Scanning

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I am real new to this digital photo thing. I would like to scan some 4x6
photos so that I can play with them, using PS e2 and or MS digital image pro
10, (I will be using a CanoScan 4200f ). At what dpi setting should I use,
(I would like to fram these pictures when finished)?

Thanks for any help...

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Tue, 15 Feb 2005 15:28:21 GMT, "kyjim" <kyjgg3421@insightbb.com>
wrote:

>I am real new to this digital photo thing. I would like to scan some 4x6
>photos so that I can play with them, using PS e2 and or MS digital image pro
>10, (I will be using a CanoScan 4200f ). At what dpi setting should I use,
>(I would like to fram these pictures when finished)?
>
>Thanks for any help...

Firstly, use PS over MS anything. There will be a bigger learning
curve, but it'll pay off in the long run.

It's safe to scan at the highest true (or optical) resolution that
your scanner supports, but no higher. In your case this is
3,200 x 6,400, but drivers normally constrain dpi to being the same in
both directions, so keep the maximum to 3,200 dpi.

Generally, you need to have between 200dpi and 300dpi for your prints
to look okay. But if you want to scan your 4x6 for printing at 8x10,
you'll want to scan the original at around 600dpi because by the time
you enlarge it, it's printed resolution will fall to around 330dpi.

If you don't know how big the final print might be, scan at 1200dpi,
the only disadvantage is the files might be larger than they need to
be (but for a few prints, no big deal) and it may take a little longer
to scan at that resolution, and editing large images may put more
strain on your PC (if it's a fast one, no problem).

Most chemical color prints probably don't hold more detail than can be
seen by a 600dpi scan, so no point going crazy.

Commercial digital printing onto chemical paper is usually limited to
300-400dpi range. Give them a file larger than that, and you'll see no
image improvement. Printer drivers at home accept data at around 600
or 720dpi (600 for Canon, 720dpi for Epson) so again, assuming you
want to scan a 6x4, work on it and print it again at 6x4, there is
little point scanning it any higher than 720dpi.

Although printer drivers work with 600/720dpi data, realistically, ink
jets result in about 250-300dpi image by the time they have dithered
the dots to make a color.

Beware, dpi is a badly named and badly defined method of communicating
resolution. It means dots per inch, which in scanning terms actually
equates to pixels per inch. This measurement is meaningless unless you
also specify the printed or displayed image size in inches/cm.

Short answer: 600 or 720 dpi should work in most situations.

--
Owamanga!

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

One other think that helps is scanning directly into your photo editing
app. I have much better luck with scanning right from Photoshop
Elements 3, using the twain driver, then scanning to a file and then
opening it. The only way for me to work with 48 bit files is in fact to
scan from the editing program, the scanner software will not save as 48
bit files.

Scott

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Don Stauffer in Minneapolis <stauffer@usfamily.net> writes:

> kyjim wrote:
>
>> I am real new to this digital photo thing. I would like to scan some 4x6
>> photos so that I can play with them, using PS e2 and or MS digital image pro
>> 10, (I will be using a CanoScan 4200f ). At what dpi setting should I use,
>> (I would like to fram these pictures when finished)?
>> Thanks for any help...

> Figure you will be about doubling the size of the print. You need at
> least 200 ppi in the final print. That says you must have at least
> 400 ppi in your scan. Results will be even better at a printed value
> of 300 ppi, so you can even scan at 600 ppi. You probably don't need
> to go higher than that unless you either plan to do a lot of cropping,
> or print much larger.

There probably isn't any additional information to get out of the
print above 300dpi, though.
--
David Dyer-Bennet, <mailtod-b@dd-b.net>, <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/>
RKBA: <http://noguns-nomoney.com/> <http://www.dd-b.net/carry/>
Pics: <http://dd-b.lighthunters.net/> <http://www.dd-b.net/dd-b/SnapshotAlbum/>
Dragaera/Steven Brust: <http://dragaera.info/>

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

David Dyer-Bennet wrote:

> Don Stauffer in Minneapolis <stauffer@usfamily.net> writes:
>
>
>>kyjim wrote:
>>
>>
>>>I am real new to this digital photo thing. I would like to scan some 4x6
>>>photos so that I can play with them, using PS e2 and or MS digital image pro
>>>10, (I will be using a CanoScan 4200f ). At what dpi setting should I use,
>>>(I would like to fram these pictures when finished)?
>>>Thanks for any help...
>
>
>>Figure you will be about doubling the size of the print. You need at
>>least 200 ppi in the final print. That says you must have at least
>>400 ppi in your scan. Results will be even better at a printed value
>>of 300 ppi, so you can even scan at 600 ppi. You probably don't need
>>to go higher than that unless you either plan to do a lot of cropping,
>>or print much larger.
>
>
> There probably isn't any additional information to get out of the
> print above 300dpi, though.

True. So figure for final print size, 200-300 ppi.