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Q. Why should I have my slides, negatives and prints digitally preserved? A. It is well known among photography archivists and preservationists that photo film, negatives, slides, and printed images will decompose over time. The time it takes for this decomposition to take place depends upon the way these items have been stored. Heat, light, smoke, and handling all act to accelerate this reaction. Experts believe that most of the pictures taken in the last 100-150 years will be rendered unintelligible and unusable within the next 20 to 50 years. There is a furious effort currently underway to preserve as many historically significant images as possible by carefully scanning them to digital files while there is still time. If you want to safeguard your family's photographic history, your best course of action is archival quality scanning to DVD or CD before the images deterioriate irreparably. DigitalCachet considers this a critically important service to our customers, as do many others in our industry. For a more detailed look at this issue, please check out this 2003 Washington Post article, Buried Treasure. Q. How do I get my images to DigitalCachet? A. We recommend that you package your original photos, slides, negatives, or other material per the instructions provided on our "Shipping Instructions" page. This gives us the opportunity to scan these items using our own high resolution professional grade scanners to a very specific protocol which we have found to produce the best possible restoration results. Q. What is the basic approach used by DigitalCachet for photo restoration? A. First, what the approach is not... it is NOT an assembly line process. Photo restoration is an art, and each project requires a thorough assessment of the damage to be repaired, consultation with the image owner, and a defect by defect customized effort to restore each image to the degree possible. Not all images are equal in this process. Some restore very well, but some have been left to decay too long and too much of the critical information needed by the restoration artist has been lost. Some may have been incorrectly scanned. These images can generally be substantially improved, but may have remaining faults. Some "restorers" attempt to "paint" over these faults with a resulting flat effect. DigitalCachet attempts to stay as true as possible to the original image. Efforts which require the "creation" of significant image content will be discussed with the image owner first. For archival work (slide/negative/photo scanning) rather than restoration work, we will take advantage of software tools such as Digital Ice to clean up spots and dust, but we always manually check these processes to make sure they don't create some other problem, and we make minor adjustments to color, exposure, or contrast if needed. Quality is always our prime consideration. Q. How will I get my completed project and original materials back from DigitalCachet? A. We will use USPS Priority mail to return your completed project and original materials. The package will be insured to the cost of the total project plus an amount you specify for the original materials. Q. What if I need reprints or replacement of the project CD? A. DigitalCachet will maintain an archive copy of your finished project on CD or DVD. If your project CD is damaged or lost, we will be happy to replace it for a nominal fee. If you need reprints of any of your project images, we encourage you to contact us for this service. We will use our archive copy of your project as the source file to ensure that you see the same high quality you previously experienced with us. Q. What happens with my original photo? A. Your original photo, slide, negative, or other submission will be returned to you unaltered. All of our work is done on a digital copy of your original image. Q. How long will it take to process my order? A. Usually, a week is sufficient to complete most projects. During holiday seasons, it may take longer to complete your project. It may be possible to expedite your order for an additional fee. Q. How much will my project cost? A. Please check our "Order" page and review our standard pricing form. Additional customization will be quoted on an individual project basis. |