Austin Video Solutions · South Austin, TX · By Appointment
Photo, Slide & Negative Scanning in Austin
Your photos, slides, and negatives are some of the most irreplaceable things you own. Unlike tapes, there's often only one copy. A single shoebox of prints or a tray of 35mm slides can hold decades of family history — and most of it is sitting in a closet, unseen and at risk.
Austin Video Solutions hand-scans every image individually using professional flatbed and film scanners. No bulk auto-feeders. No abrasive rollers. No batch processing that treats your grandmother's wedding portrait the same as a random receipt.
Each image is placed, scanned, cleaned, and color-corrected with the kind of care that bulk digitization services skip entirely.
per image · Bulk pricing at 100+
What We Scan
We handle virtually every common print and film-based photo format:
📷 Printed Photos
- Any size from wallet prints to 8×10 and larger
- Color and black-and-white
- Matte and glossy finishes
- Photos removed from albums or scanned in-place (depending on condition)
🔲 35mm Slides
- Standard 2×2 mounted slides
- Kodachrome, Ektachrome, Fujichrome, and generic slide film
- Individual slides or full carousel trays
🎞️ Negatives
- 35mm strips and individual frames
- 110 format
- 120 / 220 medium format
- 4×5 large format
- Color and black-and-white negatives
📄 Other Materials (by request)
- Oversized prints or documents
- Postcards, newspaper clippings, certificates
- Photo album pages (scanned as-is when removal is not advisable)
Not sure what you have? Bring everything to your appointment — we will identify formats and recommend the best approach.
How We Scan — And Why It Matters
Hand-scanned, one image at a time.
Most high-volume scanning services use auto-feed mechanisms — the same kind of sheet feeder you'd find on an office copier. These work fast, but they push your originals through rollers that can scratch, bend, or jam delicate prints. They also struggle with curled photos, thick prints, and mounted slides.
We do not use auto-feeders. Every image is individually placed on a professional flatbed or film scanner, positioned for optimal alignment, and scanned at the resolution that matches your goal.
What the scanning process includes:
- Individual handling — each photo, slide, or negative placed and removed by hand
- Dust removal — digital dust and scratch reduction applied during scanning
- Color correction — faded or shifted colors adjusted to restore natural appearance
- Proper orientation — images rotated and cropped correctly
- Consistent output — files named logically and organized into folders
This takes longer than auto-feed batch scanning. That is the point.
Technical Specifications
Scanning Resolution
- Standard: 600 DPI — high enough for on-screen viewing, sharing, and reprinting at original size
- High Resolution: Available upon request for larger prints, gallery-quality output, or archival preservation
- Film/Negatives: Scanned at native film resolution for maximum detail extraction
Output Formats
- JPEG — standard viewing and sharing (default)
- PNG — lossless with transparency support
- TIFF — archival-grade, uncompressed, maximum quality (recommended for preservation)
Delivery Options
- Cloud delivery ($5 add-on) — secure link, stream or download, 180-day access
- USB/hard drive — new drives from $12.99, or bring your own for free
- Disc backup — DVD or Blu-Ray
Pricing
per image
Prints, slides, and negatives — one flat rate.
Bulk pricing available for collections of 100+ images.
What's included in the per-image price:
- Individual hand-scanning
- Basic dust removal
- Basic color correction
- Logical file naming and folder organization
- Delivery in your chosen format (JPEG by default)
Optional add-ons:
- Higher resolution scanning (by request)
- Archival TIFF output
- Advanced restoration for damaged, torn, or heavily faded images
- Cloud delivery, hard drive, or disc backup (see delivery pricing)
No hidden fees. No minimums. You can bring 10 photos or 1,000.
Who Photo Scanning Is For
👨👩👧👦 Family Preservation
Digitizing decades of printed photos and slides so they can be viewed, shared, and backed up. Many families start this project when a parent downsizes, passes away, or hands off boxes of photos to the next generation.
🕊️ Tribute & Memorial Videos
If you are building a memorial tribute, anniversary slideshow, or life-story video, scanned photos become the raw material. We can digitize them and then edit them into a finished video — one studio, one workflow.
🎁 Anniversary & Milestone Gifts
Scanning a collection of family photos and turning them into a slideshow or keepsake book is one of the most meaningful gifts you can give. We handle the scanning, and our editing team can build the video.
