What We Charge
Every photo collection is unique, and so is the investment needed to preserve and enjoy it. We also understand that while your family’s legacy is priceless, you’ll want to know what to expect and budget for. That’s why before any work begins, we listen carefully to what you want and give you a written estimate of the work needed to complete your project.
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The key factors that go into a project’s cost are how large your collection is, how much organization is needed, and how you want to access and enjoy the photos.
Memory Forward's services are geared towards larger preservation projects.
This is reflected in our project minimum of $150.
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We encourage you to consider including additional items in your scanning project to maximize the benefits of our services.
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Read below to see if your project meets our minimum.
Pricing for Scanning and Digitizing
Photo and Memorabilia Scanning
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Printed photos: $1.00/image
Slides & Developed Negatives: $1.50/image
Special Handling Items: $3.00/image (Items larger than 12x12 inches, such as: large portraits, children’s artwork, printed memorabilia, newspaper clippings, or scrapbook pages.)
3-Dimensional Objects: $3.00/image (Trophies, Medals, Plaques, Baby Shoes, and much more)
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Our scanning prices include:
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High resolution scans (600 ppi for prints and 4000 ppi for slides and negatives) using professional camera scanning equipment.
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Digital color correction
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Clean-cropped edges and rotation
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Scanning of photo backs (when handwriting is present)
Additional hourly charges apply for removing and returning photos to albums and removing and returning negatives and slides to sleeves.
Film and Video Conversion
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VHS/VHS-C, Video 8, Hi8, Digital 8, and Mini DV: $30/tape
8mm film: $17.50/3" reel, $70/5" reel, $140/7" reel
Audio Tapes: $30/tape
Turning converted video footage into event-specific short video files: $5/clip
You don't need to spend hours counting and sorting your items yourself!
During our consultation and estimation process we'll determine roughly how many of each kind of item you have, so you have an idea of how much your project will cost.
Printed & Digital Photo Organizing Services
In addition to digitizing old media, most projects involve a significant amount of organization. These services are charged on an hourly basis and are the cornerstone of what makes us unique. Without organization, your scanned photos are in danger of becoming a messy digital version of the boxes you have hiding in the closets. With our signature organization service, your archives become a rich, searchable, easily accessible timeline of your entire family history, the people who are in it, and the stories that the photos tell.
As a general rule of thumb, most of our project costs are 65% scanning and 35% organization.
Organization matters!
35%
Organization
65%
Scanning
You may also be wondering about the tens- or hundreds-of-thousands of digital photos you already have on old computers, cloud accounts, phones, and media cards. The key to making those memories accessible again is leveraging our expertise in technology and software and our organization time to bring those memories all back together again in a useful way.
These services are charged on an hourly basis of $135 per hour:
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Organization of physical materials, digital files, or a mix of both.
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Digital restoration of damaged photos
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Setting up digital archival solutions or assembling physical archives
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Custom design work (e.g. keepsake albums, photo gifts, slideshows for family events)
The estimated costs for these services will be included in your project’s written estimate.
Example Projects
Small $500-$2,500
Your collection might include...
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A single shoebox of photos
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A bank box of photos or home movies
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An album or two
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A short stack of CDs
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A few bags or carousels of slides
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10 years of digital photos on a few devices
How We Invoice
A 50% deposit is collected at the time you approve the project estimate. You’ll then receive invoices once a month based on the work completed during that time period.
We are also happy to set up payment plans to make your project more manageable!
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Pay in the way most convenient for you: Credit card, eCheck, paper check, Zelle, or Venmo.