faq

FAQs

Here you'll find the FAQs broken down by category. Click the question, and you'll be magically taken to that part of the page. If you have a question that isn't answered here, you can always ask us.

Before Preservation

During Preservation

After Preservation

Q: Why should I have my photos digitized?

A: If you have a house and a family, you're probably insured in some way or another. So if, God forbid, your house were suddenly flooded, or caught on fire, you'd be financially covered. Things like televisions and jewelry and antiques all have a monetary value, so if your 1945 Steinway Grand Piano goes up in smoke, you're covered. But what about your memories? Photographs are funny things. They're absolutely worthless to everyone in the world but to you and your family. And to you they're priceless. Maybe that's why people always say that in an emergency, their family photo albums are the first things to be taken with them.

Q: Do I have to prep my photos before I give them to you?

A: No, you don't. We will scan your pictures whether they are in a shoebox or stuck in a huge photo album. We want to make it as easy as possible for you to digitize your photos.

Q: I have a digital camera. How is your service similar to digital photography?

A: We're all benefiting on a daily basis from the digital photo revolution. It's easy to share, reprint, and manipulate pictures; and we do it all the time without realizing it. How many emails have you gotten this week with pictures in them? That's the convenience of digital. But what about the other 900 billion photos in the world (yes, 9 x 1011). What about YOUR baby pictures, weddings, and graduations: stuff that happened before the new millennium? Life Preserver gives you the convenience of digital for all your other pictures. We say go ahead, play with them. Make a screen saver out of your trip to Tahoe in 1974. Order reprints of your great-grandmother's wedding photos. Email your Uncle Oscar pictures from when he had hair. Life Preserver believes that your memories are too precious to sit on a shelf.

Q: I have an old picture that's in pretty bad shape? Can you make it like new again?

A: We can do some amazing things here, but we can't do the impossible. If you have an old favorite photo that is pretty beaten up, bring it up during your consultation. Our LifeGuards™ will take a look at it and tell you what we can do. Nine times out of ten, we can make your damaged old photo look like new again. We charge $65 an hour for retouching, and intensive retouching can sometimes take 4-8 hours. And then there are those times when age has just been too brutal. But please ask. We'll let you know what can be done.

Q: Do you transfer 8mm film to DVD?

A: Yes. We transfer 8mm as of November 2007.

Q: Do you handle 16mm film?

A: There's a 99% chance that unless your dad was Alfred Hitchcock, you probably have 8mm and have called it 16mm. 16mm was used in professional filmmaking throughout the 20th century, and was not in wide household use. Currently, we do not offer 16mm film transfer, but you probably have 8mm in those dusty old closets.

Q: Can you set my old movies to music?

A: Yes we can. Because of royalty and copyright issues, we charge for the digital purchase of each song you want in your footage.

Q: What if I don't live in or near Los Angeles?

A: That's fine by us. If you live outside our geographic area, you can ship your media to us. Just give us a ring and we'll set it up.

We've found a lot of people don't like to ship their stuff. Something psychological (and understandable) about shipping your precious memories in a cardboard box to God knows where really scares a lot of people. If you're uncomfortable with shipping your stuff, you can contact us to ask us when we'll be opening a branch in your area.

Q: How long does it usually take to have my photos digitized?

A: It's difficult to give an exact number, but usually we can handle 2,000 photos with a one week turnaround time. That's lickity-split.

Q: Who is digitizing my photos?

A: We have a team of trained scanners that handle your photos. We call them LifeGuards. Our LifeGuards scan your photos in house, on US soil, wearing archival quality gloves, and your photos never leave our office. We also strictly prohibit our LifeGuards from bringing any data storage devices to work in order to insure that your digital photos stay private and safe, just like your physical photos.

Q: Where are they while you're digitizing them?

A: They are in our offices, located in the Silverlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA.

Q: What happens if you damage my photos?

A: Good question. So far we're 0 for 75,000 and counting. Not bad odds. And in the eventuality that a photo is damaged in some way, we'll meticulously digitally repair it and replace it with a reprint for you free of charge.

Q: Can I review my photos as you digitize them?

A: We're working on bringing you the ability to review your photos online the day after they're scanned by us in our offices. This service will be ready in late 2007.

Q: What happens when you're done with my pictures?

A: When we're done digitizing your pictures, we review them for quality, touch up pictures that need color balancing, etc. and we issue you a DVD-ROM master copy of all your photos as JPGs, as well as return the original photographs to you.

Q:What happens if I lose my discs?

A: If you lose your discs, we'll reissue you a copy for $15. This only applies to photos. Because of the size of video media, we delete your files 30 days after you get your footage back. If you lose your discs, the best we can do is start from scratch.

Q: Can I use my own external hard drive?

A: Of course you can. Just let us know beforehand and we'll load all your stuff on your drive. There is a $50 loading fee.

Q: Can I email my pictures to my family and friends?

A: Sure. We actually encourage it. Once your photos are digitized, it's easy to email those old photos to family and friends. Strengthening family ties through collective memory is one of our goals.

Q: Can I order prints?

A: You most certainly may. We scan all your photos at the original resolution, so if you gave us a 4" x 6" print, you will be able to reprint the image at 4" x 6" without any visible loss of quality.