LAB - Frequently Asked Questions

Film Scanning

Film LAB

What types of film do you process?

We currently offer C41 colour film processing as well as Black and White in 35mm and 120 Medium formats. We plan to introduce E6 slide / transparency processing very soon. We don't offer ECN-2 vision 3 film at the moment.

What happens if I place Film LAB services and film rolls in the same order?

If you order our LAB sesrvices as well as a replacement film in the same order then we will ship everything together. That means that we will wait for your film to arrive and be processed and then we will ship the items that you order together with your negatives. If you would like your items to be shipped faster than please place a separate orders for your film processing and items.

Do you offer push / pull process?

Unfortuantely we don't offer push / pull process for C-41 development. We do offer push / pull service for Black & White film processing.

Do you process souped film?

Unfortunately we don't develop souped film and very kindly ask you not to send it to us. Souped film has to be hand processed separately from any normal film and can't go through the processing machine (such as Noritsu) as it may leave re-sidue and other bits which will damage the films being processed after it. It is very costly to fix this and change all the chemistry inside the machine and can put the lab out of service for a few days! We thank you and appreciate you for your understanding on this!

How long is your turnaround?

Presently, turnaround for colour film is 2-5 working days after we receive your film. Since Black & White film is hand processed please allow 5-10 working days for turn around.

Where do I send my film and How?

Once the order has been made, we will send you the link to the Royal Mail website where you will be able create a Free Tracked shipping label. Generally the email with a link is sent out straight away during the day but it may take a several hours at night. The page will look like the screenshot below.

Once label is created you can either take it to your local post office or even booked a collection from your address.

You can also generate your FREE Royal Mail tracked shipping label here

If you are happy to pay for your own postage then you can also post film directly to us to:

Stuck in Film Lab
Suite 170
Capital Business Centre
22 Carlton Road
South Croydon
CR2 0BS

Please make sure the film is well packaged and don't forget to write your order number on the envelope or put a paper slip with the order number inside the package.

I placed a processing / scanning order but haven't received a "Free label" email from you, what now?

If you haven't received an email from us with the "how to post" instructions please feel free get in touch with us either via the online chat or email. However please check your Spam / Junk folder first as it is highly likely there.

You can also generate your FREE Royal Mail tracked shipping label here

Do you send my negatives back?

Yes, always. Unless you don't want to. The postage is charged at the checkout to return your negatives back to you.

If you don't want us to send your film back please let us know and we will destroy your film according to GDPR requirements. We will also refund the postage paid.

How much is postage?

We charge a fixed rate of £4.50 in the UK and that includes getting your film to us via free tracked label and getting your negatives back to you via post.

We also offer Free Tracked Shipping for the order over £50.

How do you send the digital images?

We send the scanned images via FromSmash. You will receive an email with a link where you can download your files once they are ready. Make sure you check your Spam / Junk folder just in case.

Your link will be active for 30 days. So please make sure you can download it within this period. We also will be storing your files locally for 6 month. So if you contact us within that period we will be able to re-send you the link to your images. After that your scans will be deleted in the GDPR compliant manner.

What scanners do you use?

We use Noritsu LS-600 and HS-1800 scanners for majority of work as well as Fujifilm Frontier SP3000. If you would like a specific scanner to be used for scanning of your film please leave us note on the note section during the checkout.

What size are your scans?

Scanning options 35mm (half frame will produce half of the resolution):

Service	Resolution in Pixels	Size MB	USE
Low Resolution JPEG	1512 x 1002 pixels	Approx 2mb	Quite small for todays standards. For preview only and small size use on the Web / instagram. 6x4 prints with no cropping. We would recommend to start with medium option.
Medium Resolution JPEG	3024x2005 pixels	Approx 7mb	Best for Social Media and sharing. All you Instagrams, Tik Toks and regular emails and WhatsApps. Prints can go up to A4.
High Resolution JPEG	Noritsu: 6048 x 4011 pixels Frontier: 5444 x 3649 pixels	Approx 26mb	Great for archiving, cropping & printing larger print sizes over A4.
TIFF (8 bit)	Noritsu: 6048 x 4011 pixels Frontier: 5444 x 3649 pixels	Approx 72mb	For people who do a lot of editing work on their negatives. The files will have more latitude for editing and colour grading. Best for critical work
TIFF (16 bit)	Noritsu 6048 x 4011 pixels Frontier: 5444 x 3649 pixels	Approx 145mb	Even larger files to work with. 145mb is no joke, the roll film at these file sizes will be over 5GB. But it is all worth it, as you know, we just can’t get enough quality out if our negatives as we worked hard for it. Best for critical work. 16bit per colour channel. Why do we do this? Because we can!

