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DIGITAL SCANNING:

The Future is Now.

Finally, you aren't forced to choose between GENTLE HANDLING, GREAT PICTURE QUALITY, and SPEED.

We use the Kodak PS50 Picture Saver System to quickly and gently create crisp, rich digital scans of your photos.

 

Let us show you a few concepts and options before you choose which scanning package is right for you.

PRE-SCANNING PREPARATIONS
Before you reach out, it's a good idea to take inventory of what photos you have. 
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CHECK THE CONDITION OF YOUR PRINTS
Take careful notice of the overall condition of your photos in order to determine what level of care they will need. The majority of pictures are sure to be just fine sent and stored in paper envelopes, but your ability to identify and separate prints with active hazards could prevent damage to your other prints. 
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Depending on how the prints have been stored, MOLD caused by wet conditions, and CRUMBLING, BRITTLE EDGES caused by hot and dry conditions, could be present. An accurate count of how many prints affected by these kinds of damage is essential for FPV to provide you with an accurate price quote. 
Pre Scanning Prep
Next, check for rubber bands, tape, and other adhesives stuck to the front and back of each print.
Sometimes these can be used as short term methods to group or display prints, but they are extremely hazardous to the clean preservation of other prints stored near them. 
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ISOLATE DAMAGED PRINTS
If you do find that one or several of your photo prints has a sticky residue or any kind on it, gently separate it from any pictures it may be stuck to and place it in its own plastic sandwich bag - NEVER a paper envelope. Now, check the other prints that were stored near it, and make sure the residue didn't spread. If it had, you had better grab the whole box of sandwich baggies. 

Examples of prints considered "curled/warped" and "dry/brittle"

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Extra steps are required to safely scan prints such as these.

If you own prints which have dried out and are crumbling from age, the special handling you use may ensure the photo even survives long enough for us to scan! 
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The best way to prevent a brittle photo from crumbling further is to limit its overall flexion.
     First, carefully lay the print, face up, on a piece of clean cardboard or stiff card stock cut to the same size of the photo.  
     Then take a "clear plastic side-loading page protectors" (available at any office supply store) and gently slide the print and the cardboard inside at the same time. 
     Finally take another piece of cardboard cut to the same size as the first and lay it over the plastic sleeve on the image side of the print, so it sandwiches the print between the other piece of cardboard.
     Now tape cardboard in place and make a note that the package is fragile and should be kept horizontal at all times. 

Scanning Methods: Auto-Feed or Flat Scan

To cover the various needs of our customers, we employ not only the traditional Flatbed method of scanning, also seen in photocopiers, but also a high-speed Auto-Feed Scanner.
Certainly the most cost-effective way to reliably scan large numbers of prints quickly, the Auto Feed Scanner also boasts the ability to scan both sides of a photo or document simultaneously.
 
Till recently, mechanical document feeders have been considered unsafe for anything except sheets of standard weight, A4 sized "copier paper," but yet again KODAK has proven themselves as a leader in the field of capturing memories.  
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If your photo collection is largely comprised of uniformly sized prints (4x6, 5x7...) in good condition, auto feed scanning is an affordable way to capture a great number of images very quickly. 
However, if you are scanning anything that is fragile, or compromised in any way - Flat Scanning is still the best, and in the opinion of Family Photo Vault, the ONLY option. 
No matter what your situation needs, we are excited to provide you and your photos with whatever care they require to be preserved for the future. 
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Contact us today to begin the task you've been putting off (but KNOW you need to do!)
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