Slide scanning specialists
We don't just digitise your slides. We organise them.
Named, dated and in order, so you can find a photo in seconds.
Drop-off in Caulfield South & St Kilda · Interstate clients by secure courier · Most projects turned around in 3-6 weeks
Where you're starting from
Your family history, waiting in a box
- Your slides have been in the same cupboard for decades
- You've inherited boxes of slides and aren't sure what's in them
- There are family photographs that only exist as slides
- You've been meaning to sort them out for a long time
- A birthday or anniversary is coming up, and these photos would mean a lot
More than just slides?
If you've also got prints, albums, negatives and old film reels, our Photo Collection Digitisation service handles the whole lot end to end.
What you get back
Not just scans. A collection you can search.
There are two parts to these projects. First, scanning your slides at archival quality - it only needs doing once, so it's worth doing properly. Then turning what comes out into a collection that's useable and enjoyable.
Every slide is cleaned physically and digitally, scanned on museum-quality equipment, the same kind used in professional archives, then hand-checked frame by frame for dust missed on faces and important detail. Every file comes back sharp, high-resolution and rotated the right way up.
From there we organise them: chronological order, descriptive names for every batch, built from whatever your mounts, boxes and carousels tell us. We also date each file to match, so your scans drop straight into iCloud or Google Photos in the right place on the timeline. The result is a collection you can search, share and pass on - and your original slides always come back to you.
Regular scans
Organised scans
- 1960 Spain
- 1960 Tivoli and Lisbon
- 1962-12 New York City
- 1963 California Disneyland
- 1963 Sydney and Airshow
- 1963 Train Alice Springs to Adelaide
The same scans, labelled two ways. Descriptive folder and file names put your collection in chronological order and let you find any photo in seconds.
Optional additions
Two things worth deciding before we start
Both are simpler and more affordable to do while your collection is already with us, so they're worth a thought at drop-off rather than later on.
Add-on
Scan the mounts as well
The handwriting on a slide mount is part of the photograph. A date, a place name, someone's initials, a processing stamp - written by a parent or grandparent, and often the only record of where and when the picture was taken.
We can scan the mount alongside the image, so that context stays with the photograph rather than sitting in a box. Each mount scan is paired with its image in the filenames, so the two always stay together.
Add-on
Archive the originals
Your slides always come back to you. If you'd like, we can rehouse them in archival-quality materials - boxes or binders, labelled and kept in the same order as your digital files.
All film decays over time. Archival materials slow that rate of decay, giving your originals the best chance of lasting for future generations alongside the digital copies.
The process
From boxes of slides to a collection your family can enjoy
Drop off
Bring your slides to Caulfield South or St Kilda, or send them by tracked courier. We go through what you've got, talk through anything written on the mounts and boxes, and confirm your quote and timeline before any work begins.
Clean & scan
Every slide is cleaned, then scanned at archival quality with the exposure adjusted where needed. Faded, mouldy and 70-year-old slides are all in scope - we work through them by hand.
Organise
Files are rotated the right way up, hand-checked for dust, then named and dated batch by batch so your scans sit in chronological order and are searchable by subject.
Deliver
Your finished scans are quality-checked and handed back on a USB or download link, ready to view, share or load onto a digital frame. Your original slides always come back to you - rehoused in archival boxes or binders if you'd like.
Why trust us with your slides
Fifth generation of a Melbourne family business since 1916
I'm Carly Michael, founder of PhotoGenie and fifth generation of the family behind michaels - a Melbourne business since 1916, and by the 2000s the largest camera store in the southern hemisphere. I ran the photo lab and education departments there, with 25 years of hands-on experience behind me.
Slides are rarely just slides. They're often the only photographs left of a person, a house, a trip nobody else recorded. Once they're handed over, we treat them like our own - and we're perfectionists about it. Every job is checked and rechecked before it leaves us.
In our clients' words
Slide collections we've been trusted with
"Super happy and impressed with the work PhotoGenie did to digitise my parents' negatives and slides. Very professional and skilled in what they do. An excellent way to keep family memories and history alive and accessible for all the family. An absolute pleasure to work with Carly."
Ana
"PhotoGenie staff provided good customer service, regular updates on conversion of my slides to digital images and met their timelines for completion of the process. My mother was absolutely delighted to see the images from the 1960/70s. Would recommend."
