Photo Scanning Tips
Posted: Thursday, March 19, 2009
by Pete Fontaine
www.NickelScan.com
If you're not going to enlarge your digital scans then don't pay to have them scanned
at a higher resolution than 300 dpi. Even if you will be enlarging them you are probably wasting your money. 600 and 1200 dpi scanning services do not mean better scans, but they do mean higher prices. For your typical photographs 300 dpi is the wisest choice.
There might be a reason to scan at 600 or 1200 dpi if you were scanning from a negative because they are designed to to hold and transfer much more information than a photograph surface. So if you plan to enlarge images try scanning the negatives. Resolution that would require scanning a photo's surface at higher than 300 dpi just isn't there.
Photo scanning typical photographs at higher than 300 dpi has a downside beyond the extra cost. Higher resolutions create bigger files and that means slower loading and bigger file storage requirements. Most of the uses that people scan their ordinary photos for require smaller files and that means resizing your 600 and 1200 dpi files smaller. Thats time consuming and wasteful.
Top notch photographers don't need to be coached on scanning practices as they already understand the issues. But if you are trying to gather some information to use for your own scanning project or to purchase scanning services, I recommend the relatively extensive discussion of scanning practices by Wayne Fulton's Scantips.com.
Your photo scanner should save your photos as a high quality jpeg. High Quality denotes that the jpeg has been saved at a low compression with negligible quality loss. Higher compression means smaller files but also lower quality. You can always make your photos files smaller with free photo editing software.
Whether you rotate your own photos after scanning or the scanning service does it make sure that you dont rotate the original scans. Most photo scanners require that your photos be in a stack when you send them in without regard to their orientation. Because your photos are recompressed during the rotation process you may loose bits of information and that can reduce your image quality. So keep your master scans untouched and use a copy to rotate or manipulate.
Photo enhancement can require that your jpeg scans are re-compressed. This can diminish their quality if it is repeated frequently. Make sure your photo scanning service creates a copy of your original scans to enhance. You may feel that you can do better on some photos than what automatic enhancement provides. In that case you will want to go to your master scans, and make a new copy to start from.
If your photo scanning service offers inexpensive automatic photo enhancement it might be wise to take advantage of it. Even though there are lots of good free photo editing software out there it can be extremely time consuming and boring. So let the photo scanner run your photos through the automatic enhancement program especially if this is a low cost service, and save the manual improvement for a few really special photographs. You can also purchase automatic enhancement software, but trying to figure which ones actually work can be a daunting task.
If the historical records of your images have not been permanently preserved then you need to learn more about inexpensive photo scanning. Pete Fontaine offers more information on scanning photographs at http://www.NickelScan.com
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Top-level comments on this article: (2 total)Great article with some good information. I love working with my digital photographs. But, as you said, I use the free photo editing software. Some of it is great, though. I love taking pictures--especially children, babies, and nature. Everywhere I go, I'm sure people think I'm a tourist in my own community because I go around with two cameras hanging from my neck.Thanks for the advice on scanning.Sandra
Good advice. I have the most annoying scanner in the world. Keep writing articles. Well done
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