Digitizing antique photos?
I'd love recommendations for Bay Area services that could scan a large volume of photos from the 1920s to 1950s. I've used ScanCafe in the past, but this particular trove of precious-to-me photos are organized in literally crumbling old paper albums that I don't feel safe shipping off somewhere, especially long distance.
A Google search turned up one service in SF called Lightsource, which prices scanning at a minimum of $1,000 per project. I'm wondering if there are any other options locally? And if anyone has experience with the pricey Lightsource service, I'd love to hear about it.
Thanks for your help.
Aug 16, 2023
Parent Replies
There are two places I trust and have used often for my photos (and I scan a LOT of negatives, prints, etc)
1. On Grand Avenue in Oakland - https://www.yelp.com/biz/analog-to-digital-oakland / https://www.analog-to-digital.net/
2. (more expensive but great for glass plate negatives) https://www.candelafineart.com/ They used to be on Piedmont Ave but moved to a bigger shop.
I took a box of old photos to Montclair Photo (https://www.montclairphoto.com/) for scanning - it wasn't as cheap as some of the places where you mail in your items, but I liked the fact that I could hand them the box and not worry about it getting lost or damaged in the mail. I think I paid about $200 for a boot box full of photos (bigger than a shoe box, smaller than a banker's box).
I like Digital Roots Studio in Albany on Solano Ave. They do excellent work and can surely take care of your request!