1) Find out where the service will take place. Some digitize locally in their shop. Others may send the job to another location within the US. Yet others may send the job overseas. What are the shipping costs to send your originals to the service provider? Will the shipment be tracked to the provide and back to you? Has a shipment ever been lost? And what was done to try to recover the shipment?
2) Find out how long the digitization process will take. Processing time may depend on how large and/or how difficult the job is and how busy the service provider is. Confirm when the clock starts (i.e., from the time they receive the job until the time the originals and digitally converted files leave their plant for shipment).
3) Understand how the service provider’s media conversion process works. What safety measures are taken in the digitization process to safeguard your originals? Will the service provider handle your media (negatives, slides, photographs, film, tapes, etc.) with white glove service so that skin oils do not inadvertently damage your media? Will equipment used during conversion process expose your media to damaging heat (i.e., incandescent bulbs)? Will your media be conditioned prior to processing so it can withstand the process?
4) In what form are your digitized files returned to you? in a DVD? As a USB/Flash/thumb drive? Does the file remain on the service provider’s website?
4a) Can the digitized file be downloaded? Is the digitized file in a standard format? Can the digitized file be viewed by an easily accessible standard application or is a proprietary software required to view the file?
4b) Is the digitized file extractable and editable? If video on a DVD is not editable, a separate process such as ripping may be required to edit the video.
5) If your digitized files become outdated (i.e., photographs to JPG files, video tapes to MP4 files, etc), will the service provider migrate your outdated files to the new file format? Will there be additional charges to re-digitize?
6) When you submit your media for digitization, who owns the digital rights of your converted media? You or the service provider? Read the service provider’s terms of service to clarify who owns the media and what liberties the provider may take with your content.
7) You are entrusting priceless memories to strangers. Do your due diligence and ask for referrals, then follow up and ask the referrals to show you examples of the originals (if possible) and end product. You should be fully confident that your media will be in good hands.
8) As with all things, there’s a fine line between cost and quality. In my experience, you get what you pay for. The answers to the questions above and the feedback you get from referrals should give you a good indication of the quality of work. The decision would then be how much your budget can
Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.