You’ll get a download link by email. Once you unzip the file, you’ll find a folder with your name and your project’s name. Inside, the Malvarrosa team will have labeled each roll according to the type of film you shot and rotated and renamed all the photos in the project.

One extra detail: if you’ve numbered your rolls, you’ll receive them in the same order, at no additional cost.

As soon as your rolls arrive at Malvarrosa, we’ll send you a welcome email confirming that everything arrived safely. That same email will include the payment instructions and your invoice.

Once payment is received, the delivery period starts counting in business days (you can check exact times in our pricing section). After a few days, you’ll receive the download link with your scans ready to go.

We work with Fuji Frontier SP3000 scanners, true classics of analogue scanning.

These Japanese machines from the 1990s are still highly regarded for the way they render color, dynamic range and natural-looking skin tones—one of the reasons so many photographers continue to choose film.

Each frame is adjusted individually through a fully manual process, with careful color correction and attention to detail, ensuring every image receives the time and care it deserves.

At Malvarrosa, our entire team is made up of photographers with experience in both film scanning and personal, one-to-one project care.

Film has incredible latitude and flexibility, allowing for different levels of interpretation during scanning—from more standard adjustments to fully personalised work on each image. That’s why we believe it’s important that the same person who scans your negatives stays in contact with you, making sure the final result meets your expectations and, if you wish, offering technical advice that can really make a difference.

At Malvarrosa, we like every project to feel like a shared process: we want to get to know you and accompany you along your creative journey.

All scans are delivered at printer-ready resolution (300 ppi). You can choose from three sizes depending on the level of detail you need or the final print size you have in mind.

The M size is approximately 2400 × 3600 pixels and works very well for prints around 20 × 30 cm (roughly A4).

The L size is approximately 3000 × 4200 pixels, suitable for prints up to 30 × 42 cm (around A3).

The XL size is approximately 3500 × 4700 pixels and is intended for large-format or special printing projects.

Since the Frontier SP3000 scanners were designed to work directly with printers, scan dimensions can vary slightly depending on the film format.

If you’re curious to learn more about the exact scan ratios Fuji designed, feel free to get in touch—though we should warn you it can get a little technical.

That’s great—this is exactly where we feel at home.

Please email us some of your favorite images (yours or someone else’s) at magic@malvarrosafilmlab.com, letting us know what you love most about each one in terms of contrast, brightness, skin tones, warmth or coolness, and overall feel.

We’ll also review any links you send—websites, Instagram accounts, or Pinterest boards—so that we can get as close as possible to the look you imagined when you pressed the shutter.

If you need your scans faster, we offer RUSH options to adapt to tighter timelines:

• 4 business days: €2 (+ VAT) per roll
• 3 business days: €3 (+ VAT) per roll
• 2 business days: €4 (+ VAT) per roll
• 1 business day: €8 (+ VAT) per roll
• Same day: €14 (+ VAT) per roll

Each option ensures your project is prioritized within our workflow while maintaining the same careful attention we put into every scan.

Please note: for the fastest RUSH options, availability should be confirmed in advance—especially for same-day RUSH, where your package must arrive early in the morning to guarantee scanning on the same day.

Absolutely! We work with all kinds of formats—from 110 toy cameras, half-frame and classic 35 mm, to medium format 120 and 220.

If you’re working with a format that doesn’t appear here, just drop us a line. We’ll almost certainly find a way to make it work.

We know—it can sound like a foreign language at first. In reality, these are simply names for the different chemical processes used in film development. Here’s a friendly overview:

C41 → Colour negative film, the one with the familiar orange mask.

E6 → Colour slide (positive) film. Slide film shows its final colors right away and doesn’t have an orange mask, which is why slides look exactly like the scene you captured. E6 has a narrower exposure latitude than C41, so it requires more precise metering when shooting and careful processing. A little extra attention here makes all the difference, and the results are worth it—rich, accurate colors and beautiful slides that truly reflect your vision.

B&W → Black and white film. Simple and straightforward.

ECN-2 → Motion picture film, still widely used in Hollywood productions today. It’s available in bulk rolls for hand-rolling 35 mm or already cut into rolls. This film includes an opaque “rem-jet” layer that needs to be removed before development, making the process a bit more complex and usually slightly more expensive. But if you’re reading this, you probably already love this film… and yes, it’s absolutely worth it.

