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  • Scanning Photos and Negatives Resolution

    I have began archiving the photos and negatives that are conveniently stored away in boxes. It is a great undertaking, but one that I’m sure I’ll enjoy. I describe my organizing method in my post titled Data Archiving Method. The one issue I have had, however, is determining the resolutions I will use for the digital archives.

    There are many questions about resolution with regards to scanning. I haven’t found any conclusive evidence on which resolutions to use, but I have made up my mind as to which ones I will use.

    Photographs

    One of the most debated points with regards to scanning pictures, negatives, and slides is the resolution to use. The general consensus is to print at 300dpi (dots per inch), so what should we be scanning the original in at? The answer to that question is it depends. Let’s take a look at how resolution plays a roll in the printing of a picture.

    Suppose you have a 4×6 photo that you want to scan in and eventually print. You scan the document in at 300dpi with the size in pixels of the picture at 1200×1800. The size is calculate by taking the size of the photo, in this case 4 inches by 6 inches, and multiplying each number by 300, since you are scanning in at 300dpi.

    Now if you want to print the photo at 300dpi you would get a 4×6 photo, which is the same size as the original. If you want to make a larger print of the photo, you can do one of two things: either print at the current resolution by decreasing the 300dpi to something like 180dpi, or rescan the original at a higher resolution.

    If you were to rescan the original at a higher resolution, say 600dpi, you will now have a photo that is 2400×3600 pixels. Dividing both numbers by the print resolution of 300, you can now enlarge the photo to an 8×12.

    Keep in mind, however, that because you are scanning a photo, and not the original negative, you won’t gain much if you continue to increase the resolution. That only helps to enlarge the photo, and not increase the clarity.

    Negatives

    I read somewhere that some think the resolution of a negative is equivalent to a 20-megapixel digital camera. I’m not sure how accurate this statement is, but I can tell you one thing: you can get scan at a much higher resolution and get better prints from scanning negatives than an actual photo. When you do scan negatives, you will definitely need a higher resolution, unless you like really small photos.

    The size of a single 35mm negative is 1.42×0.94 inches. If you scan a negative at 300dpi, you will get an image size of 426×282. Printing this image at 300 will give you a picture the same size as the original negative: 1.42×0.94 inches. That is a really small photo. You will need to scan in the negative at a much higher resolution.

    Many scanners can now scan above 3000dpi. If you plan on scanning hundreds or even thousands of negatives you may want to go with a scan dedicated to slide and negative scanning. I didn’t have the money for one, so I have invested in a flatbed scanner. Dedicated slide and negative scanners can go as high as 4000dpi, or possibly higher, while my flatbed can go up to 4800dpi, although with results not as good as a dedicated scanner.

    If you were to scan a negative in at 3000dpi, you would end up with an image that is 4260×2820 pixels in size. This is equivalent to a 12-megapixel camera. This allows you to print 9×14 inch photograph at 300dpi (4260 divided by 300, and 2820 divided by 300). For most people this will more than suffice for printing.

    If I were to scan at the full 4800dpi, the image size would be 6816×4512, or 31 megapixels. The file size would be monstrous to the point where I wouldn’t be able to easily save many photos because the larger the image files, the more space you are going to need to store it. If you do scan at a high resolution, make sure you have the storage space to accommodate all of your files.

    To help you determine what resolution to use, please check out Scanning and Printing Resolution Calculator. The Web site also provides great tips on scanning for both photos and negatives.

    Summary

    I have read many posts regarding scanning resolution online, and everyone seems to have there own opinion. For me, when I’m archiving my photographs, I’ll scan them in at 600dpi to leave a little room for enlarging. For negatives I will scan them in at 3200 since it is a nice compromise between file size and resolution. I probably won’t be printing any large photos, but it would be nice to have enough overhead just in case I would like to many years in the future.

    In the end, however, scanning resolution will be decided by your requirements, needs and capacity.

  • Scanning Old Photos? Get VueScan

    Scanning Old Photos? Get VueScan

    I have been archiving some of the old photos, negatives, and slides that are lying around my house. As with most people, many are located in unlabelled boxes that are not organized in any way. Besides being unorganized, the other issue is that there are no safe copies of the originals, so if I was to lose my house for some reason, such as a fire, then all these memories would be lost.

    I decided to scan in as many of these originals as I can, and then back them up as I have done with my digital photos. Unlike digital photos, however, scanning, the photos, slides, and negatives takes more time and effort than simply taking a picture. For the scanning process, I use a tool called VueScan.

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  • My VueScan Photo Scanning Workflow

    My VueScan Photo Scanning Workflow

    It has been a while since I have talked about scanning photos to create a digital archive of those photos. As I mentioned in previous posts, I recently purchased a new desktop computer, and have been busy setting it up. I have also installed both the scanner and VueScan on my new desktop, and have enjoyed the increase in performance when archiving my photos.

