Today marks an end of a couple of initiatives / changes to our offerings.
First, the scanner buy back scheme is ending. We've run the scanner amnesty for several months and many cheap and nasty scanners have been sent to scanner heaven (or hell). I've spoken to a couple of people and if they get their scanners in to us this next week we'll honour their machines, but for the rest of you .... sorry, it's over.
Second, we're making changes to our video conversion services, details on the product pages. Given this has been a successful part of our offerings why stop? First, demand has dropped. Obviously there are only so many video tapes to be converted and there have been times when we've felt they've all been in the hutch. However volumes have been noticeably down since the early part of the year.
We have also seen significant growth across the other areas of our services. We're doing over twice as many photos as we were a year ago, and we're getting many more orders with fewer than 200 photos. This means we need more space for incoming / outgoing parcels and as the hutch doesn't have elastic walls, something had to give. Getting rid of all the boxes needed to convert videos will free up a lot of space.
The third reason is to enable us to concentrate better on the areas of the business that we want to grow - photo scanning and slide scanning. The growth here is significant and we don't want to spread ourselves too thinly.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Screencast Pro
A recent project has resulted in creating a number of large video files - we're talking 8 Gb. Long, high quality HD movies. How can we share them?
One of the options I looked at is our Screencast Pro account. The desktop uploader program just came up with a bland error message. So I did some digging on the screencast.com site to see what the maximum file size would be, but found no answer.
Well, if you need to know the maximum file size screencast supports is 2 Gb.
One of the options I looked at is our Screencast Pro account. The desktop uploader program just came up with a bland error message. So I did some digging on the screencast.com site to see what the maximum file size would be, but found no answer.
Well, if you need to know the maximum file size screencast supports is 2 Gb.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Slide Scanner - the Right Option
Looking for a slide scanner? That's us, if you're thinking of a service provider, but last week one potential client contacted me to say we're too cheap.
I can't remember the last time that happened, if at all, but in conversation a few interesting points emerged. In essence we covered the key dimensions of slide (or negative) scanning.
First, dpi - dots per inch. We scan slides at 4,000 dpi. In my opinion that's the maximum amount of data you can safely get out of such a tiny original. Second, file types. Most clients are more than happy with jpgs but some prefer TIFFs, we can handle both.
This, there's bit depth. As you know each dot is defined by a s et of three numeric values, one for each of the red, green or blue that makes up the colour the scanner sees at that point. Most scanners operate on the basis of there being 8 bits for each value, giving a range of 0 to 256, If however the scanner operates on a 16 bit scale the image will comprise a greater degree of definition in the precise colour value. If you can, try it, 16 bit colour is much better. But the data files are so much bigger, they take longer to load and manipulate. Finally there's the dynamic range the scanner can see. The greater the range the better able the scanner is to detect the subtle colour range in your images.
Back to our slide scanning client, if you want the best, what route is open to you today?
We love Nikon scanners, but sadly they are no longer in production. So you'll have to fight it out with the herd on eBay, and get hold os a used unit, with all that entails. take a look at the Epson range, for example the V750, including the bundled Silverfast software. Also capable of great results, available new, or possibly the H-P range. Both Nikon and Epson support hardware based dust and scratch reduction, which will save you hours retouching your scans.
But - and this is a big but - what if you want even better? Well the only other viable option I can see that ticks the new box and offers more than Nikon / Epson specs is the Imacon range from Hasselblad. Sadly I haven't used an Imacon but one of the best scans I have seen from a 35mm slide was made on an Imacon (using significant multiple exposure). it was truly breathtaking. But so too is the price of an Imacon scanner - around £20,000. Yes, if you want better than Nikon or Epson, dig deep in your pockets Mr Slide Scanner.
I can't remember the last time that happened, if at all, but in conversation a few interesting points emerged. In essence we covered the key dimensions of slide (or negative) scanning.
First, dpi - dots per inch. We scan slides at 4,000 dpi. In my opinion that's the maximum amount of data you can safely get out of such a tiny original. Second, file types. Most clients are more than happy with jpgs but some prefer TIFFs, we can handle both.
This, there's bit depth. As you know each dot is defined by a s et of three numeric values, one for each of the red, green or blue that makes up the colour the scanner sees at that point. Most scanners operate on the basis of there being 8 bits for each value, giving a range of 0 to 256, If however the scanner operates on a 16 bit scale the image will comprise a greater degree of definition in the precise colour value. If you can, try it, 16 bit colour is much better. But the data files are so much bigger, they take longer to load and manipulate. Finally there's the dynamic range the scanner can see. The greater the range the better able the scanner is to detect the subtle colour range in your images.
Back to our slide scanning client, if you want the best, what route is open to you today?
We love Nikon scanners, but sadly they are no longer in production. So you'll have to fight it out with the herd on eBay, and get hold os a used unit, with all that entails. take a look at the Epson range, for example the V750, including the bundled Silverfast software. Also capable of great results, available new, or possibly the H-P range. Both Nikon and Epson support hardware based dust and scratch reduction, which will save you hours retouching your scans.
But - and this is a big but - what if you want even better? Well the only other viable option I can see that ticks the new box and offers more than Nikon / Epson specs is the Imacon range from Hasselblad. Sadly I haven't used an Imacon but one of the best scans I have seen from a 35mm slide was made on an Imacon (using significant multiple exposure). it was truly breathtaking. But so too is the price of an Imacon scanner - around £20,000. Yes, if you want better than Nikon or Epson, dig deep in your pockets Mr Slide Scanner.
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