• Processed in an age-compensating developer most appropriate for your specific film
• Scanned directly from the negative ... not from a print made on a high-volume printer, as some other labs.  Scans from the original negative will always be of higher quality than scans made from prints
• Digitally corrected for contrast and brightness, degrained and sharpened.  Most negatives from newly processed but long expired film are low contrast and need to be corrected to bring them up to normal values.  While this step goes a long way to improve the image, it also makes the film grain more apparent.  We degrain the image in order to make it less harsh, but this slightly reduces the sharpness of the image.  To correct for this we re-sharpen the image
• Burned to cd-r and printed from the enhanced files. You will receive both prints and cd-r along with your negatives. If you wish to have more prints made in the future just take your cd-r to any local photo lab. You can also easily make copies of the cd-r to distribute to family or friends
• Archived. We keep digital copies of all orders. This ensures safe delivery of images back to the customer. It also enables us to provide more in-depth restoration on any images that are of particular importance to you, without the necessity of mailing your negatives back to us.

Once your film is processed we do a quick visual inspection of the negatives to determine whether there is anything on the film. All images are scanned and then digital corrections are performed. It is sometimes difficult to tell if a recognizable image can be salvaged from a very poor negative. Rating image quality is quite subjective and one person's "trash" is another's "treasure". For this reason, if anything at all is detected on your film during visual inspection we will scan and print it. When you receive your prints, have a look and decide if there are any images that warrant further digital restoration. Contact us within two months and we can access a backup copy of your digitally corrected images -- no need to mail your negatives back. Let us know which image/s you want us to work on and we will give you a price quote, based on the estimated time required to make significant improvements.

At Film Rescue, we do what we need to in order to salvage the best possible image from your old, undeveloped film. This often means that we will opt for a B&W final image versus color even though we are dealing with color negative film.

Please note: we keep copies of the high resolution, digitally enhanced images for two months only. After that point we keep lower resolution jpeg files.

All processing is done in-house on a monthly basis. If your film is received by the 1st of the month, you should receive your prints within 2 to 4 weeks; cd-r and negatives will be returned separately (approximately 2 weeks later). If your film misses the 1st of the month cutoff it may be held until the next work cycle (i.e.) the following month.

This sample is taken from a Kodacolor-X 127 roll film. It is slightly below average quality for Kodacolor-X roll film but if the average quality of Kodacolor-X cassette film is factored in, this is what you may expect. You will notice some dust on the negative and also some damage due to moisture or humidity. We do our best to clean the negatives but the film emulsion is made of gelatine and over time dust will sink in and become impossible to physically remove.

The color image made from this negative are the rsults of a high volume minilab printer onto color paper, without any digital corrections. The contrast is very low because conventional color paper is designed to make a good print from a good negative.

The B&W image was made from the same negative but has been scanned and digitally worked. In this case, the blue sensitive layer has remained in much better condition than the other two dye layers. We have isolated the blue layer, both through physical color filtration when scanning and by digitally selecting a specific color. Although the result isn't perfect, it clearly illustrates the advantages of bringing these old, distressed images into the digital realm for improvement.

When deciding where to send your old, undeveloped film, find out whether the service provider is making digital files by simply making scans from prints made on conventional paper or if they are scanning directly from the negative.

We also encourage you to give us a call to discuss specifics on the type of film that you have. A well-informed customer is a happy customer.

PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE. UPDATED OCT. 1,2007. CANADIAN ORDERS SUBJECT TO TAX.

Process, Scan and Print

The following prices are for all still film with the exception of disc film which is listed separately.

• Guaranteed service: no image salvaged, no charge for processing. However, the shipping charge will apply if anything must be returned to customer (e.g. negatives, spools etc.)

Process Only

Keep in mind when choosing this option that at least half the battle in obtaining images from old, recently processed film is in the digital work done to the negatives. We are usually able to salvage images from film that most other labs could not. With the "process only" service you pay the processing fee, regardless of results.