Tips for scanning images

[CMReeves]

Tips for scanning images:


Set your scanner to the highest resolution possible. You can always resize down after scanning without losing quality, but you can't resize up as effectively.
If the scan is of a newspaper or a single magazine page, put something solid and black behind it to minimize bleed through.


Post any other tips you have here. Soon we could have the best scans on the net coming from shahrukhkhan.org.

[maryah]

Thanks Carol! I use that black backing trick frequently, and it really does work! I just keep a sheet of black construction paper at the scanner for whenever I need it. :)

I've wanted to post tips for a long time, but from trying to help a few individuals, it seemed that most people use whatever software came with their scanner, so it was really hard to help them find the right methods.

However, I wrote up these instructions for a friend recently, using a free software called Irfanview, that works very well (on Windows computers)

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PREPARATION: (This only needs to be done the first time.)

-- Download and install Irfanview (free) here: http://www.irfanview.com/

-- Open Irfanview, go to File --> Select Twain Source. Your scanner should be listed there. Highlight it, click Select. NOTE! If there are 2 listings, choose the one that starts with a W... For instance, mine shows "HP Scanjet 4800..." and "WIA-HP Scanjet 4800..." If I choose the "HP..." listing, the following method won't work, the scanner software will take over. We want to use Windows' built-in scanning tool instead. Do NOT use the buttons on your scanner with this method!

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SCAN:

-- With media in the scanner, choose File --> Acquire/Batch Scanning (Ctrl+Shift+A) On next screen just click OK.

-- Click Custom Settings, then click "Adjust the quality..." at bottom. Leave Brightness/Contrast controls as is, Change Resolution to 600. Picture type should stay on Color picture. Click OK.

-- Click Preview. Adjust dotted selection box to cover only what you want to scan, plus a little room for adjustment later. Click Scan. You will be taken back into Irfanview with the scanned image.

IMPROVE IMAGE:

-- Straighten if necessary. Choose Image --> Custom/Fine rotation. Ctrl+U)

-- Crop. Use the mouse to draw a square around the image, to make it look good. When you've selected only what you want, press Ctrl+Y.

-- Resize: Choose Image --> Resize/Resample (Ctrl+R). In Width box, enter 800 for a typical Filmfare-sized magazine page, 850 for a cover. (For part of a page, use a smaller size, like 400-500 width) The height will adjust automatically. Click OK.

-- Color/brightness adjustment: If image needs to be improved, select Image --> Auto adjust colors. (Shift+U) If more precise adjustment is needed, choose Image --> Enhance Colors (Shift+G)

SAVE:

-- Choose File --> Save (Ctrl+S) Locate where you want to save the file, be sure JPG is chosen from the "Save as type..." dropdown.

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This process will produce very high quality, nicely sized scans. Note that the very large, 600 DPI image is never saved to your hard drive, so it takes up no space until you resize it smaller and save it! Like anything else new, it might seem complicated at first, but it becomes very quick as you learn the keyboard commands -- Scan with Ctrl+Shift+A, then Ctrl+U, Ctrl+Y, Ctrl+R, etc.