what setting best to scan photos

[disneyfan2]

I have alot of photo i would like to scan. I had been using the default of 200DPI and the quality was coming out poor but when i moved it to the highest it was taking along time. What would you recommend be a good setting to get decent photos.

 

[Anewman]

It really depends on what you are going to do with the newly digitized images.

If you are scanning for web display only 200 DPI might be overkill, if you are printing them it might not be enough.

 

[safetymom]

It depends what you are going to do with the images once scanned. If only going to be viewed on a computer screen 96 dpi is great.

If you are scanning to print then you should scan them to be the size you are printing them at with 240- 360 dpi.

So if you are scanning a 2x3 image and you want to print 4x6 you need to tell the software that. I have an Epson and I can select the final output size. Then I scan at 300 dpi. The pictures come out beautiful.

The thing to remember if you think you will end up printing the images to scan for that. You can always reduce an image in size or dpi and suffer no quality lose but it is very hard to scan small and then blow up the image without a loss in quality.

 

[disneyfan2]

i do plan on printing, and using them to do my digital scrapbooks which will be printed. So, 300 should be good?
My settings go upto 2400, when if ever, would you need this setting? I did try to do this but it took almost 10min to scan 1- 8x10. Do you ever need settings that high?

 

[mabas9395]

I'm no expert, but I think it matters not only on if you plan to print, but what is the size of your original vs the size of your original.

If you have an 8x10 that you want to print out as a 4x6 for some scrapbooking, you probably don't need the full 300 resolution.

But if you have a small wallet size that you want to print as a 4x6, you might need something higher than 300.

 

[11290]

I usually scan at 300 dpi for most all pics. If I have an image that I may want to enlarge or do a lot of cropping on sometime, I usually go to either 800 or 1200 dpi.

Also, I set the dimensions of the scan to the actual size of the picture. The software defaults to letter size but why do that when the picture is 4 x 6.

 

[boBQuincy]

When scanning a print 300 dpi will get all the information available. More dpi will create a larger file but it will not have any more detail.

Scanning slides and negatives is different because the dpi refers to the original size (1.5" x 1" for 35mm). To set the scan dpi we should think of the end use and aim for 300 dpi at the final desired size. For example, to print a 4x6 we should scan the original slide at 1200 dpi. It does take a long time on most scanners.

 

[safetymom]

If you are scanning a 4x6 and want to enlarge you would use 600 dpi. If we knew what scanner you had it would be helpful.

 

[safetymom]

240-360 is the dpi for the final output from the scanner. The bigger the print the lower the resolution usually.

 

[Groucho]

I would avoid thinking about the final output size too much, except that (obviously) a higher scanning dpi will give you a larger image on your PC which will print better than a small one.

My thinking is that, who wants to scan photos over and over? Go in with the idea that you're "archiving" the photos and scan at a higher dpi than you need. If you're mostly scanning the same size prints (3x5 or 4x6 or whatever), try scanning the same one a few times and decide at what point you're not getting any more quality. This may be at 300 dpi, 600 dpi, 1200 dpi, whatever. Then scan at the highest dpi, and you'll have the best quality (that your scanner can do) when you do want to print it, or do anything else with it.

It's not a bad idea to keep a microfiber or similar soft cloth around and gently wipe the photos before scanning them, too - it's easy for hairs and lint and such junk to be on the print and you probably won't notice them until after they're scanned. Needless to say, keep the glass on the scanner clean, too.

 

[safetymom]

No need to scan the same photo over and over. Scan it once at the higher resolution. Then if you need it smaller it is very easy to do that.