    One thing I have begun to finalize is my workflow for scanning and archiving the photos. After doing some reading online on using VueScan, I have come up with my own workflow. While you can follow my workflow, and change it as you see fit, it is important to remember that a workflow must work for you. The one I outline below works for me.

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  • A List of Common Tags in a Blogger Blog Post Header

    A List of Common Tags in a Blogger Blog Post Header

    There are many labels and fields that can be modified to change the look of your Blogger blog’s post header. You can choose to use all the available fields, some of the fields, or none of the fields. Since the fields are related to each blog post, you can even display them anywhere on your post, even the footer.

    In this post I will list some of the most common data tags you may find in a Blogger template. By using the tags in the list, you can control what information is displayed in each of your blog posts.

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  • The Right DPI: Why It Matters in Business Document Scanning

    The Right DPI: Why It Matters in Business Document Scanning

    Scanners may not be as frequently used in offices as printers or desktop computers, but they are very useful for preserving and storing hard copy documents and their contents. When your office receives a document, such as a signed contract from a client, the fine print of an insurance plan, or a purchase receipt (both of which you do not have soft copies of), you may need to scan the documents and keep the digital copies as backup.

    You might ask, why not just photocopy them? There are many things to consider here. First, if you need to keep a soft copy instead of another hard copy of the document, you’ll need to have it scanned. Second, if the integrity of the print or the signatures on the paper will be compromised on the copy (if the pen mark is too faint, the writing may not be visible anymore on a photocopy), it will be better to scan it to preserve the entirety of the document. Third, with a soft copy in hand you can always print out precisely similar hard copies of the documents any time you need them. That should cover the convenience of having an instant hard copy from a photocopier.

    Take note that two of the reasons above speak of the importance of preserving the integrity of the original documents, that none of them be missing any visible component when reproduced or stored in archives.

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  • About Scanning Photographs

    I have read many articles and posts on the Web on how to scan photographs. There are many opinions as to the best way to perform the scan, and I have my own. This post will explain the most common settings that I use when scanning photographs.

    Pixels Per Inch (PPI)

    There is some debate about how many pixels per inch to use when scanning a photograph. Some say 240ppi, others 300 ppi, and a few say more than 300ppi. My take on the situation is this: I try to aim for 300ppi. What do I mean by this? I’ll show you.

    Lets say you have a 4×6 photograph that you would like scanned in, and printed at 4×6. This is rather simple to do, simply specify 300 in your scanner software where it says PPI and scan the photo. When completed, you will get a photo that is 1200×1800 (4×300, 6×300) pixels in size.

    What if you want to increase the size of the photo to 8×10, and still print at 300ppi? You would increase the PPI in the scanner software to allow for a bigger print. In this case 600ppi would double the size of the print to 2400×3600 (4×600, 6×300), which allows a print of 300ppi at 8×12 inches.

    Most of the time, however, I would print the same size of picture that I scan in. This means that I would keep the PPI at 300.

    48bit Colour

    I always scan photos in at 48bit colour. I usually need to correct colour casts in the scanned photos, and 48bits provides me that extra overhead to change the colours of the photograph without any banding. Banding can be seen when using Adobe Photoshop using the Levels tools to view the distribution of pixels in the different tonal values. If there are gaps between the lines, then it shows that those tonal values don’t have any pixels, otherwise known as banding. One of the downsides to using 48bit colour instead of 24bit colour is file size. The size of the photos is double at 48bit, meaning more memory and hard drive space is needed. With the large hard drives and 1-2GB of memory in most systems these days, most people would have the space. Another downside to 48bit is that not all photos-editing software can edit photos at that colour depth. Many of the big name editors, such as Adobe Photoshop, are providing more functionality for editing 48bit images.

    Saving

    When saving photos for later use, I like to use the TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) format. This file format is uncompressed, can be used on many types of systems (PC, Mac, Unix), and supports layers and 48bits. The downside is that it can be much larger than a compressed format, such as JPEG. Since it is uncompressed, there is no data loss, so you can continuously edit and save the file with any image degradation.

    When sending the photo through e-mail or posting it online, I use JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group). This is the same format used by digital cameras, and can compress to a much smaller size than TIFF. The big downside to this format is that it uses a lossy compression, meaning every time the picture is saved, it is compressed and some information is lost. The compression can be adjusted to help balance between size and image quality.

