Hello and welcome to this week’s FOREVER Digitization Connection! Today, I would like to talk with you about negatives.

A common question we get here at the FOREVER Digitization Facility is, “what is better to digitize - the original photo negative or the printed version of the photo?” Well, that depends. How were your negatives stored? If they were tossed in a box and set on a shelf in your hot garage for example, your negatives could be degraded and scratched, so the printed version of the photo would be the better choice. If your negatives were stored neatly in a cool, dry location, and inspected for any scratches or wear on them, digitizing the negatives with FOREVER could be the better option than the printed version of your photos.

We digitize 35mm negatives, APS Advantix negatives, and 110mm negatives up to 2” x 2” in size. We also process negatives larger than 2” x 2”, but these negatives need extra care. These larger negatives are considered specialty scans. When organizing your negatives for digitizing, please separate your negatives from your specialty scans as they will be invoiced differently.

All negatives are hand-dusted before capture, scanned at 3000 dpi, and saved as high-quality .jpg files. We use state-of-the-art image capturing equipment and color correction software to achieve the best quality possible for your negatives.

When counting your negatives to send in for digitization, we invoice by the image, not the strip. We strongly suggest counting your images before sending them in, so you are aware of your final cost. If you do not want the entire strip scanned, that's no problem! Please mark the images that you do not want scanned. Small stickers placed directly on the images (as long as they don't hang over the edges of the negative strip) you do not want scanned work best. You can also use a permanent marker to place an "X" on the image if you don’t intend to print it in the future.

To estimate the cost of your order, whether it be with negatives or other items, try out our Photo & Video Digitization Estimator.

Our technicians handle your negatives with the highest level of care, so you can confidently share these cherished memories with your friends and family for generations to come.