Scanning 35mm slides is not typically at the top of our to-do list, but it should be. The majority of us either took or inherited a pile of old 35mm slides that we put away in our garage or attic. Slides were once a very popular means of taking and sharing photos. I remember enjoying slide shows of family vacations to Yosemite and Grand Teton when I was a child; those big screens and slide carousels were the original way of photo sharing.

But now for many of us, those slides lie long-forgotten, gathering dust, fading away and perhaps even getting moldy. After a while slides may well become dark and attain a funny blue or red hue. That's not exactly appealing and it likely will continue unless you do something. Luckily, scanning old 35mm slides, negatives and paper pictures they will have a new lease on life and will be protected from more damage, and you can show them off to your children and grandchildren.

Challenges with At-Home 35mm Slide Scanning

So we know we should be scanning 35mm slides if we want to preserve them, but should we do it at home or use a service? Should you own as few as five hundred slides and want high quality results, you'll require a scanner. Medium-grade flat bed scanners typically cost approximately two hundred dollars. A professional quality 35mm scanner such as the Nikon Coolscan 5000ED will set you back about $1500. Yikes! Moreover, they could have diminished color or become an unbecoming shade of pink, or be blemished. You'll have to correct the color of each and every image with photo software like Photoshop So now you have to invest additional money for photo software (Photoshop runs about $600) plus have the skill to use it, not to mention the time — about 40 very boring hours.

Advantages of Utilizing a Slide Scanning Service

The use of a slide scanning service will most definitely save you from many hours of tedium and possibly save you money as well. As well as scanning 35mm slides to digital images, most places scan negatives, transparencies and prints. All you have to do is package your photos and 35mm slides and mail them off. One of the service components is cleaning images of dust/smears and touching up minor flaws. After they have been digitized, most services will make corrections such as crop, redeye repair, and fixing faded or shifted colors. Envision this: those old photos of smiling faces and pixie cuts will have new life.

Get Your Photos on DVD to Share

As soon as the scanning process is finished your originals are shipped back with an archive quality DVD containing your new images. Now you can start to have some fun with them. Apart from knowing your old photos will be preserved, you will now be able to share them on DVD with family and friends, design a book of your family history, make a web gallery to enjoy on line and much more.

There is no question that scanning 35mm slides to digital, whether you use a service or do it yourself, takes some effort, but knowing your one-of-a-kind photos will be safe from the ravages of time will be worth it.