1Scan

Our print scanning is done on Kodak scanners, which we believe are the best print scanners available; along with Epson for larger images.

Yes, we have some sample scans here.

Yes, your originals photos will be mailed back to you along with the CD or DVD with your digital photos.

Yes we can, up to A4 size; in colour and monochrome. However these cannot be scanned by our Kodak scanners, they need to be scanned by hand on our Epson flattbed scanner. As this takes much longer we charge more to scan these photos.

Our scanner works best on flat, square prints where the image covers the entire surface. These constitute the vast majority of the images we are sent and feedback from our clients is very positive.

Some prints give our scanner more of a challenge. Typically these are older prints, often going back to the 1950s and beyond, where printing technology was different. Normally these images have a white border, these prints are scanned and will appear with a white border. At various times photo processors have used paper with a crinkly, shaped border (normally also with a white border too). Our machine will scan the entire area and then try to crop the scan as best it can. In these cases there will be a small black area outside the irregular edges as the scanner makes a square as best it can.

Today's modern prints are cut with high quality guillotines and are square. Older prints are often very slightly off square; sometimes people trim their photos - it's very difficult to create a perfect square. If one or two edges aren't square the resulting scanned image can have a slight black border.

As prints age they can start to curl. When curled prints, particularly small prints, go through the scanner an otherwise square print can appear to have edges that are slightly out of true. This can result in a small area of black around the scan.

Photobooks can be printed in paperback, hardback, cloth bound or in hand crafted bonded leather. All books are bound to the highest standards to ensure many years of enjoyment.

Our photobooks are made by a specialist firm of printers and binders based in West London. They are mailed directly from the printer to you.

We scan 35mm negatives on Nikon Coolscan 5000 scanners, larger negatives such as medium format are scanned on Epson.

Yes. There are no copy controls or other restrictions placed on the scans we create for you from your photos. You can therefore use them to create photobooks just as you would your own digital photos or if you scanned the photos yourself.

Yes, we'll return your slides along with your scanned images on CD or DVD.

LCD projectors are becoming increasingly popular, and of course they can be used to show slides and negatives scanned by 1Scan. Our advice is to buy the best unit you can afford, but go in particular for the unit with the highest resolution because (all other factors being equal) that will give the most detailed image. Several terms are used to describe projector resolutions:
SVGA - 800 x 600 pixels
XGA - 1024 x 768 pixels
SXGA - 1280 x 1024 pixels
If you set your PC monitor to the lower resolutions you'll get a comparative idea of the quality each can display.
The other key term is lumen. This is a measure of the brightness of light, and therefore the relative darkness you'll need to view the image.

Yes, we can now scan APS films.

The images are scanned into high resolution jpg files. Here is APS scanning pricing.

All videos must be European PAL format; we can't handle NTSC. More on video formats.

Hi8, Video8, Digital 8, VHS, VHS-C and Mini-DV.

We can convert your original videotapes into DVDs and make additional copy DVDs. We also work for many solicitors, accountants and private enquiry agents to make copies of DVDs. More details here.

Yes, we can make more copies of your image disc but there is a charge for this. If you have disc copying software on your PC (or Mac) you can do this yourself.

We typically offer jpg or tiff files.

The Home Service for slide or negative scanning provides scans to jpg files. The Professional Service delivers tiff images.

Our Print Scanning service creates jpg files.

If you have a particular file type requirement please contact us.

Yes, you can. Our digital image files are in standard jpg or tiff so you can open and edit them in any image editing program (Kodak Easyshare, Photoshop, Aperture, Picassa, ACDSee etc). You can also print at home from our files.

This is a feature built in to our slide and negative scanners which automatically removes dust and scratches from images. It's a hardware device which dramatically cleans your scans, and saves you hours of post-processing. Unfortunately Digital ICE doesn't always work with Kodachrome slides, or black & white negatives that contain silver.

Yes, down to a single frame.

4.0 DMax

Yes, you can. We don't use any type of copy protection so prints can be made directly from the CD or DVD we supply at High Street stores such as Boots or Currys. You can also use one of the many online print services such as Kodak's.

When your work is complete we will send you an invoice, you can pay by cheque, bank transfer or PayPal.

We have done work for clients in USA, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand, Holland and Finnland. If you can mail your photos, slides, negatives or video tapes to us in the UK then we'll do the work and mail it back to you.
Payment is handled by PayPal, we;ll invoice you in Sterling and you can pay in your local currency.
If you want to know how much return postage is likely to cost you'll find detailed price guides on the Royal Mail's web site - royalmail.com.

We try to get every job back as quickly as we can, but please allow up to two weeks for longer projects (typically converting multiple videotape conversions). If you need your work completed by a particular deadline please let us know, we'll do our best to get the work done quickly.

If you live nearby, or would like to make the journey, you're welcome to drop your photos, slides, negatives or video tapes into us in person. The address is on the contact page. We get many visitors from Brentwood, Hutton, Shenfield, Billericay, and Ongar - we've even had people from Kent, Oxford, Colchester and London make the journey to Brentwood.