We're going to do things a little differently here at The Basement Darkroom. Rather than have you send in your film, have us process it to your exact request and scan every frame, regardless of quality or redundancy, we are going to give you some options. We're going to scan your entire roll as one great big large proof sheet (remember those?) and you will be able to select which frames you want scanned how large, or even if you want them scanned at all. This will give you back a great deal of control over the images you want and the images you don't.
Here's an example of a proof sheet with 6x6 black and white film:
Here's an example of a proof sheet with 6x4.5 color negative film:
Here's an example of a proof sheet with 6x4.5 color transparency film:
You send us your film, we process, cut and sleeve it (unless you don't want it cut, then we just long-roll it in one sleeve) and we'll scan your whole negative sleeve in one shot. We'll e-mail you the proof-sheet file at a decent resolution, probably something about 30mb or so, definitely large enough that you can open it up and read it. You send us back an e-mail indicating what frames you want (each negative will have a number under it), and we'll scan each negative to your specification.
QUALITY
We have established a facility to provide the highest quality in film processing and film scanning. We believe in establishing a chain of quality from the very first step of processing your film all the way through to producing the final deliverable files to the client. With that in mind we offer scanning in 16-bits either in grey-scale or in color, and save our files in the Adobe1998 RGB color space. We offer a fully color-managed workflow so that these scans can slide seamlessly into your own image archive. We will only deliver files in the TIFF format - no JPGS, so don't even ask. Why not deliver JPGs to the client? Well...it all goes back to the idea of quality. By saving your file in a JPG format you are crushing the data and squeezing all of the quality out of it. You are throwing away most of the color and your ability to edit your image later. Yes, believe it or not we actually like the idea of you taking our scans and making them YOUR OWN. We'll give you something you can definitely hang your hat on, something to be proud of and send to your clients right away. But, we also like the idea that you may at some future point actually change your mind and want to play with it yourself. We are believers in life-long education and even though you may not see a need or have a desire to re-edit your images, we want to give you that option in the future. Providing you with a high-resolution TIFF file in 16-bit RGB color gives you the most control you can have when working with your files in the future.
SIZE
Ok, here's where the rubber meets the road. Because we are not offering JPGs and are only offering TIFFs, you will notice that our file sizes are considerably larger than the competition. Let's say you don't want large scans in RGB TIFF format. Well, there are a dozen labs here in the US that do a great job of processing and scanning that we can refer you to. We'd be happy to. Frankly you'll be better off there and they'll do you right.
Still with us? Good.
Let's say you actually DO want large sized files in16-bit RGB TIFF format. Well, you have come to the right place.
We are still navigating our file sizes and figuring out just exactly what you the client wants to receive and what we will need to charge to deliver it. But, we are thinking of offering a little a-la carte menu like this:
40mb $10 per scan
100mb $30 per scan
500mb $100 per scan
You can choose to have one frame scanned at 30mb and one frame scanned at 500. We don't care really, except that it takes the scanner a little more time to scan a 500mb scan than a 30mb one.
What does this mean for you, the consumer? Well, in a nutshell a 40mb scan produces a 16-bit RGB file that's 8x10 inches at 300 ppi. 40mb is not a terribly big file, but when it's got gobs of color and no compression, you can tweak that thing all the way till tomorrow and it won't squeal. Why 16-bit vs. 8-bit? Well we know if you've stayed with us this far you are an uber-nerd and would probably like us to provide a white paper for you to read and a link for you to click. Promise to come back? Ok. Here it is. LINK
COLOR BALANCE
We don't run your film through a batch scanner that scans long rolls of film. We hand scan each frame individually and correct for color balance, contrast and brightness on each frame you select. Is this method fast? Not particularly. Is it good? Well, in a word, yes.
We can color balance to a 'look' you like, but you'll have to send us some samples first. No, we won't use pre-sets or filters to give you the result you are looking for, we turn our attention to each individual frame at the time of editing. Let's say you don't have a style or a color pallet that you're particularly in love with. That's fine too. We are professionals with over 25 years of optical and digital color printing experience and can color balance to a neutral or realistic looking color balance very easily. Saving your files in a 16-bit RGB TIFF format gives you future control that is unheard of when using a JPG. Don't believe us? Fine. Do some research. You've probably clicked on the link above dealing with size and 16-bit color. If you didn't, you can here again now. LINK
Either you are fine with 8-bit color and JPG compression or you are not. We...are not.
That said, don't expect us to work miracles. We do not run a turd-polishing service. If your negatives are outside of the realm of common-sense, we will tell you. We will do our best to work with your film, but we cannot walk on water and we do not pretend to do so. Your original proof-sheet scan will show you what can and cannot be done with your particular roll of film. Your understanding is appreciated.
