Scan My Snaps will scan photos, slide, negatives, memorabilia and paperwork; for ease of reading, we've used 'photos' quite a few times but in actual fact, most of the time this does actually apply to all our services unless we've stated differently.

A bundle of photos that you prepare for scanning.

If you're naming your photos then each bundle will become a named folder. Otherwise, your single bundle will become a single named folder.

Where loose photos are delicate, very thin, very thick, badly torn or perhaps have sellotape or blue tack or adhesive/residue on them, these may require special handling as sometimes they cannot be scanned using our automated scanners. This will also apply to items which are bigger than A4 size. This involves using a much slower, flatbed scanner.

This means scanning both sides of the photo / memorabilia or paperwork if there is some information on it such as a date, place or name.

This means that you must own the photos you are asking us to scan and only if you own them, do you then have the right to scan them.

300 dpi Dots per inch.  Premium quality good for viewing on digital screens and for reprinting about 1.5 - 2 times the size of the original.  600 dpi Dots per inch.  Superior quality required for reprinting larger than 2 times the original.  Also required for printing onto canvas, mugs, T-shirts etc.  Remember, the reprint quality is dependent on the original quality of your photos when taken.  

This is quite rightly, what most people ask us. As far as reasonably possible, yes. Your photos are precious to you and we will do our very best to ensure they will be precious to us too. We have never lost a single item; we offer either a personal free collection of your photos or we use a well known trackable courier to move your goods. We stay in contact with you, send you confirmations and notifications. And remember, we are real people and we will talk to you any time.

Our scanners are fast and we won't even see much of the content so don't worry if you think  they're a bit personal.  Please note though that we won't scan photos of an ill-content such as pornography or images considered to be unacceptable.  Also, we are bound by law to inform the authorities, should we see any images which appear to contain illegal activities.

We aim to complete your order in 3 days.  If you need it sooner, just call us and we'll do our best to help you.  

No we're not.  We're a small family business based in beautiful Berkhamsted, and we're proud of that.  We don't want to become a big major scanning bureau which is a kind of warehouse with a bank of high volume scanners and literally hundreds of thousands of documents and photos to scan for big clients every day.  That's their focus.  Ours is a personal service specialising in photos / slides / negatives / memorabilia and paperwork scanning.  

Yes, but only for small businesses based around the Berkhamsted area.  Like I said, we've no desire to become a major scanning bureau.  

That totally depends on the size of each photo but generally, each one will be between 1MB-3MB  Therefore, we'd expect a CD to hold around 900 images.  

Yes.  This is managed carefully so that you have the best experience.  Occasionally there will be a handful which haven't  rotated but we do a manual check and try our best to avoid that.  

Yes. A big yes! This is a super service we are proud to offer. See Preparing My Photos

Yes.  Usually negatives come in a single long strip with up to 6 frames in them; we scan all 6 frames and if there are any blanks, we delete them and don't charge you.    Send them as they are and leave them in their protective sleeve.  

Yes, absolutely. Customers do this all the time. Online banking has a 'transfer' or 'pay a person' functionality and you just input our account and sort code there, and make the payment.

Yes you can but as you know, this takes much longer to receive than to send to our bank to pay in, then to wait at least 3-5 days for the funds to clear. Your order cannot begin until this is complete but if you're not in a rush, then neither are we.

No. Paypal and Credit Card companies charge small businesses quite a lot for using these services but as a small and growing business, this is potentially something we'll look to take on in the future.

It will always be a guess and that's absolutely fine. It's just so that we both know roughly what we're expecting to scan and to pay for. We'll tell you the final numbers when we've completed the job and if we find that the number varies by more than 15%, we'll give you a call to let you know.

A minimum of 25 photos must go into each resealable bag, whether you are naming your folders or not.

No. The best way to get a quality result is to remove them so that they become Loose Photos.

Averagely 1,000 photos. We'll let you know the exact number when we invoice you and if we find it's over 15% higher than you thought, we'll call you before we go any further.

Yes, but it depends on the type of sorting you mean. If you want us to sort out your albums by removing photos, we offer this service. However, only you and your family can sort your photos into bundles and give them a folder name.

Yes, we can do this for you. Please note that some albums are straight forward and others, due their age, risk falling apart. We can talk about this before you go ahead. See our Pricing & Delivery page for more information.

Good question. See Preparing my Photos for more information. If you have any questions, just give us a call.

We're used to that and our expertise means that in most cases, we can still capture your collection even if it means we have to provide special handling.

Yes, we can remove them but no, we don't re-make the album as only you know your photos and the way in which you would want them represented.

In most cases, yes but sometimes a few may get out of order especially if they need special handling.

We create JPG (JPEG) files which is widely accepted by all.

No. Your TV or PC or Laptop (provided they're not too old!) will be able to recognise these standard JPG photo images.

You can play your CD on your CD/DVD player or load it into your PC/Laptop or external hard drive. You can run your USB stick in the back of many (but not all) modern TVs so long as there is a USB2 or USB3 port. You can also run it on your PC and Laptop. 

No, but if you wish, we can provide a link to your full set of scanned images via Google Photos. You can view them in excellent format; you can open this and simply save them to the Cloud.

We strongly suggest that as a priority, you save your precious scanned images to your choice of storage device. This could be an external hardrive or maybe online options like the Cloud. This way, you always have your master copy.

Yes and it's free! Just ask us and we will store all images that we scanned for you for 3 calendar months after which time, they will automatically be deleted.

That is entirely up to you. A lot of customers do keep them but they feel happier packing them away into their attic knowing of course, that they can see any of it right there in front of them. Either way, we will definitely return your originals to you.

No. Your photos/slides/negatives/memorabilia and paperwork have copyright that you own. We must return your belongings to you.

Some albums are entirely re-usable and some are just rather old and tired and possibly would't be worth trying to re-use them. Either way, we can return your albums to you.

Then we are not happy. Please do get in contact with us about anything that you're unhappy with and we will do our best to find a positive outcome for you. We promise.

If you live within a 5 mile radius of Berkhamsted where our premises are, then we will collect your order for you. Please see our Free Collection List in Pricing & Delivery.

We use a reputable courier with a trackable service. We also insist that parcels are signed for at each end. Throughout the process, we will confirm activity via email for your peace of mind.

UK mainland only. 

Yes if you want to. You must inform us when we're taking your order and we would insist that you use a trackable courier service unless you are delivering them personally.

Yes. Please note that our delivery prices are based on the size and typical weight of a shoe box filled with about 1,000 loose photos. Your albums are likely to be larger and heavier than this so please talk to about the best options here.

Yes, absolutely. We understand that not everyone wants a large quantity of photos scanning done and we're proud to offer a small-quanity-service to suit the needs of all of our customers. See our Pricing & Delivery page for more information.

We're a specialist scanning service and so our focus is photos and items that are up to A4 size, plus long documents. We can quote for A3.