Your Precious Family Photos, Safely Digitised & Restored by Hand in the UK

Don’t let irreplaceable family prints and delicate albums fade away in lofts or shoeboxes. Every photograph is individually inspected, handled with care, and post processed by hand in our Wirral studio. Your original photographs are returned 100% safely via tracked Royal Mail delivery.

🔒 Zero payment taken today • Free friendly advice • Fragile prints & photo albums welcome

5.0 on Google

600 / 1200dpi scans

Royal Mail Tracked Return

Wirral Based Family Studio

18+ Years Experience

See the Difference

Our professional process restores colour, removes dust and scratches, and brings your old memories back to life.

How It Works

1

Request Quote

Tell us how many photos you have and any specific requirements.

2

Send Photos Securely

Box up your originals & send them to our UK studio using tracked delivery.

3

We Digitise & Restore

We scan at 600 / 1200 DPI, remove dust, colour correct & enhance every image.

4

Receive Digital Files

Your digital files are available via download / USB – your original material is returned to you

Standard Service 600 DPI

Instant Estimate Calculator

Number of Photos (Approximate)

Estimated Total

£0.00

*Minimum order charge of £30.00 applies

Start Your Order

Premium Service 1200 DPI

Instant Estimate Calculator

Number of Photos (Approximate)

Estimated Total

£0.00

*Minimum order charge of £30.00 applies

Start Your Order

Why Digitise Your Photos Now? The Dangers of Waiting

Act today to save your precious memories before they are lost forever

Fading & Yellowing

Over the decades, the colour dyes in traditional photographic prints gradually break down. UV exposure from sunlight and acidic compounds in old photo albums accelerate this process, causing images to lose their vibrancy and turn yellow or sepia.

As this happens, photos lose contrast and important details fade into the background. While our digital restoration techniques can often recover faded colours and balance tint issues, some detail is lost forever if left too long.

Digitising your photos now locks in their current state and prevents any further colour degradation.

Water & Mould Damage

Physical photos are often stored in lofts, garages, or basements where they are highly vulnerable to damp conditions and temperature fluctuations.

High humidity encourages mould and fungal growth, which literally eats away at the photographic emulsion that holds the image. Furthermore, if photos get damp, they can permanently stick together, making them incredibly difficult to separate without tearing the image away completely.

The result is permanent damage, appearing as dark water stains, white spotting, or ruined patches across the photograph that require heavy AI reconstruction to fix.

Physical Deterioration

Every time a physical photo is handled, it is put at risk. Over time, photos naturally accumulate creases, dog-eared corners, scratches, and fingerprint oils that degrade the image quality.

Older photos are also prone to becoming brittle, tearing easily when removed from tight frames or old sticky “magnetic” photo albums.

By digitising your collection, you can easily share, print, and view your memories on a screen as often as you like, without ever risking physical damage to the delicate originals.

SERVICE : PHOTO SCANNING SERVICE

Photo Formats & Sizes We Accept

We can handle almost all types of physical photographs, from tiny wallet-sized prints all the way up to A4.

Standard Loose Photos (e.g., 6x4", 7x5", 8x10", and up to A4 size)
Polaroids & Instant Film (scanned carefully to prevent glare from the glossy finish)
Black & White, Sepia, and Colour Prints
Vintage Mounted Portraits (thick card-backed cabinet cards and antique photos)
Small & Unusual Sizes (wallet prints, locket photos, and square formats)
Damaged Prints (we accept dog-eared, creased, or slightly torn photos, treating them with the utmost care)

Our Complete Scanning Process

1

Physical Inspection & Sorting

Before any photograph touches our scanners, it is manually inspected.

While you can specify which service you would like us to use its often better to leave it to us to decide. We can sort photos into those that will look great using the standard service, and those that need more work or would benefit from scanning using the premium service.

2

600 or 1200 DPI High-Resolution Scanning

We capture your photos using professional flatbed & photo scanners.

Our standard service scans your images at an optical 600 DPI (Dots Per Inch), which is perfect for archiving, sharing online, and re-printing at the same or slightly larger sizes.

We also offer an ultra-high 1200 DPI premium service for serious enlargements and deep long-term archiving. Very small, damaged or curved photos need to be scanned using the premium service.

3

Cropping, Colour & Contrast Restoration

Every photograph is manually cropped using our own in-house software, ensuring we capture every pixel of the original image right to the edges.

Unlike automatic services, every scan is carefully checked by hand and is individually colour-corrected in Photoshop.

We manually restore faded colours, remove age-related yellowing, and fine-tune the contrast to bring your old photos back to life.

4

Delivery & Media Formats

By default, your scanned photos are supplied as high-quality JPEG files. JPEG offers an excellent balance between image quality and file size, making your memories easy to view, share with family, print, and back up.

For archivists, we can also supply uncompressed TIFF files on request.

Your images are available to download immediately upon completion, or returned on a USB drive or SSD for larger collections.

How to Prepare Your Photos for Sending

1 - Sort and Organise Your Photos

Group your photos however you choose – we scan each batch of photos into its own folder and name the folder according to any information on the envelope/container the photos are in.

2. Pack Securely with Bubble Wrap

Place your photos into a sturdy, rigid cardboard box. It is vital to fill any empty gaps with bubble wrap, packing peanuts, or packing paper. When you shake the sealed box, nothing inside should move or rattle.