Scanning options 120 Medium Format:

Service	Resolution in Pixels	Size MB	USE
Low Resolution JPEG	1500×1200 pixels	Approx 1.5mb	Quite small for todays standards. For preview only and small size use on the Web / instagram. 6x4 prints with no cropping. We would recommend to start with medium option.
Medium Resolution JPEG	3000×2400 pixels	Approx 4mb	Best for Social Media and sharing. All you Instagrams, Tik Toks and regular emails and WhatsApps. Prints can go up to A4.
High Resolution JPEG	5000×4000 pixels	Approx 13mb	Great for archiving, cropping & printing larger print sizes over A4.
High Resolution TIFF	5000×4000 pixels	Approx 80mb	Best possible quality achievable with the scanners such as Noritsu HS-1800 & Fujifilm Frontier SP3000.
Super High Res JPEG	6 x 4.5: 8800 x 6600 pixels 6 x 6: 8800 x 8000 pixels 6 x 7: 11000 x 8800 pixels 6 x 9: 13000 x 8800 pixels	Approx 25mb	For people who want to achieve the best possible quality out of their negatives. Scans are done with a Nikon Coolscan 9000 film scanner at the best possible settings. The images are scanned individually 1 by 1 and will take up to 2 hours to scan the whole roll of film. The JPEG option gives you Large file sizes but not as crazy as TIFF or RAW. Best for critical work and light on your PC/MAC.
Super High Res TIFF 16bit	6 x 4.5: 8800 x 6600 pixels 6 x 6: 8800 x 8000 pixels 6 x 7: 11000 x 8800 pixels 6 x 9: 13000 x 8800 pixels	6 x 4.5: 350mb 6 x 6: 400mb 6 x 7: 500mb 6 x 9: 700 mb	For people who want to achieve the best possible quality out of their negatives. Scans are done with a Nikon Coolscan 9000 film scanner at the best possible settings. The images are scanned individually 1 by 1 and will take up to 2 hours to scan the whole roll of film. The files will have more latitude for editing and colour grading. Best for critical work. You will receive a 16bit per channel TIFF file.
DNG RAW Raw Data from the scanner	6 x 4.5: 8800 x 6600 pixels 6 x 6: 8800 x 8000 pixels 6 x 7: 11000 x 8800 pixels 6 x 9: 13000 x 8800 pixels	6 x 4.5: 350mb 6 x 6: 430mb 6 x 7: 550mb 6 x 9: 700mb	For people who want to extract the best possible quality out of their negatives. They will convert and colour grade their photographs themselves. You will receive large 48 bit DNG RAW files which will be unconverted negatives themselves (raw data from the scanner) without the colour conversion. You will need to convert them in to positives yourself either in Adobe Photoshop or other editing software. A lot of users would import these files in to the Lightroom and then use Negative Lab Pro plug-in (or similar) to convert their images to positive and also colour grade. For advanced users only.

Can I order roll of film at the same time as processing?

Yes you can, however please keep in mind that we will ship your new film rolls together with your processed film. If you would like your brand new film sooner then please order new film and processing separately.

Do offer APS type film developing & Scanning?

Unfortunately we don't offer the APS type film processing at the moment as we don't have the right tools to do so. However we can scan already developed film. Please get in touch via email if you would like us to do so.

What happens if my film is blank?

If your film is blank, we will refund the scanning part of the the order! We will email you to let you know what happened, and will be happy to offer any support, tips or point you in the right direction.