Those 35mm slides that you've been holding on to can now be digitally formatted with 35mm slide scanning. Most 35mm slides are in boxes stacked on shelves and closet floors. The owners don't want to part with the slides, even though they haven't brought them out to view in years. The slides hold memories and, in the case of businesses, important information. Improved techniques for 35mm slide scanning can help you preserve your photographs and illustrations on PC's and DVD's. You'll be able to view them easily on any PC or television.

One of the best features of 35mm slide scanning is that now you'll be able to print the slide images, email the images to friends or business associates, and include the images on digital videos or digital slide shows. Once your 35mm slides are converted to a digital format, you can download the images to your computer and organize, adjust, and transfer the images for any purpose. 35mm slide scanning allows you to quickly access your photographs, charts, and graphics for viewing or reference.

You can do your own 35mm slide scanning at your home or business. If you need certain slides to be scanned together, sort through the slides first and put them into groups. Some business presentations require slides to be scanned in a prescribed order. Keep in mind that you might have to work with different slide orientations (portrait or landscape), slide mount thickness, and film types when you group slides, and this could slow down your scanning process. While you are sorting through your slides, get rid of slides that you no longer need, are duplicates, or were never a good image to begin with. You don't need to continue to keep slides that are of no value to you.

For good 35mm slide scanning, the slides need to be as clean as possible. Keeping slides clean is a never-ending process because they are dust magnets. It is also easy to scratch 35mm slides, and this can be a problem when you scan them. If your slides have a minimal amount of dust and scratches on them, your scanner may be able to take care of this. Many scanners have an infrared light used during 35mm slide scanning that passes through the film, but not the debris on the slide. The scanner software captures the dust and scratches and compensates for these by filling in the blank areas with colors that match the surrounding image. Fingerprints and oily films should be removed by a professional 35mm slide scanning service.

Do-it-yourself 35mm slide scanning can end up being an expensive and time-consuming project. You can encounter multiple problems, even with higher-end scanning equipment. If you are inexperienced at 35mm slide scanning or have hundreds of slides to scan, consider using a professional photography service. These services are equipped to handle every scanning problem imaginable, and their work is guaranteed. You can expect high quality digital images with high resolution, brighter colors, and no dust or scratch marks.