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PGY 4440C PHOTO COMPUTER IMAGING
Tips for Better Scanning
SURE, MOST SCANNERS let you digitize a photo or document at the push of a button. But if you know a few tricks, you can produce exceptional-looking images.
Prescan the image and adjust: Do any needed cropping in prescan mode (aka preview mode). This is also the best stage for adjusting brightness, contrast, and color. Especially when scanning film, you may need to tweak color balance or saturation, since most flatbed scanners are optimized by default to scan reflective materials.
Pick the best resolution: Most drivers supply preset resolutions for various kinds of output, such as images for the Web or for printouts, and scanning at resolutions higher than recommended usually takes up disk space without boosting image quality. For on-screen images, at least 72-dpi (but no more than 100-dpi) scans should be fine. For faxing or OCR, use 200-dpi or 300-dpi scans, respectively. A rule of thumb for printing photos on ink jets: Use 240 dpi for matte paper and 360 dpi for glossy paper. Use higher resolutions for enlargements. Choose color depth with care: Capturing images at 24-bit color or 8-bit gray-scale works fine for most purposes, but to capture the best possible tones-especially if you want to make tonal adjustments before the final scan-select the highest bit depth available, even if you're saving the file at 24 bits.
Keep it clean: Your images and scanner glass should be
completely clean. This is especially critical when you scan film, such
as a slide, that you intend to enlarge significantly. A dust mote that's
barely noticeable when viewed on a light box can become glaringly visible
in an enlargement.
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