3. Use Royal Mail Special/Tracked Delivery

Because these are one-of-a-kind memories, we highly recommend sending your package via Royal Mail Tracked 24 or Special Delivery (or a premium courier service). This ensures your parcel is fully tracked, and delivered directly to our hands the very next day.

Or check the collection box when ordering and we will arrange for Royal Mail to come to your house to collect.

Please do not use budget couriers to send your items.

About US

Hi, I’m Paul.

I started Silver Dog Studios because I’ve always loved bringing old photographs back to life. There’s something special about seeing a faded slide reveal details and memories that haven’t been properly seen in decades.

With over 26 years of experience in digital imaging and restoration, I personally oversee every project that comes through the studio. Whether you’re sending a few family slides or thousands of images, they’ll be treated with the same care and attention I’d give my own collection.

If you’d like to know more about the process, or want to chat before sending anything in, feel free to get in touch. I’ll be happy to help.

Paul Spencer

Owner

Why Choose Silver Dog Studios

Quality

Experience

Value

See what previous customers are saying about us

      EXCELLENT  
   Based on 141 reviews 
    
 
 
 
   
 
 
       Posted on Google  
   
   Cathy Graham 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Paul at Silver Dog Studios has recently had the epic task of digitising our 60-70 hard copy photo albums literally 3000 photos. Paul was so well organised and the quality of the digital prints is great. The task involved him removing all the photos from the albums, in some cases the photos were so well stuck down he had to cut them out and scan these by hand. The scanned photos were labelled in file folders by the year on the photo album and Paul also returned all the photos in envelopes labelled with the album year. We now how cloud copies and memory stick backup. So we won’t be leaving a load of albums for our children to sort and no doubt throw out. Though I still can’t bring myself to throw out the actual photos 😂. A brilliant job by Paul who is also very quick to respond to emails and questions. Well done and thank you.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Amy 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Paul was amazing, so lovely and communicative throughout. Our digitised photos came through so much quicker than we expected, so so happy with them. Would recommend in a heartbeat!
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Chris 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Excellent service from Silver Dog. The service was good & the quality was good. Send an email to Silver Dog and guess what? You get a reply. Have already sent some more pics in for digitising.

Thanks again
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Jim McCrae 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Very fast affordable service. Good communication regarding progress on order. Great quality.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Blaise Bullimore 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Excellent service with rapid turn around; first class 35mm slide scans.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Charlie Cutler 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Have used Silver Dog Studios on 3 occasions to scan almost 2,000 slides. They've always been excellent both in terms of the quality of the scanning and the communications around it. Thanks so much.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Andy Wright 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Super efficient and friendly, and how amazing that they produce the goods for you to check before you pay - that trust is hugely appreciated and says a lot about their passion to do a great job. Bravo.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Andrew Hampton 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. A very professional service through the whole process from placing the order to receiving the finished digitalised slides.
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Emily Wood 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Brilliant and speedy service! The only place I found that offers slide to slide duplication. Would highly recommend using them !
  
 
      Posted on Google  
   
   Dan Beighton 
 
 
 
 Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Paul and Silver Dog provide an excellent service, always happy to help, prompt, great communication and quality work. Highly recommend.

Still need convincing? Use our free trial service

PRESERVE YOUR PRECIOUS MEMORIES

Ready to Digitise Your Collection?

Transform your photos into stunning, ready-to-view digital images, professionally enhanced by hand for the best possible results.

Only 19p per photo

(minimum order charge of £30)

Frequently Asked Questions

Will I get my original photos back?

Yes, absolutely. We securely return all of your original items alongside your new digital files.

What size of photos do you scan?

We can scan all printed materials up to A4 in size, larger items can be scanned but need a photo restoration service to piece them back together.

What file format will my digital photos be in?

By default, we provide high-quality JPEG files, which are perfect for viewing on TVs, sharing with family, and printing. If you require uncompressed files for professional editing, we also offer TIFF formats as an optional upgrade.

How long does the scanning take?

Our standard turnaround time is synced to our systems and can be seen when using the ‘get a quote’ form.

What scanners do you use?

Premium photo scanning is done on two Epsom V850 Flatbed scanners. The standard service is done on a Kodak PS80 which gives amazing results.

Do I need to remove photos from albums?

Ideally yes – but for an additional cost we can remove photos from albums and put them back, we can also scan photos that can not be removed from albums so long as the pages can lay flat.

Can you scan bent, torn or sticky photos?

Yes – these will be done via the PREMUM service and if needed a full restoration service can be provided on each photo.

Do you offer express / fast track service?

Yes, we do. If you need your images digitized urgently for a funeral, anniversary, or special event, we offer a Fast Track Priority service at checkout which reduces the turnaround to just 1-3 working days.

Other Scanning Services We Offer

Slide Scanning Service

Have carousels or boxes full of old 35mm slides? We offer professional high-resolution scanning for all types of mounted slides, complete with Digital ICE dust removal and our signature manual colour restoration.

Negative Scanning Service

Did you know negatives actually hold more detail than standard printed photos? Send us your 35mm, medium format, or large format film strips and we will convert them into stunning, colour-perfect digital positives.