Scanning old photos

S

sroxberg

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Feb 21, 2007
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I need to take all of my old 4 x 6 photos and scan them so that the children each get a copy and they become a little safer and easier to store.

I purchased an Epson V550 scanner to do this project and have access to Adobe Photo Shop pro.

What resolution should I scan the images at? The default within Photo Shop appears to be 100 dots per inch.

I can't see printing these at any size other than 4x6 so I'm not looking to create posters or 8x10 photos.

Thoughts on my scanner selection, or on the resolution?
 
Depending on how many you have to do, I would probably have recommended using a photo scanning service. You can probably find a place locally that will do it. I think even Walgreens and CVS does it now. Likely cheaper than the cost of your scanner.

Any modern scanner is more than capable of doing the job. One with an automatic feeder might make the task quicker and easier.

I would recommend a minimum resolution of 300dpi if you plan to reproduce them. Though as high as 600dpi would be even better.

Shane
 
I would file them at the highest resolution capable of your scanner. Sure you only want small prints at this stage, but later one of the kids may want a large poster of the great grandparents. Its like timber, once cut . . . . .!

I am assuming here that the original photos too are of fairly high clarity.
 
Hi,

I really don't want to crash the party/ your enthusiasm, but:

I have been there done that with pictures and a big slide collection of my ancestors. I went about it as you did, got a quality flatbed scanner, software and started. Well, I was ready to toss it after twenty to thirty photos - And I hadn't even started on the slides.

Gave it to a local print/copy shop and had them do it, back then it was pricier than the scanner and software.

Currently, and I just checked one "local" site: 500 slides scanned can be had for 80,- (Euro) and 500 photos at 600dpi can be had for 125,- (Euro) and 500 photos scanned from a photo album for 190,- (Euro)

There's no way I'd consider doing this myself with a flatbed scanner ever again at these prices.

You say you have access to Adobe PS - does that mean you know how to use it, or do you really just have "access" to the software?

If it's the latter - I'd highly recommend going with something like Adobe Lightroom (or one of the many (free) alternatives) - because this will help you big time with sorting everything and to create collections and will make alterations/improvements to the pictures a lot easier. Big plus: Lightroom works non-destructive - means it doesn't mess with your original file, but keeps all alterations/edits you make to your pictures in a database/catalog. And then you simply export a (new) file when you need it/are done editing to give away (and of course to store for yourself - this way you end up with your original file and the edited one)

Kind regards and best of luck - whichever route you chose!
Oliver
 
I looked-up the Epson V550 scanner.  The 6400 dpi maximum resolution is rather impressive.

I'm in agreement with Shane's suggestion of 300-600 dpi for photos that are already printed.  Probably won't need more than 600 dpi unless you are dealing with negatives.
 
sroxberg said:
I need to take all of my old 4 x 6 photos and scan them so that the children each get a copy and they become a little safer and easier to store.

I purchased an Epson V550 scanner to do this project and have access to Adobe Photo Shop pro.

What resolution should I scan the images at? The default within Photo Shop appears to be 100 dots per inch.

I can't see printing these at any size other than 4x6 so I'm not looking to create posters or 8x10 photos.

Thoughts on my scanner selection, or on the resolution?
Click to expand...

No offense meant but if this is where you are experience-wise then you really should heed Oliver's advice.
 
I'm not against hiring a service but had read some really bad reviews so thought that I'd manage it myself. I fully get the time involved and with the basketball tournament coming I'll just load photos, scan, and watch basketball.

I have all of the Adobe products available because i subscribe to a service with Adobe that gives them to me. First task is to create images and then I'll go from there.

I will probably also have some photos scanned commercially, I've heard terrible things about Walgreens, and Costco so is there a USA based service that anyone recommends?
 
[size=6pt]
RustE said:
I looked-up the Epson V550 scanner.  The 6400 dpi maximum resolution is rather impressive.

I'm in agreement with Shane's suggestion of 300-600 dpi for photos that are already printed.  Probably won't need more than 600 dpi unless you are dealing with negatives.
Click to expand...
[size=13pt]
When I posted earlier, I did not realise your scanner was that impressive. Stick with Shane's advice, but if scanning slides and negatives of good clarity and resolution, experiment with the higher specs within your scanners capabilities.
 
I recently took a different approach to doing this.

I purchased LimoStudio 4 Sets Continuous LED Portable Light Lamp for Table Top Studio from Amazon (4 lights for $35).

Set up my DSLR with a tripod which has the ability to make the telescoping top go horizontal instead of vertical which held the camera above a table facing down.

Put the photo on the table lit from both sides to eliminate any shadows (similar to a copy stand).  Since the lighting was constant I could put the camera on manual and set the focus, shutter speed and exposure time manually so the camera wasn't fooled by the exposure of the original picture.

Took a high res picture of each picture one after another, using a remote shutter release for convenience and to reduce any possible camera movement.

Great resolution and quality, and as fast as I could remove one picture and replace it with the next. Didn't time it, but probably 10 to 20 pictures a minute.

Larry

 
If you have no intention of EVER enlarging them, then scanning at 300 or perhaps 600 dpi as Shane suggests will be fine.
If you might want enlargements, then you should scan with enough resolution to yield 300 dpi at whatever size you want the final print to be. For an 8x10 (in) enlargement that would be approximately 500 dpi. The math is (300 X the enlargement's long dimension) / the original's long dimension.

Scanning a 4x6 print at the scanner's maximum dpi won't really buy you anything except bigger files and considerably more time to complete each scan.

If you need to scan a large number of prints, scanning them in groups then splitting them apart with Photoshop or other photo processing software may save you some time. Epson scan will let you select multiple areas and automatically give you separate files for each photo.

 
There isn't much more than 400 ppi worth of information in a 4x6 print.
A 12MP photo of that print will capture it all in 1/10,000th of the time it takes to scan.
 
If you have a high quality iPhone like a 6s or 7.

Or a high MP android.

Look into google's PhotoScan app.

You can even store them for free on their servers.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Haven’t read the entire thread, but is it possible to scan the actual 35mm negatives into a computer, and software that would make a photo file out of the negatives?
 
ultane said:
Haven’t read the entire thread, but is it possible to scan the actual 35mm negatives into a computer, and software that would make a photo file out of the negatives?
Click to expand...

Yes..
 
We have been scanning hundreds of old photos using Google Photoscan and a Pixel 3 phone.  Results are surprisingly good and it takes perhaps 15-20 seconds per photo.  It is a PITA in a zen sort of way.
 
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