35mm Film Negative Scanning
Waco, Texas
Mail-in digitization for 35mm color and black-and-white negatives. Proper inversion, color correction, and JPEG + TIFF output. No extra charge for B&W. Originals returned.
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What to expect
35mm negatives are scanned at 3,000 DPI in their strip format — you don't need to cut or separate individual frames. We work with strips in original sleeves or archival negative pages.
Each frame is inverted from the negative image and color-corrected to produce a positive image with accurate, neutral tones. Black-and-white negatives are inverted to grayscale and tonal-mapped separately from color — we don't apply color correction to B&W.
Output: JPEG + TIFF per frame, organized by roll number or sleeve label. Turnaround: 4–6 weeks standard, 2 weeks rush (+50%).
What we handle
We scan standard 35mm negative strips (typically 4–6 frames per strip). Common film types include:
- Kodak Gold, Ultramax, Ektar, Portra (color negative)
- Fujifilm Superia, Pro 400H (color negative)
- Kodak T-MAX, Tri-X, Plus-X (B&W)
- Ilford HP5, FP4, Delta (B&W)
- Any standard C-41 color or traditional B&W process
- Cross-processed negatives (we note unusual color casts on intake)
We don't handle: 120/medium format, 4×5 sheet film, APS cartridges, or unprocessed film.
How to prepare your negatives for shipping
- → Keep negatives in original sleeves or archival pages — bare negatives scratch easily and collect dust
- → If you have original envelope labels from a photo lab, keep those with the strips — they often have the roll number and date
- → Don't clean negatives with household products — fingerprints and dust are fixable; chemical residue is harder to deal with
- → Curled or warped strips: note it on your intake form — we'll let you know if any are too curled to lie flat in the scanner
- → Ship USPS Priority Mail with tracking. Use padded envelopes or a rigid box to prevent bending.
Questions about negative scanning
I have rolls from a family member's camera — the film was never developed. Can you develop it?
No — we only scan film that has already been processed. Undeveloped (unexposed or latent image) film needs lab processing before it can be scanned. C-41 color film can still be processed by mail-in film labs even decades after exposure, though expect color shift. Black-and-white film lasts even longer.
There are several mail-in film labs that develop and can return negatives unscanned — then you can send the negatives to us for scanning.
Some of my negatives have a heavy orange color cast. Is that normal?
Yes. Color negative film has an orange base layer — that's the mask used in the C-41 process to improve color reproduction. It's not a problem; our scanning software strips that mask out during inversion. The output will look like a normal positive photo.
Can you tell which frames are from which event or family?
Only if they're labeled. We organize by roll number or sleeve label. We don't identify people, dates, or events in unlabeled film. If your collection is organized into labeled envelopes ("Christmas 1978," "Uncle Ray's Farm"), we preserve that labeling in the output file names.
What if some of my negatives are from the 1960s or earlier?
Older color negatives (pre-1980, particularly) often have significant color fading and shift — reds disappear first, leaving a cyan-blue cast. Our color correction software can substantially improve this, but it can't fully restore completely faded dye layers. We'll let you know on intake if any rolls are heavily degraded.
Black-and-white silver gelatin negatives from this era often scan very well — silver is stable and doesn't fade the way dye-based color film does.
Do I need to count individual frames, or just rolls?
For your intake form estimate, rolls or rough frame counts are fine. A standard 35mm roll has 24 or 36 exposures. We count frames on intake and confirm the actual total before billing. Overage (if you go over your tier cap) is $0.15 per frame.