    Summary

    Here is a summary of what I mentioned in the post to make things easier to remember:

    • I scan the photos in at 300ppi if I will printing the same size as the scanned picture. I will increase the PPI only if I’m planning to make a larger print.
    • I scan the photos in at 48bit colour depth to provide extra headroom when editing the photo, such as removing colour casts.
    • When editing photos, I save the photos in the TIFF file format.
    • When sending through e-mail, or posting to the Web, I will compress the photos using the JPEG format.

    In later posts I’ll describe how I catalogue and archive my digital photos, both scanned and those taken with my digital camera.

  • How to Separate Multiple Photos from a Single File in Photoshop

    I do quite a bit of scanning whether it be slides, negatives, or printed photographs. For slides and negatives I can easily scan multiple items at one time. Scanner applications are able to save each image to a separate file with slides and negatives.

    Scanning multiple photographs is a different story. Many times people would scan multiple photos in at one time and then manually separate them. My scanner software can do that, but with automated settings only. Photoshop includes an automated action that can do this for you after the scan, and straighten your photos automatically.

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  • Data Archiving Method

    I have recently begun backing up my data such as photos (both digital and film), videos, and other files so that in case something happens, I will not lose my irreplaceable data. There is always much discussion on the best ways to archive data, and I have my way. Many may agree and disagree with my method, but this one works for me.

    In this post I will explain my method, as well as the reasons I chose to use the tools and storage devices.

    Organizing and Labelling the Data

    Before I begin to archive the data, I first organize the data, as well as set some labeling standards. The archival process is much easier once you have organized all your files, photos, and whatever else you will be archiving.

    If you plan to scan photos, slides, negatives, or other documents, you should separate them into groups, either by date or people. This will help you to keep certain items together within your archives.

    Once you have organized your data, you should create a labeling scheme to make it easier for you to find the data that you need. I have decided to backup my data on DVDs (I’ll explain why below), so each DVD is stored in a jewel case with a label assigned to the case. The label contains the following:

    1. Title – I provide a descriptive title to indicate the contents of the DVD.
    2. Years – I indicate the years covered by the data on the DVD. This helps to order the DVDs in chronological order, even if they weren’t burned in that order.
    3. Created Date – The date that I created the DVD. This will come in handy in the future to determine how old the DVD is, and whether I should create a new copy of the DVD.
    4. Catalog Name – This is a unique name that I give each DVD so I can organize them. I came up with a naming convention that indicates the type of data on the DVD.
    5. Family – This field contains the last name of the family represented by the data on the DVD. This helps to find data for a specific family name.

    I also decided to use coloured jewel cases that will help indicated the data on each DVD. For example, for photos I use a black jewel case, and videos will be stored in blue cases. You can easily purchase a box of coloured jewel cases for cheap.

    Once I have organized my data, and came up with a labeling scheme, the next step is to start determining how to store the data.

    Archiving Media

    This is probably the most debated point with regards to archiving data. Many people have their opinions about which media is best. Each media type has its pros and cons, so choose one that works for you.

    I have chosen to archive my data on single-layer DVD discs. I chose this method because they are relatively affordable, can hold a lot of data and can be easily stored. When I do make an archive disc, I always make two copies, so that if one becomes corrupted in the future, then I can retrieve my data from the copy.

    I have, however, not chosen just any DVD discs to use for archiving. I have chosen to use DVD+R discs from Taiyo Yuden. The DVD+R format has several benefits over the DVD-R specification, with one of the benefits being better error management. Taiyo Yuden discs are known as very reliable discs, so I chose them for my archives.

    Just in case you are wondering where you can purchase Taiyo Yuden discs, I discovered that very few stores, if any, carry them. I ordered mine online, as most people probably do. I only know of two online stores where you can order them for those living in Canada or the United States:

    If you know where else you can purchase these DVDs, I would like to know. Be careful, however, as many places offer DVDs that say they are Taiyo Yuden, when in fact they are fakes.

    I burn the DVD using Nero, using the catalog name as the DVD name, and perform a verification after each burn to ensure that the data was written without any issues. Once the burn has completed, I print the label, and then insert the label into the jewel case with the DVD. I write the catalog name on the DVD using a water-based CD marker.

    When I’m done with my burning, I move one of the copies offsite to prevent all my archives from being destroy if something were to happen to my home.

    Many people have discussed the life of a burned DVD, and whether their data will be available in 50 years. I think that as long as the data is readable after 5 years I should be good. I’ll probably move my data to the next generation of storage media, so won’t care if these DVDs can be read in 50 years.

    Summary

    In this post I have provided an overview of my method for archiving my data. I use a simple labeling system as well as DVD+R discs to organize and store my data. For more security, and piece of mind, I also always burn at least two copies of the data, just in case one is destroyed. Finally I move one of the copies offsite to losing all archives if something were to happen.

    You can choose to follow my method, or come up with your own. You should always create a system that works best for you.

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