🔧 Restoration Preparation
If you plan to restore damaged or faded photos — either through professional retouching or AI-assisted tools — starting with a high-quality scan is essential. A clean, high-resolution scan gives restoration tools the best source material to work with.
☁️ Digital Backup & Disaster Protection
Prints fade, curl, and get damaged by water, heat, and time. A digital scan creates a backup that can be stored in the cloud, on a hard drive, and in a safe — protecting against loss.
🎬 Slideshow & Video Projects
Scanned photos can be used in video editing projects — photo montages, family compilation videos, event presentations, and more. If you want both scanning and editing, we do both under one roof.
From Scanned Photos to Finished Video
This is one of the biggest advantages of working with a studio that handles both scanning and editing.
Many customers come in with a shoebox of photos and say: "I want to do something with these." They don't just want digital files sitting on a drive — they want a slideshow for a birthday party, a tribute for a memorial service, or a family compilation they can share at the next reunion.
We scan the photos, then use them as source material for a custom video editing project. Titles, music, pacing, transitions — the photos become a finished video.
That pipeline — from physical print to digital scan to finished video — happens under one roof. No shipping photos to one service and files to another.
How We Handle Your Originals
Your photos, slides, and negatives are originals. In most cases, there is no backup copy. We treat them accordingly.
- Appointment-only studio — your materials are handed directly to the person scanning them
- No outsourcing — scanning happens in our South Austin studio, not shipped elsewhere
- Individual handling — every image is placed and removed by hand, not fed through a machine
- Safe return — all originals are returned alongside your new digital files
- Private handling — we do not review content beyond what is necessary for scanning quality
How It Works
Book Your Appointment
Schedule online or call/text (512) 518-3188. Let us know roughly how many photos, slides, or negatives you have so we can estimate time.
Drop Off Your Materials
Bring everything to the South Austin studio. We will review the collection together, identify formats, discuss any special handling needs, and provide a clear quote before work begins.
We Scan, Correct & Organize
Each image is individually scanned, dust-corrected, color-adjusted, and saved with logical file names. The output format (JPEG, TIFF, PNG) is based on your preference.
Receive Your Files & Originals
Pick up your original photos alongside your new digital files. Choose cloud delivery, hard drive, or disc backup — or a combination.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will scanning damage my old photos?
No. We use a flatbed scanning process — images are placed face-down on glass, not fed through rollers. There is no mechanical contact that could scratch, bend, or tear your originals.
What resolution do you scan at?
Standard scanning is 600 DPI, which is high enough for on-screen viewing, sharing, and reprinting at original size. If you need higher resolution for large prints, gallery display, or archival TIFF output, we can increase the DPI on request.
Can you scan photos that are still in an album?
In many cases, yes. If the photos can be safely removed, we scan them individually for the best quality. If they are glued or mounted in a way that makes removal risky, we can scan the album pages as-is. We will assess the best approach at your appointment.
Can you fix scratched, faded, or damaged photos?
Our standard service includes basic color correction and dust removal. For more significant restoration — repairing tears, reconstructing missing sections, removing stains, or correcting heavy fading — we offer restoration add-ons. Discuss this at your appointment.
Do you scan negatives and slides, or just prints?
We scan all three: printed photos (any size), 35mm slides (mounted), and negatives (35mm, 110, 120, 220, medium format, 4×5). The same $0.49/image rate applies to all formats.
How do I receive my digital files?
You can choose cloud delivery (secure link, $5 add-on), a new USB/hard drive (from $12.99), your own blank drive (free), or a DVD/Blu-Ray disc backup. See our Delivery Options for full details.
Can you turn my scanned photos into a slideshow or video?
Yes. Many customers have their photos scanned and then use those files for a custom video editing project — memorial tributes, anniversary slideshows, family compilations, and more. We handle both scanning and editing in the same studio. See Video Editing Services
Do you return my originals?
Always. Your original photos, slides, and negatives are returned to you safely packaged alongside your new digital files.
Is there a minimum order?
No. You can bring 10 photos or 1,000. Bulk pricing is available for collections of 100+ images.
Related Services
Ready to Digitize Your Photo Collection?
Whether you have a shoebox of prints, a carousel of slides, or envelopes of negatives, we can turn them into clean digital files you can view, share, back up, and use in video projects.
📍 South Austin, TX 78748 — Private Studio by Appointment Only