Magic Lantern Slides

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Magic Lantern Slide Scanning

Magic Lantern Slides can be dated back to the mid 1600s. The slides and slide shows continued to be popular into the 20th century and were the precursors of the modern slide projectors.

In the early years of the twentieth century glass lantern slides were a popular form of entertainment, known as "magic lantern" exhibitions. The slide shows were accompanied by music and narration or "readings." Some slides were specially made in a series of progressive frames so that they could be moved through the projector quickly and give the illusion of motion.

Yes, we can scan the Magic Lantern slides. Magic Lantern slides require extra work to get them to scan properly and therefore we have to charge more than our regular scanning fee. They must be the flat glass encased slides and not the type with the wooden frames.

Magic Lantern Slide Sizes

Magic Lantern slides came in several sizes. The Peck and Snyder Co. slides measured 4.5 by 7 inches. "English pattern" slides were 3.5 by 3.5 inches, "French pattern" slides were 3.25 by 4 inches, and the "standard European size" was 3.25 by 3.25 inches. Another standard size was: 7-1/8" x 2" x 1/16"

Magic Lantern Slide Prices

Magic Lantern slide scanning has the same pricing structure as our Medium Format Film scanning fees. This type of film scanning can be figured by finding the square inch area of the Magic Lantern slide and then multiplying by $0.39. We will not scan any copy protected Magic Lantern slides.

When you see an early Magic Lantern Slide Projector, you may think that you are actually looking at a small kerosene stove. They even have a little vent stack on top. The outside was generally made out of metal and became very hot because of the light/heat that was produced by the lamp which was the sole source of illumination, and it was usually fueled from burning oil or gas, a burning piece of calcium, or later on, using electricity. The light was projected through a glass lens barrel on the front of the Magic Lantern Projector. Hand painted or photographic slides were placed in the lens barrel. The light from the light source was projected through the slide, through the lens barrel and onto a screen or wall.