Prev: HP 5470C and 5490C running under Windows 7
Next: Decent A3 scanner
From: Bill on 10 Jan 2010 17:25
What resolution should I scan 6x4" photos at? And what other settings
should I use for best results?

I have a flatbed scanner - the Canon Canoscan 8800F.


From: Barry Watzman on 10 Jan 2010 21:41
Generally 300 DPI, but for a relatively small photo, sometimes 600 dpi.
It would help to know what your intended use of the photo in the
future is. With respect to a "small" vs. "large" photo, 4x6 is right on
the borderline.

Scan at 24 bit or higher color.

If you are saving this as a JPEG, set the JPEG compression relatively
low, to yield a final FILE SIZE of 1/2 to a full megabyte (which, for a
4x6, should give you a high quality image). You may need to save it,
look at the file size, then scan it again after adjusting the
compression, and go through this exercise more than once.

Also of great importance is to get the exposure parameters (there are
generally three) of your scanner adjusted to fully but exactly capture
the entire dynamic range of the subject photo. You don't want to "clip"
either lowlights (dark areas) or highlights (bright areas) of the photo,
but you also don't want to utilize just a portion of the available
dynamic range. And the "gamma", or mid tones, may benefit greatly from
being adjusted.

There is more to this than just slapping a photo on the glass and
pressing a "SCAN" button.


Bill wrote:
> What resolution should I scan 6x4" photos at? And what other settings
> should I use for best results?
>
> I have a flatbed scanner - the Canon Canoscan 8800F.
>
>
From: Ragnar on 11 Jan 2010 04:31

"Bill" <billnander3(a)btinternet.com> wrote in message
news:m7kkk5hfqhd5uhmcjk9mflte25hi23gml1(a)4ax.com...
> What resolution should I scan 6x4" photos at? And what other settings
> should I use for best results?
>
> I have a flatbed scanner - the Canon Canoscan 8800F.

I swear by Scantips http://www.scantips.com/ for all such questions.
HTH
R.


From: Surfer! on 11 Jan 2010 07:22
In message <m7kkk5hfqhd5uhmcjk9mflte25hi23gml1(a)4ax.com>, Bill
<billnander3(a)btinternet.com> writes
>What resolution should I scan 6x4" photos at? And what other settings
>should I use for best results?
>
>I have a flatbed scanner - the Canon Canoscan 8800F.
>
>

Depends what you want to do with the scans. Print them? Email them?
Put them on a web page? Something else?

300dpi is good for printing, cannot comment on the other settings as I
don't have a Canon scanner so have no idea what options it's driver
provides.

--
Surfer!
From: Nigel Feltham on 11 Jan 2010 19:32
Barry Watzman wrote:

> Generally 300 DPI, but for a relatively small photo, sometimes 600 dpi.
> It would help to know what your intended use of the photo in the
> future is. With respect to a "small" vs. "large" photo, 4x6 is right on
> the borderline.
>
> Scan at 24 bit or higher color.

Generally 300dpi is indeed the maximum resolution capable of being resolved
from a print produced by a consumer grade processing lab or highstreet
processor mainly due to the quality of their enlarger optics (some struggle
to give even 100 to 200dpi capable prints). Professionally produced hand
enlarged prints should give more detail but still rarely over 600dpi.

I've only ever had one film professionally printed and that was from medium
format film (taken with a chinese made Twin Lens Reflex) but I was amazed
how much extra detail these prints had compared with my highstreet processed
35mm prints (also amazed how much extra detail I got from my 35mm negs when
scanning them direct as well).
 | 
Pages: 1
Prev: HP 5470C and 5490C running under Windows 7
Next: Decent A3 scanner