No doubt, the most radical shift in the past 150 years in photography has been the transition from chemical based processes to digital image capture. Digital photography has exploded in recent years largely driven by increases in the price-performance and popularity of today’s digital cameras. Add to that the fact that digital cameras are being integrated into everything from smartphones to game consoles, and the scale of the revolution becomes quite obvious.

But what about all those pre-digital photos accumulated over the decades when traditional photography reigned? It’s been estimated that nearly 1 trillion photos have been taken since the beginning of the last century alone and a significant portion of those photos still exist. Many of those images are likely scattered across private collections, family archives and institutional repositories – many targeted for digital conversion.

Scanning photos can be a chore, not to mention a technical challenge for many. Consequently, in recent years using a photo scanning service to digitize photos has become commonplace. Why are photo scanning services increasingly winning out over the DIY approach?

Top 3 Benefits of Using a Photo Scanning Service

1)  Saving Time – Scanning negatives, digitizing slides and  converting photos to digital takes time – even with the most advanced equipment and optimized workflows, scanning times are often measured in minutes, not seconds. The time it take to scan and process a typical slide or negative can often exceeds 5 minutes per image. Using a photo scanning service can save you lots of time, especially if your collection is more than just a few photos.

2)  Saving Money – Photo scanning services typically use the most advanced scanners and imaging technology. Buying similar high performance equipment could cost you many thousands of dollars and leave you with an investment that hard to liquidate. Even buying high-end consumer grade scanners would could require scanning thousand of photos to match the per scan cost of using a photo scanning service.

3)  Getting Better Quality Results – Creating high quality digital images from traditional photos is a function of several factors. Scanner quality and performance, experience and skills, specialized processes and techniques all impact the quality of converted images. Many photo scanning services have invested significant resources to ensure that they deliver the best digital image quality possible for their customers.

Photo Credit / Creative Commons Nico Kaiser