How Our Film Developing Turnaround Works
Waiting for your scans is probably the least fun part of shooting film.
One of the questions we get asked most is simple: when will my film be ready? Fair question. The slightly less simple bit is that film developing turnaround does not start from the moment a courier marks your parcel as delivered.
So, here is how it actually works at Take It Easy Lab.
Delivery and booking in are two different things
When Royal Mail or another courier marks your parcel as delivered, it means it has arrived with us. It does not necessarily mean we have opened it, matched it to your order and booked it into the lab yet.
Once we have done that, we send you a “We’ve got your order” email. That email is the important bit. It confirms that your film has been opened, identified and added to the lab queue.
When does day one start?
For C41 and black and white developing, your turnaround starts on the next working day after your film is booked in.
So if you receive your booking email on a Wednesday, Thursday is day one. Friday is day two. Saturday and Sunday do not count, then Monday is day three.
The day we book your film in is not counted as one of your turnaround days.
What counts as a working day?
Our working days are Monday to Friday, excluding UK bank holidays.
Monday still counts as a working day even though the lab is closed to the public. We are in the building and processing film, you just cannot come in to the counter.
Why does the turnaround number on the website change?
Film does not arrive in perfectly even quantities. Some weeks are steady. Other weeks, especially through summer and around holidays, a lot can arrive at once.
Because of that, the turnaround shown on our website is a live rolling estimate based on recent completed orders. If we are receiving more film than usual, the estimate can rise. As we catch up, it comes back down again.
That does not mean your place in the queue resets every time the number changes.
The turnaround shown in your “We’ve got your order” email is the estimate that applied when your film was booked in. If the website changes afterwards, your order has not suddenly gone back to day one.
What about Rush?
If you have added an eligible Rush service, the same basic booking rule applies. Rush begins once your film has been opened and booked into the lab, rather than from the courier delivery notification.
Eligible Rush orders are then processed on the same day once booked in.
What about E6 and ECN2?
E6 and ECN2 follow a separate workflow and have their own turnaround. They do not follow the live C41 and black and white estimate.
Your booking email and our turnaround page will show the relevant information for these services.
Where should I check the current turnaround?
We have made a permanent turnaround page so there is one place to check before sending your film. It explains the counting rules, Rush and specialist processing, and shows the current live estimate.
See our current turnaround and how it works →
If your order is still within the turnaround quoted when it was booked in, it is still making its way through the queue and there is no need to contact us for an update.
If it has moved beyond that estimate, then please do get in touch and we can take a look.
Hopefully this makes the slightly confusing bit a lot clearer. We know waiting is hard, especially when there might be photographs on the roll you have not seen for months. We are working through the queue every working day and will get your scans over to you as soon as they are ready.
