ABOUT THE PROCESS

After your film is developed, I have multiple resolution options for digitizing your negatives:

Standard Resolution - 300dpi
recommended for web, small prints & simple edits (~1mb). Great for social media!

Hi-Resolution - 600 dpi
recommended for posting on web, editing, and printing (~3-4mb)

Hi-Resolution TIFF - 600dpi
recommended for raw images, editing, enlarging, and creating print or web posting files (~40-60mb)

You will find these options on the order form.

Please start by placing an order on our Film Development page.
Once your order has been placed, you will receive an email confirmation with the drop off address and instructions.

Hours of drop-off are between 9am and 6pm Monday-Saturday. Your negatives are ready for pick-up once your order is complete and you’ve received your fulfilled order email.

Pick-up is the same location as drop-off.

Yes! Once your order is placed, you’ll use the address in the confirmation email to ship your film to.

I recommend a padded envelope or small box with a little protection so your film doesn’t go bouncing around.
You are responsible for the shipping costs.

You have the option to choose to keep your negatives on the ordering page.
35mm film will be cut and sleeved in strips of 6 in archival sheets.
120 fill will be cut and sleeved according to the archival sheet size, usually in strips of 3 or 4 depending on the image size.
Your negatives are ready for pick up once your order is completed and photos are sent to your preferred email.

Once I have received your film, it takes 2-3 weeks to receive your digital files. If your order has been shipped, expect 2-3 weeks from time of arrival to receive your negatives. Err on the side of 3 weeks if you have 6 or more rolls to be developed.

Primitive is a one person, mini film lab, which means our turn around is a bit longer than you might find at a larger film lab. We do our best to stay within these turn around times.
If you see we have exceeded this time, please feel free to shoot us an email for an update.

We are a small home-based mini lab, our address is not public.

After your order is placed, you will receive an email with the address. We do not accept walk-in drop offs, or appointments. Please place an order first, then you will receive an email with the drop off address and instructions.

Images are sent through WeTransfer directly to your email and are available for download for 30 days.

Yes! Please fill out a contact form and we are happy to provide you with a discount code to receive the develop only pricing.
*Please make sure to select Standard Development on the order form for accurate pricing.

Yes we do! But, please be aware of managing your expectations for old film.
Part of the magic of film is its physical nature—but that also means it changes over time. If you’re bringing in an old disposable camera, please be aware that the latent images may have faded or shifted over the years.
By submitting these for processing, you acknowledge that images may be underexposed, grainy, or lost entirely due to the age of the film.
We charge the full fee for development even if expired rolls of film that have lost their images due to age, though we will refund your scanning fee.

Unfortunately, we do not offer printing services. Each order will come with digital copies of your images only.

Once you have received your files through WeTranser, please reach out to us to schedule a pick up.
Negatives are available for pickup Monday-Saturday from 9am-6pm.
They will be in an envelope with your name, located in a black drop box.

We will hold your negatives for 30 days before they are discarded.
Due to the high volume of negatives we discard every month, we ask that you please pick them up within this time frame.
We ask that you kindly respect our time and effort that it takes to cut and sleeve your negatives if you have selected to keep them. We want you to have your negatives, so don’t forget to schedule a pick up!

Due to the nature of film development, we cannot offer full refunds if your roll is blank. It still takes time and chemicals to process.
However, we can offer a partial refund for the scanning costs. Please see our full refund policy for more information.