[LRFlex] Re: Scanning (was Thanks for the warm welcome!)

Hi Patrick, and may I add my welcome to that of others in the group.

You asked:

I am currently working on my first website. It will be as simple as possible. I intend on displaying a few photos and I will have to digitize them. What resolution is best for scanning the photos? I am of course limited in my storage space but I assume the higher the resolution the best quality images. Does anyone recommend a resolution?


That depends what you're intending to do with your scans, and indeed whether you're scanning negs or prints.

For 35mm neg scanning I tend to use my scanner's maximum resolution (2700dpi), save it as a TIFF of around 20Mb, then save a version at 240 dpi for printing and then as a 90dpi JPEG for publishing on the Net. A tip I picked up somewhere along the line is that the resolution of the print file should be exactly divisible into the printer resolution (in my case practically 720dpi). Otherwise the printer software will start interpolating, which is not good for quality.

For flatbed scanning of a print, there's little point in creating huge files. I routinely use 240dpi, and that yields pretty good quality enlargements. You could go to 360dpi, but I doubt you'll notice the difference. In a 90dpi JPEG you can't really tell much about quality anyway.

Other folks may use different resolutions and different techniques - I'm just telling you what works for me. The main point to remember is that scanning and printing demands a series of compromises, the balance of which will depend upon your own tastes and the equipment you're using.

The best basic book on the subject I've come across is Wayne Fulton's 'A few scanning tips'.

Check out his website at:

http://www.scantips.com

FWIW I use a Nikon Coolscan III with ICE driven by Silverfast software (expensive, but the best), an ancient Microtek Scanmaker E6 flatbed also driven by Silverfast, Photoshop 5, and an extremely venerable Epson Stylus Photo, the print quality from which still amazes me. All put through a Powermac G3, which certainly fast enough for my needs.

Good luck with your website, and let us know where it is.

Best

Alex

Best

Alex




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