Pictures from the Past (Scanning)

Scanner Brand: We like Epson Perfection (various models), but there are many good scanners on the market.

Keep glass clean (Use Windex Wipes) Smudges and lint are your enemies, but you don’t want to spray your scanner with a liquid that may drip down under the glass.

Twain: Comes from the phrase “never the twain shall meet” because it is a go-between for the software and the scanner.

Resolution: Scan most images at 300 dpi. For very important pictures scan at 600 dpi. Don’t over or under scan
Images that are scanned at unnecessarily high resolutions will take more disk space, longer times to print, and will not yield higher quality printing.

For important pictures, scan twice—one without any changes, and one for editing.

Saving Formats:
Tiff for valuable pictures that you want to save in high quality and/or enlarge
JPEG: for anything used exclusively in the Internet or computer, or that you won’t be enlarging or working with
PNG: A good cross between the two except not accepted for most Internet uses

Large Pictures: Stitch together in Elements 3. After scanning sections, choose File>new>photomerge, then select all scans and follow instructions.

Moiré
Pictures that have previously been printed may have a strange honeycomb or wavy lined pattern. This happens because the printed image has been converted to a halftone, which means that it was broken up into fine rows of dots. When the image is scanned, the scanner hits and misses the existing dots, resulting in what is called a moiré.
You can remove the moiré with your scanner's descreening feature. If your scanner doesn’t have “Descreen” or “remove moiré,” you can do it manually by blurring the photo in your photo-editing program enough to hide the moiré.

Certificate or document: Scan on color photo setting, even though it may be B&W.

Slides: Must have light source from above. Put in the scanner shiny side down. Increase the size of the scan at least 400 times, or use the auto slide setting on your scanner. Clean as much as possible before scanning. Fix remaining dust spots on a slide scan by choosing filter>noise>dust and scratches in Photoshop Elements. They will magically disappear! Short of time? Go to Costco, Wall-Mart, or Sam’s Club and have your slides scanned in a few hours, or one day at the longest, for a reasonable fee. Also many places on the Internet scan slides.

Negatives: Shiny side down. Must have light source from above. Some scanners ask you to “invert” before or after scanning to make the picture “positive.”

Three-dimensional objects: Must have scanner with adjustable lid. Black velvet makes a nice background.

Text: Find special setting on scanner to be able to do it. Scanned image goes into the word processor of your choice.

Scanning directly from your scanner software into a file.
Faster
No option for naming
Set up a file plan before beginning on complicated projects

Scanning Help: www.scantips.com