Preserving a lifetime of precious memories.

 

WHO WE ARE

Digitizing by Rachel is a local small business devoted to helping you protect and preserve your most meaningful memories by creating digital copies of your photos, videos, audio, and more.

 

 Services

Photos, Documents, and Slides

Have boxes full of family photos, documents, or slides? Let us digitize them so you can keep them safe and share them with the people you love as digital files.

Learn more about our pricing model.

Video and Audio

Old video and audio tapes are getting more difficult to watch and listen to as the technology goes out of date and tapes erode. Save those beloved memories with digital files.

Learn more about our video + audio services.

Data and Reels

When was the last time you were able to use a floppy disk or 8mm reel? Save those important files and memories by converting them to digital files and free up that space in your home.

Learn more about digitizing your data and reels.

Photo Albums and Journals

Photo albums and journals contain the stories of the lives of the ones we love. Keep them safe for a lifetime.

Learn more about our album + journal offerings.

Testimonials

Testimonials
Joseph C.

"Take advantage of her services! Rachel is great - friendly, responsive, clear, and does excellent work. I had a bunch of old photos from my parents' house that were at risk of getting lost to time or misplacement. Rachel helped preserve them forever, and it's truly wonderful to know these are now backed up. From my first contact with her to the final scans, it was an incredibly smooth transaction. Rachel went the extra mile and beautifully scanned some awkward-sized photos, and also captured the details written on the backs of them. I will be asking for her help again after the next trip home. Thank you so very much, Rachel."

Amy N.

"My experience with Rachel was very professional from start to finish. She scanned numerous binders containing genealogical research - old photos, birth, marriage, and death records, ship passenger lists, and other old and fragile documents that are difficult to scan. The quality of the scans was top-notch and her attention to detail was outstanding. She even scanned oversized documents onto several pages and merged them into a single document. I couldn’t be happier with the final product."

Lesley S.

"I've had Rachel help me with two projects (digitizing >200 photos/slides and converting 2 ancient VHS tapes to digital) and both were done quickly, professionally and at a reasonable rate. I will definitely rely on her again in the coming weeks and months for additional projects."

Elizabeth B.

"Rachel did a beautiful job of scanning my old slides onto USB drives. There were a lot of slides and she finished the job within a week, and picked up and delivered in a no-contact way from my house. I was very pleased and happy to finally be able to see these old family slides again!"

Jessica K.

"Use her services! Rachel helped out my husband with scanning a number of old family photos that were at risk of being misplaced. He now feels so much better that they are backed up, and that he didn't have to go through that exercise on our crappy scanner. All the scans were of high quality. There were a number of oddly-shaped photographs in the collection, but Rachel had no problem making clean digital versions, and she even captured the backs of the photos that had writing. Memories captured forever! Thank you so much, Rachel! We'll be using your services again after our next trip home."

Susan MS.

I highly recommend Rachel. I was wondering what to do with old photos when I saw Rachel’s email on a neighborhood listserve. I’m so glad I contacted Rachel. Rachel was so easy to work with. Her email instructions were easy to follow. When I had a few additional questions, Rachel got back to me right away. Before she scanned the pictures, Rachel checked in with me to make sure she knew what I wanted. The price was very reasonable, and Rachel even picked up and dropped off the pictures from my house. What service! This was a great way to memorialize all those old photos. Thanks, Rachel.”

Guillermo C.

"Rachel did an amazing job. She was very professional and accommodated all my requests. I had this project on my back for years, I'm super pleased with her job, I highly recommend. Get those hard copy pictures scan."

Jack C.

"Rachel is very professional; a pleasure to work with. She is quick to solve problems, provides fast, high-quality scanning service at a reasonable price. I have happily recommended her to others.”

FAQs

  • There are a number of different options available for DPI. Below are our recommendations for different types of projects along with their respective pricing.

    Pricing is based on the additional processing time required. For a full list of DPI options and their pricing, click here.

    Print Photos - 600 DPI

    600 DPI has no additional cost and it provides a high-quality scan for print photos.

    If you plan to enlarge and re-print the images, we recommend 1200 DPI. Additional $0.40 per scan.

    Anything higher than 1200 DPI for print photos is typically unnecessary. If you have specifications for a project that requires a higher DPI, please let us know and we can discuss further options.

    Slides and Negatives - minimum 1200 DPI, maximum 4800 DPI

    Slides and negatives are a smaller original so a higher DPI will allow for more flexibility with what you can do with the images in the future. To see an example, click here.

    1200 DPI is an option for a solid-quality scan if you are viewing the images on your computer. Additional $0.45 per scan.

    2400-4800 DPI provides a high-quality archive-level scan, we recommend this for clients that want high-quality archive scans and may pass the images along to others or re-print the images. Additional $0.85-$1.70 per scan.

    Photo Albums and Scrapbooks - 600 DPI

    Album originals are typically fairly large in size so similarly to Print Photos 600 DPI will provide a high-quality scan.

    Rarely are photo albums and scrapbook pages enlarged and re-printed so a higher DPI is typically not necessary.

    Looking for more details? These articles do a great job breaking down DPI.

    Scan Your Entire Life - Q&A: What’s the Best DPI or Resolution to Scan Your Film Negatives?

    Dijifi - The Best Resolution for Scanning Photos

    How to Scan - Best Resolution When Scanning Slides Into Digital

  • A TIFF file is a large file(approx. 7x larger than JPEG) and does not compress the image. The larger, less compressed file can maintain the finer details of color, contrast, and sharpness. Best to use if photo editing.

    A JPEG or JPG is a smaller compressed file. This kind of file takes up less space on a drive/cloud and is easy to use when sharing photos. Many sharing sites/apps do not allow TIFF files to upload. Best to use if sharing and basic printing.

    Still unsure which file type is best for you?

    Check out this blog post by Artful Printers, they do a great job of breaking it down.

    Additional Pricing for TIFF files can be found here.

  • We recommend storing your project items in plastic bins if possible.

    We ask that you organize your items with labels that state how you would like the files/folders on the drive to be labeled. These labels should be attached to the corresponding bundles as securely as possible to avoid them getting lost or mixed up or moved around during transport and processing. We do not recommend putting tape or Post-its directly onto the side of the items being scanned.

    All documents need to have any staples, pins, or clips removed. We may remove any pins, staples, or clips during processing if needed. If a document or album page has post-its, tags, or other items adhered to them we will scan the page as is.

  • We offer free pick-up and delivery for projects of $750+. For all projects under $750, there is a pick-up/delivery fee.

    • Washington DC; Silver Spring, MD; Chevy Chase, MD; Bethesda, MD - $35

    • Montgomery County between Gaithersburg and Bethesda, MD; Arlington, VA - $55

    • North of Gaithersburg, MD; Alexandria, VA - $100

  • We have a $100 project minimum. The project must have enough items to meet the $100 minimum, all projects with under $100 of items will be charged the $100 minimum.

 Ready to start digitizing your precious memories?