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AR15.COM
3/27/2011 6:01:24 PM EDT
How the heck do I do this ?

I have a thousand or more old photographs.  Most are from the past 20 years and are printed in 3x5 or 4x6 some matte, some glossy.  I am open to buying a scanner or sending them to a pro.  

My main motivation is to load them all into picasa and organize everything to share with my fam and friends.


Where do I start ?
3/27/2011 6:12:17 PM EDT
[#1]
http://www.scancafe.com/
3/27/2011 10:03:16 PM EDT
[#2]
The two big names in the game are these, but I have used neither...
http://www.digmypics.com/
http://www.scancafe.com/
3/28/2011 12:11:27 AM EDT
[#3]
scan them. IMO, it's kinda cool to relive those moments as you scan them in.

that's why I picked this as my career.
3/28/2011 4:43:12 AM EDT
[#4]
Im a little hesitant to mail off a collection of photos...

One sight mentioned 600dpi. Whats that mean in comparison to the raw pics I take off my sd card from my 8mp camera ?


And I've looked at some scanners, do any of them these days have an auto feed?
3/28/2011 6:21:59 AM EDT
[#5]
Quoted:
Im a little hesitant to mail off a collection of photos...

One sight mentioned 600dpi. Whats that mean in comparison to the raw pics I take off my sd card from my 8mp camera ?


And I've looked at some scanners, do any of them these days have an auto feed?


DPI only applies to when the image is rendered to physical media. Printers will require a specific DPI setting for optimal printing. e.g. When I create the jpg exports to send to mpix.com, they specify 250dpi for their printers.

As far as what DPI your images have straight from camera, I think they might be 240 for the in camera jpeg. RAW is just RAW.
3/28/2011 7:02:11 AM EDT
[#6]
Quoted:
Quoted:
Im a little hesitant to mail off a collection of photos...

One sight mentioned 600dpi. Whats that mean in comparison to the raw pics I take off my sd card from my 8mp camera ?


And I've looked at some scanners, do any of them these days have an auto feed?


DPI only applies to when the image is rendered to physical media. Printers will require a specific DPI setting for optimal printing. e.g. When I create the jpg exports to send to mpix.com, they specify 250dpi for their printers.

As far as what DPI your images have straight from camera, I think they might be 240 for the in camera jpeg. RAW is just RAW.


Ehhh...

He's looking at scanning/scanners. 600dpi most likely means that if you have a (for example) 4x6" image, they will scan to result in a 2400x3600 pixel image ((4x600) by (6x600)).

DPI just stands for "dots per inch". It is useful in certain situations such as printing and in this case scanning to determine how many dots/pixels are required/gained per inch.

Digital images (it doesn't matter if it is JPG/RAW, straight from camera or edited) have no inherent DPI. They are a certain resolution. The only time DPI comes in to play is when you need to print them... if your printer prints @ 300DPI and you want a 4x6 image, you know that the native resolution to provide is 1200x1800.

BFG- your 8mp camera should be producing somewhere in the neighborhood of a 3450x2300 resolution image (assuming it is 2:3 aspect ratio) which makes 8 megapixels.

Scanning a 4x6 @ 600dpi results in an 8.6MP image. So pretty close.
3/28/2011 9:25:03 AM EDT
[#7]
Quoted:


Ehhh...

He's looking at scanning/scanners. 600dpi most likely means that if you have a (for example) 4x6" image, they will scan to result in a 2400x3600 pixel image ((4x600) by (6x600)).

DPI just stands for "dots per inch". It is useful in certain situations such as printing and in this case scanning to determine how many dots/pixels are required/gained per inch.

Digital images (it doesn't matter if it is JPG/RAW, straight from camera or edited) have no inherent DPI. They are a certain resolution. The only time DPI comes in to play is when you need to print them... if your printer prints @ 300DPI and you want a 4x6 image, you know that the native resolution to provide is 1200x1800.

BFG- your 8mp camera should be producing somewhere in the neighborhood of a 3450x2300 resolution image (assuming it is 2:3 aspect ratio) which makes 8 megapixels.

Scanning a 4x6 @ 600dpi results in an 8.6MP image. So pretty close.


That's some good info right there.  Thanks

3/28/2011 9:50:17 AM EDT
[#8]
Thank you,  I was wondering about what to expect when I saw "600dpi" as the option for scans.
3/28/2011 9:59:16 AM EDT
[#9]
the old rule was you wanted twice the dpi in the scan
as the halftone resolution for 1 to 1 repro size



IIRC we ran 303 dpi at Natty Geo

but we were printing the mag in gravure







scan something like a 35mm slide neg at 600 dpi and you won't like it at 8x10
3/28/2011 2:18:45 PM EDT
[#10]
Quoted:
Im a little hesitant to mail off a collection of photos...



Check local labs. There's on around here that you fill up a flat rate box and they'll scan all the pictures inside for some set amount.

3/28/2011 2:30:55 PM EDT
[#11]
I'd pick the best ones and do them first.  That way, when you run out of gumption, at least you've got the best ones done.