Digitization of photographic slides: simple, effective, fast, and inexpensive method.

The technological evolution has changed multiple areas of plastic surgery, including photography. The photograph is one of the instruments used most by the plastic surgeon, and it cannot be eliminated by technological changes. The principal change in photography is that images can be scanned through digital cameras instead of slides. Despite the multiple advantages that digital photography represents, many surgeons are resisting the change. One of the main reasons for this resistance is the large quantity of photographic slides that need to be digitized to be used at scientific conferences as well as in publications. The methods and existing techniques for digitizing slides are costly and time-consuming, and there is risk for loss of definition and image brightness. The authors present a simple, effective, fast, and inexpensive method for digitizing slides. This method has been validated by various plastic surgeons and is effective for use in multimedia presentations and for paper printouts with publication quality.