Stuart
"Working with PhotoGenie was a delight. Very knowledgeable people who were also very quickly aware of the client's needs. The process used, including a very high focus on quality checks and re-checks, was clear. We are already planning our next project for them to work on with us."
Keith
"I am delighted with your work in digitising my 380 35mm slides. The quality is surprisingly good, given that some of the slides are now 70 years old. Being able to give this small bit of history to my children in a totally accessible way gives me great relief. I am most impressed with the professionalism of PhotoGenie."
Peter
"I recently needed old slides converted for my father's funeral. We needed the images in a matter of days and after understanding my position, Carly offered a turnaround of 24 hours without an additional charge. She delivered in less than 24 hours and did an exceptional job, ensuring the images were cleaned and colours corrected. Thank you Carly!"
Shinae
"From my first conversation with Carly and the advice she gave me in dealing with around 10,000 of my late mother's slides, I knew I had found the right person to help me with the massive task ahead. My family and I are absolutely thrilled with the care taken and quality of the end result."
Lynette
Questions
Frequently asked questions
-
High enough to print at A4 and beyond. Files are delivered as JPEGs as standard, with TIFF available on request if you need an uncompressed archival master.
-
In most cases, yes. We clean each slide before scanning and adjust the exposure afterwards. Slides that are 60 or 70 years old often come back far better than people expect. If something is beyond saving, we'll tell you before we charge for it.
-
Yes, and this is the part most people don't expect. We change the date on every file to match when the photo was actually taken, not when it was scanned. So when you add your slides to iCloud or Google Photos, they appear in the correct spot in your timeline alongside everything else - and they'll start turning up accurately in your Memories, rather than all landing on today's date.
-
Most projects take 3-6 weeks, depending on the size of the collection and how busy the lab is at the time. If you're working to a deadline - a funeral, a milestone birthday, a family gathering - tell us when you book and we'll work towards it.
-
Pricing depends on the number of slides and the condition they're in, with tiered rates for larger quantities. Send us an enquiry and we'll email you our slide scanning rates. At drop-off we'll estimate how many slides you have and give you a quote based on that estimate, so you know what to expect before any work begins.
-
Either on a USB or via a download link - whichever suits you better. Just let us know at drop-off.
-
Yes. We start with whatever is written on the mounts and in the boxes, then work with you to fill in what we can. Even approximate decades put a collection in useful order.
-
Yes. Anything up to 35mm scans at our standard rate, which covers mounted 110 and 126 as well as standard 35mm. Larger formats - 120, 127 and 127 Superslides - need a different scanner and take longer, so they carry an additional fee. If you're not sure what you've got, bring them in or send us a photo and we'll identify them for you.
-
Yes, as an optional addition. We scan the mount alongside the image and pair the two files together, so the handwritten dates, places and names stay with the photograph. It's worth deciding before we start, as it's much simpler done in the one pass.
-
Yes. We can rehouse your originals in archival-quality boxes or binders, labelled and kept in the same order as your digital files. All film decays over time, and archival materials slow that rate of decay.
-
Yes - all photo, video and audio media. If you've got a whole mixed collection, our Photo Collection Digitisation service is designed for exactly that.
-
Yes. We recommend an overnight, tracked courier service. We'll confirm arrival, estimate the quantity and send you a quote before any work begins, then return everything the same way.
The best next step
Book a drop-off
Bring your slides to Caulfield South or St Kilda and we'll go through what you've got, estimate the quantity and give you a quote and timeline. It takes fifteen minutes, and there's no obligation.
Not sure what you've got, or not ready to come in? Send us an enquiry and we'll email you our slide scanning rates.
Interstate? Send your slides by secure courier - we recommend an overnight, tracked service - and we'll quote on arrival before anything begins. Your slides are handled with the same care from the moment they leave your hands.
Drop-off locations in Caulfield South & St Kilda
What we'll confirm before we start
- How many slides you have, and what condition they're in
- Your quote, with tiered rates for larger quantities
- Whether you'd like the mounts scanned or your originals archived
- A timeline for your project
Prefer to talk it through first? Call us on 1300 312 724 and we'll walk you through how it works.