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[Martin13]

Hi All,

Now I know there are a lot of experts here on the forum that can help me out including Martin Mayhem.

A number of you may have seen my never ending posts on " Name that Ship 3" and have posted to date over 100 photo's of pre 1945 Warships - No Problem There.

I now wish to re-scan the photos to burn onto DVD. (300 - 500 photo's)
What I would like to know is for best quality/resolution of Black and White photo's (greyscale):-

DPI selection of 75 to 1200 - which setting is best
Frame size, example 3600 x 1200 pixels etc

Can any of you computer/scanning experts please advise - the winner gets a FREE DVD...

Martin doon under :-\

[RickF]

As a rule of thumb, especially if you intend to enlarge them, the maximum DPI resolution you can obtain is the best. Two things to be aware of, though.

1. Are they photographs or have they been screened for printing  (halftones). In that case they will already consist of lots of dots, the resolution of which will depend on the quality of the book/magazine in which they were published. Enlarging them will accentuate the "dottiness".

2. The higher the resolution, the bigger the file. This only becomes a problem when you want to transmit the images, either on CD or by email. I've just had over 1200 high res photographs printed and I needed five CDs to get the job done.

Rick

[Martin13]

As a rule of thumb, especially if you intend to enlarge them, the maximum DPI resolution you can obtain is the best. Two things to be aware of, though.

1. Are they photographs or have they been screened for printing  (halftones). In that case they will already consist of lots of dots, the resolution of which will depend on the quality of the book/magazine in which they were published. Enlarging them will accentuate the "dottiness".

2. The higher the resolution, the bigger the file. This only becomes a problem when you want to transmit the images, either on CD or by email. I've just had over 1200 high res photographs printed and I needed five CDs to get the job done.

Rick

Rick,

Thanks for your insight - The photo's are all originals. Unfortunately, some do have scratches etc.
The photo's were taken by my late father and grandfather in or near Malta. I wish to Catalogue the collection with Name/Class of ship with a brief history.
The Lads on "Name that Ship3" have been identifying the ships for me and we are barely half way through the collection. Hope to download to DVD.

Martin doon under

[Liverbudgie2]

Martin,

I think you did mention once that the negatives had been found, if so, i would seriously consider scanning from those. If you don't have  or have access to a scanner that can do this, then i would if in your position, look at obtaining one that can do so as the quality is far superior than just scanning from prints.

As for advice then that which has already given is good. When I scan my negs,I am presently scanning my whole collection, then i set the resolution to 800 DPI, though 300 is more than adequate for most purposes..

Hope that this helps.

LB

[tigertiger]

Something I don't understand.

If I am scanning a 4x6" pic at 800dpi that should be 19200 dots (aprx)

If I scan a negative with the same scanner and the neg is approx 1x1.25" (aprx) then I assumed I would have 1000 dots (aprx).

So how can I get batter quality scan??

Please enlighten me somebody.

TT the Ludite.

[chingdevil]

TT
When you print any photo there is always a quality loss in the process, scratches, smudges, finger prints on the original. Scanning from a negative gives you the picture as it was taken less the problems. I have scanned negatives from pictures taken back in the 50's and I always get a good print, remember also pictures will always fade over time.
I have an Epson 1250 scanner with negative attachment, not the most modern but still works fine.

Brian

[kiteman1]

I've got an Epson Perfection 4490 Photo printer which is capable of photo restoration.  This facility will improve the quality of old pics and is well worth having when creating a reference library. It will scan in as many as 12 off 35mm neg strips at a time or 4off 35mm slides  and handle 120/220 medium format.   

When I want anything printing off for photos I usually put the pics on a cd and go to Asda or somewhere similar to save money.

[dougal99]

Something I don't understand.

If I am scanning a 4x6" pic at 800dpi that should be 19200 dots (aprx)

If I scan a negative with the same scanner and the neg is approx 1x1.25" (aprx) then I assumed I would have 1000 dots (aprx).

So how can I get batter quality scan??

Please enlighten me somebody.

TT the Ludite.

Scan at a higher resolution and use greyscale not black and white

HTH

Doug