buildings on your property, so that in the event of catastrophe your images files will survive.

  Digital image files should be transferred to the most stable media as new forms of digital file storage become available in the future. External hard-drives are another digital storage device to consider for long term storage of your digital data.

  CD-R's and recordable DVDs are made using a light sensitive dye. Avoid exposing CD-R's and DVDs to direct sunlight and prolonged exposure to any light.

  Don't make the mistake of relying on just one CD-R or set of CD-R's as the only source of your image files. If you have two computers, copy the slide scan files to both hard drives. Make multiple back-up copies of each CD.

  I use only quality, name brand recordable media, never bargain brands. Every CD or DVD is finalized to deliver the most stable product to you. Each CD ships in its own hard plastic case. When available, I provide CD cases that block light from the recording side of the CD.
  

  The shelf-life of recordable media is limited. CD and DVD shelf life limits are often quoted but the figures are estimates. A must-read page about digital image file archiving is here.

  I never apply stickers ( labels ) to a compact disk. Glue from labels may shorten readable life. Labels applied to CD's or DVD disks tend to peel over time.
  

  Don't write on CD-R's or DVD with just any marker. The inks in some can damage disks over time. There are markers made specifically for marking optical media, available at office supply stores. It's safer to write on a light blocking case than it is to write on optical disks.

  Saugus Photos Online
  Slide Scanning Service
  108 Winter St.
  Saugus, Massachusetts 01906
  United States of America
  Telephone 781-244-5655 Verizon wireless

  
  Call 7 days-a-week !

  Contact Jim by telephone before shipping your order.
  Please include an order form. Please bookmark this page or better yet, print the printer friendly version.
  
  Pricing - Testimonials - FAQ - Client Sample - Order Form
  
  Copyright © 2007 Saugus Photos Online - J.F. Harrington
  Copyright Notice
  

  This is a mail order business serving the entire USA. So that people from every state, who search for a slide scanning service might find this page, the 50 US state names have been added. This levels the playing field too :-) AL Alabama AK Alaska AR Arkansas AZ Arizona CA California CO Colorado CT Connecticut DC District of Columbia DE Delaware FL Florida GA Georgia HI Hawaii ID Idaho IA Iowa IL Illinois IN Indiana KS Kansas KY Kentucky LA Louisiana MA Massachusetts MD Maryland ME Maine MI Michigan MO Missouri MN Minnesota MS Mississippi MT Montana NC North Carolina ND North Dakota NE Nebraska NH Salem New Hampshire NJ New Jersey NM New Mexico NY New York NV Nevada OH Ohio OK Oklahoma OR Oregon PA Pennsylvania RI Rhode Island SC South Carolina SD South Dakota TN Tennessee TX Texas UT Utah VA Virginia VT Vermont WA Washington WI Wisconsin WV West Virginia WY Wyoming Albuquerque, N.M. Atlanta, GA. Austin, Baltimore, Md. Boston, Mass. Charlotte, N.C. Chicago, Ill. Cleveland, Ohio Colorado Springs, Colo. Columbus, Ohio Dallas, Tex. Denver, Colo. Detroit, Mich. El Paso, Tex. Fort Worth, Tex. Fresno, Calif. Honolulu, Hawaii Houston, Tex. Indianapolis, Ind. Jacksonville Florida slide scanning. Kansas City, Mo. Las Vegas, Nev. Long Beach, Calif. Los Angeles, Calif. Memphis, Tenn. Mesa, Ariz. Miami, Fla. Milwaukee, Wis. Minneapolis. Nashville-Davidson, TN. New Orleans, La. New York, N.Y. Oakland, Calif. Oklahoma City, Okla. Omaha, Neb. Philadelphia, Pa. Phoenix, Ariz. Portland, Ore. Sacramento, St. Louis, Mo. San Antonio, TX. San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, Washington. Tucson, AZ. Tulsa. Virginia Beach, Va. Washington, DC Wichita. Local towns and cities, a short distance from the slide scanning service are Salem and also include Lynn, Wakefield, Revere, Melrose, Malden, Beverly, Cambridge, Brockton.Fitchburg, Gloucester, Rockport, Medford, Lowell, Haverhill, Methuen, Newburyport, Peabody, Danvers, Somerville, Worcester, Watertown, West Springfield - 35MM Slides to CD - Not nearby are Franklin, Mount Pleasant, Riverside, Greenwood, Centerville, Oak Grove, Georgetown, Midway ;-)

  Visits since 12/29/03
  
  Counter by Digits.com

  Viewers and customers are encouraged to add a link to this page on your Web site. If you add links to this page, let Jim know and he'll return the favor by adding a link to your site.

  ---

  Kodak Slide Films - Fuji Professional Slide Film
  
  Massachusetts Photographer Services
• You can test your TV-DVD player to determine its jpg file playing capability. If you have a CD or DVD burner on your computer, copy some of your own jpg files to a disk and finalize it. Then try accessing your images with the TV-DVD player.

• Bookmark this page (CTRL+D)

  Pricing - FAQ - Client Sample - Order Form
  Boston Area - Massachusetts Photographer

For Jim's stock photos please vist the following links:

• New Hampshire Photos Stock Images
• Florida Photos Stock
• Maine Photos Stock
• Massachusetts Photos Stock
• Military Aircraft Photos
• White Mountans Photos
• Hampton Beach Photos
• Boston Photos
• Foliage Photos
• Red Sox Photos
• 35MM Slides to CD & DVD Conversion