scanning

[dennford]

Having seen some of the problems people have with scanning photo's for restoration purposes I thought it may help to have a reference table.
        I have drawn up what I think would be a good starting point, However before printing a copy out and pinning it next to your scanner, it may be worthwhile leaving it on here for a few days so that the experts can see if it may want any modifications.
        Any comments please.
                                                         Denn

[Polldoll]

That's great Denn ...I hadn't seen that on here before !!Maybe we can attach it to the tutorial / helpdesk for scanning photos for restoration( phew ) when we post it . 
 If anyone has scanned a photograph at a higher resolution( 300  or more dpi) AND found the file is too big to post ( over 500 kb) I would be happy for them to email the large file to  me to resize it without losing the resolution and  email it back to them. What people often do to get the file under the 500kb ceiling is reduce the resolution !!! thus negating  the point in the first place 
 Polly 

[Arranroots]

I have my doubts about this Denn - but maybe I will be overruled.

Rootschat needs to have pictures that fit the screen in order to make it possible to move up and down the thread.  Anything wider than the screen or very long takes ages to 'move'.

I wonder if we are getting to the point where we need to consider emailing the scan to the restorers and only posting a 'before' picture for information and then any 'afters' that are achieved?

Incidentally, sometimes very large images are resized by the Mods for just this reason and we (I!!) might not get it right - despite Deadants' advice on the matter.

What do you think?

kind regards, Arranroots 

p.s. I am really sorry, but as a beginner I haven't been able to follow your table either!

[Gadget]

Just adding a little bit here. I have often had scans e-mailed to me by those wanting photos restored on this board. I've then resized them to fit the 500kb max and screen size without losing resolution and put them on the thread.

It's fairly easy to do if you know how and certainly I  don't mind continuing to do this - see the SooCat thread of last Friday.

Gadget

[Polldoll]

Likewise Gadget.. I am happy to do this too ... I dont think we could expect people to email all the restorers !!!! It would seem presumptious anyway ...but as we are offering .... maybe we just need to find a format / procedure to enable those people who scan a high res but need it resizing effectively,  to forward it to Gadget or myself...and any other volunteer! We can then either post it or return to the sender to post.  Maybe we even need to just explain how to establish what the res and file size is on a photo.  It is so easy to presume that the world and his wife are familiar with digital photo files !!
Poll
 

[Tony Payne]

Nice Denn - very thoughtful.

Another hint might be to just scan your pictures once at the highest resolution (ie: 600dpi).   That saves you having to scan each one multiple times - it takes forever as it is.

There are plenty of programs out there that allow you to resize images and to adjust the quality, so you can make them small enough to post.  You can always reduce the quality, but you can't increase it without making the image blurry.

The software I use is Thumbs Plus (www.cerious.com).  It costs under US$100, and there is an evaluation version.  I have used it for years and it's still my favourite.  Does most of my editing, allows me to see and store all my photos in folders with thumbnails, lets me create web pages etc.  Above all it's really easy to crop pictures, to adjust them, and to print them from Thumbs Plus.

There are quite a few free ones out there too.

[dennford]

Rootschat needs to have pictures that fit the screen in order to make it possible to move up and down the thread.  Anything wider than the screen or very long takes ages to 'move'.

I wonder if we are getting to the point where we need to consider emailing the scan to the restorers and only posting a 'before' picture for information and then any 'afters' that are achieved?

p.s. I am really sorry, but as a beginner I haven't been able to follow your table either!

I agree with the size problem re scrolling, but the solution of emailing would mean emailing to specific people rather than the pic being available to all who view the thread.

Having had another look at the table and reading your comment about being unable to understsnd it - maybe some alteration is needed while still conveying the same info', maybe what we need is for rootschatters other than restorers to comment (it should be obvious that we understand the table but is it so simple for others to understand?)


                                              Denn

[Arranroots]

Another thing that occurred to me is that not all of us use broadband and hence it takes time (and therefore costs money) to download very large pictures.  Even on broadband myself, my computer complains from time to time!

I think there must be some kind of compromise solution & the photo restoration board should definitely be developed - answers on a postcard?

Is it possible to use Rootschat webspace in some way? Or maybe something like Photobucket?

Sorry if I was sounding negative, Denn - more power to your communal elbows!

kind regards, Arranroots 

[dennford]

The time it takes to upload/download is of course some concern but I think the point is that to get a decent restoration job - then it is nesscessary to provide sufficient digital information in the form of a large pic', now irrespective of wether you use broadband or dial up, that pic' would be no quicker loading to an email than the site.


                                                   enn