Has anyone tried scanmyphotos.com?

Question

My family has MORE PHOTOS then we know what to do with and to scan each one in to my computer would take YEARS of doing NOTHING but scanning...

I saw this article http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/technology/personaltech/14pogue.html?no_interstitial and it looks pretty nifty.

Luckily for me, I have photoshop and paint.net so I can do any type of manipulation needed for restoration etc. at home so I don't have to pay extra for them to do it, so it would be about $0.04 a picture, approximately 1600 pictures per box, and I would get together with my family and get 3 boxes ($124.99 per 1600 photos, do 2 boxes, get the 3rd free so total of 4800 photos for $300.00 and between myself, my grandma, and my aunt, we might even have more then that! LOL!)

It seems worth it since they are scanned in at 300 dpi and I can manipulate them myself once I get the DVD Back...

What do you all think?

If you have used this service, how was it? Did the copies on the DVD come back nice?

I appreciate any info you can give me!

Answer 1

Hello!

I haven't personally used this service, but I do run a similar one for residents of Canada. The price is certainly right at $0.04/photo (we currently charge $0.05, exchange rate ;-p)

Realistically, going through 4800 photos when you get home will not happen! What I suggest is setting up a batch file in PS which will auto level your photos. Another option is to download Google's Picasa 2, which offers batch "I'm feeling lucky" options, which generally make photos look better.

I wont try to sell you my services, as I have no idea how shipping across the border would be, but I can tell you that you will NOT regret the scanning process, as having the peace of mind of your photos is something no family should be without. I will give you a recommendation though, when you get your DVD back, immediately (!!) duplicate it, and keep one copy in a safety deposit box or at a relatives house. Doing this prevents the loss of your DVD, in case anything unfortunate happens. 2 DVDs is standard with all our jobs, and it should be elsewhere too!

As far as picture quality, without any colour correction, the photos will look a bit off. You can fix that easily using the above methods.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to email me [e-mail]