Shoebox to Screen

ABOUT

Why a person, and not an app.

I started doing this for my own family. After my grandmother passed, I found cabinets full of photos she had saved her whole life. I bought a professional scanner to digitize them so we wouldn't lose what she'd kept. The scanner turned out to be incredible at the job, and I realized other families have the same boxes in their basements waiting for someone to do this carefully. So instead of selling the scanner, I started Shoebox to Screen.

I work out of Bedford and York, on that same scanner, one project at a time. I scan your photos carefully, in the order you gave them, and put them back in the same albums when I'm done. The big mail-in services do millions of photos a year. They're efficient, but they're not personal. That's not what I'm building here.

Run by: Paul

Based in: Bedford, MA · York, ME

Pickup: Free, at your door, Bedford to York

Equipment: Epson FastFoto FF-680W Professional Epson scanner, the same model used by archivists and professional services.

Format: Delivered as JPEG or JPEG + TIFF on request.

Delivery: Labeled USB drive plus a private cloud folder.

Turnaround: About 1 week for Drop Off, 2 weeks for Family Box.

Payment: 50% deposit to start, 50% on delivery. Venmo, PayPal, check or cash.

Paul's photo scanning setup: Epson FastFoto FF-680W with a family shoebox of photos being digitized for a customer.

FAQ

The questions everyone asks.

Your photos travel in a fireproof, water-resistant bag from the moment I pick them up to the moment I return them. They never leave my home office, they never get shipped anywhere, and they're stored separately from any other project I'm working on. I work on one box at a time. If anything ever happened to a photo in my care, I'd tell you, and I'd cover the cost of professional restoration where it's possible.
I'll set it aside, photograph it carefully on a copy stand instead of running it through the feeder, and let you know before I do anything irreversible. Old photos with crumbling edges, polaroids, or tintypes get hand-handled, not machine-fed. Nothing gets forced through the scanner.
JPEG by default, at 600 DPI for prints. That's high enough to print at the original size or larger and to look sharp on any screen. If you want TIFF (uncompressed, archival) instead of or alongside JPEG, just ask. No charge.
I keep a backup copy for 90 days after I deliver your project, in case the USB drive gets lost or the cloud folder gets accidentally deleted. After 90 days I permanently delete my copies. If you'd rather I delete them the day I deliver, just say so.
About a week for The Drop Off, two weeks for The Family Box, and custom for Heirloom projects. If you have a deadline (a birthday, an anniversary, a memorial), tell me up front and I'll either commit to it or tell you honestly that it's too tight.
After I see the project in person and give you a flat quote, I take a 50% deposit to start. The remaining 50% is due when I deliver. Venmo, Zelle, check, or cash, whatever's easiest. No invoicing software, no surprise fees.

GET A QUOTE

Tell me about your shoebox

Send a quick note about what you have. Even a guess at the number of photos and an address for pickup is enough. I'll come back with a flat quote and a pickup window. No pressure, no obligation.

Service Area: Bedford · Burlington · Billerica · Lexington · Concord · Andover · Newburyport · Portsmouth · Kittery · York · Ogunquit · Wells · and the towns in between.

shoeboxtoscreen@gmail.com

Why a person, and not an app.

The questions everyone asks.

How do I know my photos are safe with you?

What if a photo is too fragile to scan?

What file format do I get?

How long do you keep my scans after delivery?

What's your turnaround?

How do I pay?

Tell me about your shoebox