Generally speaking, there is no preparation required of your memories before sending them in. When we receive your memories, we will prepare them for digitization and address most potential issues.
We will:
- Repair any broken video tapes
- Perform any splices as needed
- Dust any old slides or negatives that need it
There are some things you may want to do to make your digitizing experience even better.
You can:
- Label any tapes with short titles, as we will name the digital files the same way. (Only do this if there is already a large amount of writing on the tape. We never recommend trying to play the tape and then writing a description as most VCRs today are not properly maintained and can damage or even destroy your video tapes.)
- Organize photos into groups and then label the groups. Be sure to wear photo handling gloves!
- Clean any really dusty or grimy slides with an air bulb or anti-static brush. As a last resort, you can use isopropyl alcohol. We do run your slides through a gentle blower to remove dust, but this will not remove hard dust that has aged onto slides. Be sure to wear proper photo gloves!
- Put any disks in some sort of case to keep them safe during transit.