We recommend using small cardboard boxes, with the rolls wrapped in bubble wrap or newspaper. The key is to make sure the film doesn’t move around during transit.

Padded envelopes, which are easy to find, also work really well. Just make sure to include some candy and/or chocolate if you really need the special Malvarrosa care pack hahaha.

Standard postal service works very well within Spain. We’ve also had great experiences with private courier companies from all over the world. Both options are perfectly fine—just make sure you get a tracking number to keep everything nice and simple.

Mostly just that—stories. Postal X-ray scanners don’t operate at a level that would affect your film.

If it gives you extra peace of mind, you can download a “Film — Do Not X-ray” sticker here and attach it to your package, but honestly, there’s no need to worry.

Once the scanning is complete, we cut and sleeve your negatives and store them safely for up to one year. This way, if you send us more film during that time, you won’t need to arrange return shipping each time, helping you save both time and money.

When that period comes to an end, we’ll get in touch so you can let us know your preferred shipping address and shipping method. And of course, if you need your negatives as soon as the scans are ready, just let us know and we’ll send them back straight away.

No problem at all. We regularly work with analogue photographers from all over the world and are used to receiving international shipments.

To help speed things up, and since the film has already been exposed and is not a purchase of new rolls, we recommend declaring a symbolic value on the customs form, for example around €20. This usually helps the package clear customs more smoothly.

If your shipment does end up being held for an extra day or two, we’ll do our best to make up for it by prioritising and speeding up the developing and scanning process.

No matter which payment method you choose, we only charge you once your rolls arrive at Malvarrosa and we’ve checked that everything in your order is correct. At that point, the payment is processed and you’ll automatically receive your invoice by email. Easy, right?

We accept most major credit cards, as well as PayPal and bank transfer, so you can choose the option that works best for you.

Many clients love PayPal so we decided to offer that option even though credit card and bank transfer are way more convenient for us.

PayPal charges the recipient a 4% fee for every transaction, so the PayPal fee will be added to the total cost of your order on the final step of the process if you choose this payment method.

So IVA is the 21% added value tax we have here in Spain. Good news for many of you is that if you´re a professional working inside Europe and have a VAT number by just including it while you place your order you won’t be charged for it.
If you’re from outside the European Union you don’t even need a VAT number to get rid of Spanish IVA, just indicate your current residence.
For Spanish clients (but why would you be reading the FAQs in English?!) you’ll get IVA charged but we can include your CIF or NIF number on the receipt in case you wanna deduct it later in your trimonthly tax returns.

If you send your film rolls to our lab, we will store your negatives for up to one year free of charge. This means you won’t need to arrange a return shipment every time you send us film.
Once that one-year period has passed, we’ll get in touch using our archive email to ask for your shipping address and preferred delivery method. If we don’t hear back from you, the negatives will be responsibly recycled.
Please remember to check your spam folder from time to time—especially after a year has passed since you sent us your film. We’ll contact you using the same email address you used when placing your order, and if we don’t receive a reply within the recycling timeframe, we won’t be able to recover the negatives.
If you’re a shop customer, we’ll keep your negatives in our archive for 6 months. After that, we’ll start the same process of contacting you by email to arrange delivery or recycling.
Of course, if you need your negatives back as soon as we finish scanning them, just let us know and we’ll send them to you right away.

In general, travelling with film is usually not a problem, though there are a couple of things worth keeping in mind. Simply remember: never put your rolls, whether exposed or unexposed, in checked luggage—always carry them in your hand luggage. Checked bags pass through the most powerful X-ray scanners in the airport before going into the hold, while the scanners used for hand luggage are much less intense.

If you’d rather be extra cautious, you can request a manual inspection at airport security. Just make sure to allow plenty of time, as they may decline the request or explain that the scanners are certified safe for film up to 800 ISO. Either way, keeping your rolls in your hand luggage lets you travel completely worry-free.

Don’t worry—there’s usually a simple explanation. The most common reasons are that weekends and public holidays aren’t counted as business days, that the delivery time starts the day after your payment is received, or that the email ended up in your spam folder, especially if it’s your first time sending film to us.

If none of these situations apply, just get in touch. In most cases, you should receive your scans within a few hours. We know waiting can be tough, but once they arrive… it’s totally worth it! ❤️