Scanning in old images

[JKA@4153]

Hi everyone,

I'm using an Epson V370 Photos Scanner to scan in a heap of old photographs. I just have some questions regarding the settings:

• Should I have 256 greys selected or Thousands of Greys?
• As they're greyscale images, I have “Black and White” selected but is there any advantage to choosing colour over "Black and White"?
• The resolution goes up to 6400 but I chose 800. Is that too little or too much resolution?
• When previewing the scan and after scanning, there’s a small shadow between the bottom of the image and the scanner glass. This might be because the image must not be sitting entirely flat on the scanner glass. Should I place a book on top of the images and then close the scanner top before scanning in order to eliminate this shadow?
• When trying to digitise old images, is it better to photograph the image or scan it in? The reason is that I'm finding a lot of small scratches etc. on the images once scanned so I thought photographing them might be a better option.

Would really appreciate tips!

Thanks in advance.

[gener7]

I use a Brother Scanner in my Mac. Perhaps I can offer you some useful tips:

Before scanning, I clean the scanner glass. my favorite is iKlear travel single wipes and the lint-free cloth that comes with it. I use a flashlight to highlight any unwanted dust I might have missed. Some people use gloves to keep fingerprints and smudges off the glass.

Yes, if a photo or any item is not exactly on that glass, it gets out of focus. I use a black sheet of paper and something lika thinn book to press it flat. sometimes I'll place a heavier book on the lid. I also throw a towel on top to prevent light leaks when there is a gap between the lid and the glass. Black backing is preferred over white to eliminate anything on the other side of the photo from bleeding through.

256 levels of gray is fine. That's 8 bit grayscale. I'm not sure about 16 bit, I've used it and I'm told scanners do not go beyond 12 bit.

There are two kinds of scanner resolution: Optical and Interpolated. Optical is best. Depending on the scanner this can be 1200 or 2400 ppi. anything higher is "interpolated", created by adding pixels. Not necessary IMO. I scan halftone print at 1200 to eliminate halftone moire. I hope some photographers here can weigh in on an optimal scan resolution. 300-600 seems reasonable. You can experiment.

The scanner in a way is a camera, taking pictures with a digital camera is not a good idea because you don't have much control over lens distortion or lighting as you would with a scanner. If you need to edit out scratches, there are plenty of filters and other tools in Camera Raw and Photoshop that will do this kind of work.

I hope others can better weigh in on photos.

And one more thing...always, always, always back up. Not only on the local drive, but also to an external drive and since you have it and hopefully a fast connection, to your Creative Cloud or other cloud storage. You will be doing a lot of work and you do not want to lose it.

[JKA@4153]

Thanks so much for your advice - it was really helpful. I assume that if I want to print the image at double the size of the original then I would scan in at 600dpi - is that right?

Also, I'm finding that once scanned in, I'm seeing the grain of the original photo paper on the screen. The photos are more than 70 years old so the paper back then is probably different to paper today. I assume that this is just one of the obstacles that I'll be facing and that the grain can be removed in Photoshop. Can you confirm?

Thanks again.

[gener7]

Here is one tutorial explaining grain and how to remove it in Photoshop. You can ignore the banners if you don't want to give out your email or sign up, but they explain it well.

Photo Retouching | How To Fix Grainy Photos on Photoshop and Lightroom

[JKA@4153]

Ok thanks again

[D Fosse]

Scanning is usually more convenient. However, these days you normally get much better quality photographing than scanning - if you have the necessary equipment. This is even true for 35mm negatives and transparencies.

The "necessary equipment" basically means a dedicated flat-field macro lens, and some kind of repro stand. Then you need two light sources at roughly 45 degrees angle off the original (or backlighting for film).

Most camera manufacturers have suitable macro lenses in their lineup. I have used a Micro-Nikkor 60/2.8 with excellent results.

There are several problems with scanners. First, they usually have a very high amount of chromatic aberration - colored fringes. This is usually random and irregular, and not possible to correct with the automatic tools in, say, ACR. This is mostly a problem with small originals like 35mm film.

Second, it's hard to control contrast and dynamic range. A good raw file, properly exposed, is much easier to work with, and contains more useful data than an 8-bit RGB file out of a scanner.

Third, few scanners truly give you the advertised native, optical resolution - nevermind the interpolated max resolution. You will almost always get better resolution and more useful detail with an appropriate camera setup.

[JKA@4153]

Great - thanks for the input.

I assume that using a camera will also help me avoid all the problems associated with the grain in the photo paper so it might be the way to go. Once I set up the camera on the stand, will I have to do any adjustments to the camera? I'm not that proficient using a professional camera so it would have to be pretty basic. Also, if any adjustments are needed, will I have to do them on a photo-by-photo basis or once it's set up at the beginning will the settings be ok for the entire album?