Old photos, slides and negatives: scan, phone or service?
· 4 min read · The Memory Palace Team
A shoebox of prints, an envelope of negatives and two trays of slides: three kinds of material, three different jobs. This guide compares scanning, photographing and sending them out, with the settings that matter and what services actually charge.
Last checked: 6 October 2026, on each service's own price page. Prices change; check them before you order.
The short answer
For prints, a flatbed scanner at 600 dpi is the best balance of time and quality. For a first overview, or albums where the photos are glued in, use your phone. Slides and negatives need light from behind. Whatever you choose, write down who is in the photos.
Three methods compared
| Scanning yourself | Photographing | Using a service | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Equipment | Flatbed scanner and computer; a transparency unit for slides and negatives | A phone, daylight, optionally the free PhotoScan app | A box and a shipping label |
| Time per 100 photos (our estimate) | About two to three hours, less if several photos fit on the glass | About half an hour to an hour, including cropping | Your time: sorting and packing. Then weeks of processing |
| Quality | High and even | Good on a screen; glare and tilt possible | High, depending on the level you choose |
| Cost for 100 prints | None if you own a scanner | None | £9 at Pixave (UK); $25 at ScanMyPhotos (US), its minimum order, since 100 scans at 20 cents come to $20; plus delivery |
Scanner settings that matter
| Original | Resolution | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary prints | 600 dpi | Enough to crop and enlarge later |
| Small photos, passport photos | 1,200 dpi | Small originals need more dots per inch |
| 35 mm slides and negatives | 3,000 to 4,000 dpi | The DFG names at least 3,000 dpi for 35 mm negatives; 4,000 dpi can be chosen for 35 mm |
| Medium format | 2,400 dpi | Value from the DFG guidelines |
Save the master as TIFF, scan black and white photos in colour, and switch automatic corrections off. Improve a copy later; you cannot undo what the scanner did.
Photographing with your phone, done right
Lay the photo flat by a window, out of direct sun, and hold the phone exactly parallel above it. Without an app, turn the flash off. With Google's free PhotoScan app it is the other way round: Google's help page says to turn the flash on, because the app takes the photo from several positions while you move a circle over four dots, and removes the glare. Photograph the back too if something is written on it.
Slides and negatives
Slides and negatives must be lit from behind, so an ordinary flatbed will not work. Use a flatbed with a transparency unit, a dedicated film scanner, or a camera with a macro lens over a light panel. Negatives then need inverting; scanner software does this automatically. The slide mount often shows the month and year of processing, a good clue to when the picture was taken. For several hundred slides, most people choose a service.
Services in the UK and the US
| Service | Prints | Slides | Negatives | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pixave (UK) | £0.09 a photo, £0.11 at 600 dpi | £0.18 at 1,200 dpi | £0.20 at 1,200 dpi | JPEG or TIFF, scanned by hand, discounts for large orders |
| ScanMyPhotos (US) | 20 cents at 300 dpi, 50 cents at 600 dpi | Not on this page | Not on this page | $25 minimum, TIFF 30 cents extra a scan, return shipping extra |
Last checked: 6 October 2026.
Before you send anything, ask: what resolution, TIFF or only JPEG, is dust removed automatically and do I also get the untouched file, do all originals come back, and is the order of the albums kept? The order is often the only clue to the year.
Naming, dating and what comes next
Start every file name with the year, such as 1962_communion_anna.tif, or the decade if you are unsure. The date inside a scanned file is usually the day you scanned it, not the year the photo was taken. To see which years your digital photos cover, try the free photo timeline, which reads only the date inside each file, in your browser. Then keep three copies on two kinds of storage, one outside the house, and sit down with someone who remembers to write down names and years.
Living in Germany, France or Spain? We wrote market guides with local services: France and Belgium and Spain.
Sources
- DFG-Praxisregeln Digitalisierung (DFG-Vordruck 12.151, 12/16): dfg.de/resource/blob/176108/898bf3574ad0ff3b1db525fa7d04c86c/12-151-v1216-de-data.pdf
- Google PhotoScan, Google Play: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.photos.scanner
- Google Photos Help, scan photos with PhotoScan: support.google.com/photos/answer/7177983?hl=en
- Pixave, photo scanning prices (UK): pixave.co.uk/photo-scanning-service/prices
- ScanMyPhotos, individual photo scanning (US): scanmyphotos.com/product/ppss-pro.html
- MEDIAFIX, price list (Germany): mediafix.de/preis-leistungs-verzeichnis
Questions people ask
Is it better to scan or photograph old photos?
Scanning gives even quality without glare or distortion and is better if you want to restore or enlarge a photo later. Photographing with a phone is much faster and fine for viewing on a screen and sharing with family. Many people start with the phone for an overview, then scan the photos that matter most.
What dpi should I scan old photos at?
600 dpi for ordinary prints and 1,200 dpi for small photos such as passport photos. The German DFG digitisation guidelines treat 300 dpi as the minimum for prints viewed with the naked eye and much higher values for slides and negatives.
Can I digitise slides myself?
Yes, with a film scanner, a flatbed scanner with a light source in the lid, or a camera with a macro lens over an even light source. An ordinary flatbed without a transparency unit will not do.
How much does a photo scanning service cost?
On 6 October 2026, Pixave in the UK listed £0.09 a photo and £0.11 at 600 dpi, and ScanMyPhotos in the US listed 20 cents at 300 dpi and 50 cents at 600 dpi with a $25 minimum. Delivery media and return shipping can cost extra.
How do I digitise old negatives?
Negatives are scanned with light from behind, like slides, and then inverted into a positive. Scanner software does this for you. If you photograph them, you invert them yourself, and colour negatives need a correction for their orange mask.
How should I name scanned photos?
Start the file name with the year so files sort themselves, for example 1962_communion_anna.tif. If the year is uncertain, use the decade. Write who is in the photo in the description or a text file alongside.
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