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Author Topic: How best to scan small old photographs?  (Read 771 times)

Offline rogtut#

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How best to scan small old photographs?
« on: Monday 04 June 18 11:23 BST (UK) »
I have 2 photos measuring about 2.5 inches width and 3.5 inches height.  They are of my great grand parents who both died in the mid 1900s and are in sepia (?) tone.

How should I scan them to optimise restoration? R
TUTTON Stockport & Shrewsbury UK;
CHAVASSE West Midlands UK & Worldwide;
EVANS Derbyshire UK;
HUGHES Ireland & Scotland;
ROSS Scotland

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Offline sarah

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Re: How best to scan small old photographs?
« Reply #1 on: Monday 04 June 18 16:09 BST (UK) »
Hello rogtut#

There are lots of topics at the top of this section which cover scanning and how best to post a picture here is the link http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=198165.0

Regards

Sarah
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Online Treetotal

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Re: How best to scan small old photographs?
« Reply #2 on: Monday 04 June 18 16:29 BST (UK) »
Hi Rog...I have quite a few that size and found that scanning them at a resolution of 600-800dpi gave a good result. As they tend to curl or move on the scanner bed, if you put a piece of white card over them it helps to keep them in place.
Carol
CAPES Hull. KIRK  Leeds, Hull. JONES  Wales,  Lancashire. CARROLL Ireland, Lancashire, U.S.A. BROUGHTON Leicester, Goole, Hull BORRILL  Lincolnshire, Durham, Hull. GROOM  Wishbech, Hull. ANTHONY St. John's Nfld. BUCKNALL Lincolnshire, Hull. BUTT Harbour Grace, Newfoundland. PARSONS  Western Bay, Newfoundland. MONAGHAN  Ireland, U.S.A. PERRY Cheshire, Liverpool.
 
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Offline Guy Etchells

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Re: How best to scan small old photographs?
« Reply #3 on: Monday 04 June 18 17:47 BST (UK) »
I would suggest you scan at the highest optical resolution your equipment can handle.
The reason for this is printers screens etc. are getting better all the time in a few years a resolution of 300 dpi will not even be entry level and you may not have access to those photos by then.

Cheers
Guy
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Online Treetotal

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Re: How best to scan small old photographs?
« Reply #4 on: Monday 04 June 18 18:01 BST (UK) »
Guy...My answer was based on the fact that Rog would want to post them on here for restoration and the suggestion I offered would be best for file size 500kbs for posting on here.
Carol
CAPES Hull. KIRK  Leeds, Hull. JONES  Wales,  Lancashire. CARROLL Ireland, Lancashire, U.S.A. BROUGHTON Leicester, Goole, Hull BORRILL  Lincolnshire, Durham, Hull. GROOM  Wishbech, Hull. ANTHONY St. John's Nfld. BUCKNALL Lincolnshire, Hull. BUTT Harbour Grace, Newfoundland. PARSONS  Western Bay, Newfoundland. MONAGHAN  Ireland, U.S.A. PERRY Cheshire, Liverpool.
 
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Offline Mike Morrell (NL)

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Re: How best to scan small old photographs?
« Reply #5 on: Monday 04 June 18 18:01 BST (UK) »
Just an addition to Cazza's otherwise excellent scanning tutorial: the .jpg quality (=compression level) is important too.

Check your scanner settings. The scan resolution should be 300 dpi (or preferably 600 dpi). The saved file type could be .png or .jpg. Hopefully, you'll see some kind of 'quality level' (e.g. 'best', 'high' or a number 1-10 (or 1-12). Yoiu should aim to save at a .jpg quality level of 'high' or 'best' or about 80% of the maximum.

If you find that the file is too large to post on Rootschat (more than 500KB) let us know. Sometimes it's better to reduce the resolution, often it's better to reduce the .jpg quality level. A resolution of about 300 dpi is fine as is a .jpg quality level of about 75-80% of the maximum. Try to avoid reducing either one too drastically!

Mike
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Online Treetotal

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Re: How best to scan small old photographs?
« Reply #6 on: Monday 04 June 18 18:36 BST (UK) »
As I have said many times before on here...simplicity gets the message across:

Postcard size = 300dpi
Small photos = 600dpi
Passport Photos = 800dpi
Locket Photos = 1200dpi

All scanned in colour mode and saved to highest quality.

In my 11 years experience of restoring photos on here...it has always worked.

Scanning photos over 600dpi often creates resizing issues due to file size restrictions of 500kbs which can lead to problems for the poster and can be counter productive.

For some posters...successfully scanning and posting a photo is in itself is a big achievement.

Carol
CAPES Hull. KIRK  Leeds, Hull. JONES  Wales,  Lancashire. CARROLL Ireland, Lancashire, U.S.A. BROUGHTON Leicester, Goole, Hull BORRILL  Lincolnshire, Durham, Hull. GROOM  Wishbech, Hull. ANTHONY St. John's Nfld. BUCKNALL Lincolnshire, Hull. BUTT Harbour Grace, Newfoundland. PARSONS  Western Bay, Newfoundland. MONAGHAN  Ireland, U.S.A. PERRY Cheshire, Liverpool.
 
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Offline Guy Etchells

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Re: How best to scan small old photographs?
« Reply #7 on: Monday 04 June 18 20:00 BST (UK) »
Quote from: Treetotal on Monday 04 June 18 18:01 BST (UK)
Guy...My answer was based on the fact that Rog would want to post them on here for restoration and the suggestion I offered would be best for file size 500kbs for posting on here.
Carol
Sorry I had not noticed that
Cheers
Guy
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http://burial-inscriptions.co.uk Tombstones & Monumental Inscriptions.

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Offline Currently Thwarted

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Resizing scanned photo?
« Reply #8 on: Friday 01 February 19 19:37 GMT (UK) »
Hi,
I have read the tutorial but do not seem to be able to downsize the photo I would like to post on here and ask if someone might restore it. I have an iMac with iPhoto.  For this amateur, that is normally all I need. I have managed to reduce the size on screen but even clicking on 'save', it makes no difference, it comes back to full screen when reopened. If someone could point out what more I can do, I would appreciate it. I can take constructive criticism! Jim
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