Author Topic: Scanning Help (Read 3124 times)

Sowhat · « **on:** December 26, 2012, 09:50:16 AM »

Am trying to scan old photos to upload to snapfish. I paid a photo place $1.50 to scan each so I figured I'd try some myself. Im scanning at 600 dpi to jpeg in full color on a flatbed, but I'm not getting just the photo, I'm getting the white background too. I can't work with that. How do I scan so I get just the photo? The size on the machine is set to auto. Thanks.

bubbles · « **Reply #1 on:** December 26, 2012, 09:52:08 AM »

I'm sure there are better ways but on my hp I have the option to crop the scanned image before saving it

DH Data Recovery · « **Reply #2 on:** December 26, 2012, 10:07:05 AM »

you can always do preview before you scan and then only select the area of the photo

Sowhat · « **Reply #3 on:** December 26, 2012, 10:44:27 AM »

Im scanning from a commercial copier/scanner in my office. But will check about that. Thx.

DH Data Recovery · « **Reply #4 on:** December 26, 2012, 11:24:08 AM »

You can preset the size when you preview it should wrk perfectly for you

DanH · « **Reply #5 on:** December 26, 2012, 02:39:23 PM »

Quote from: Sowhat on December 26, 2012, 09:50:16 AM

Am trying to scan old photos to upload to snapfish. I paid a photo place $1.50 to scan each so I figured I'd try some myself. Im scanning at 600 dpi to jpeg in full color on a flatbed, but I'm not getting just the photo, I'm getting the white background too. I can't work with that. How do I scan so I get just the photo? The size on the machine is set to auto. Thanks.

Is there a reason you don't want to crop?
Even Picasa can do this.. (scan & crop). It can even crop with scan..

Sowhat · « **Reply #6 on:** December 26, 2012, 02:53:01 PM »

It is a lot of pictures.

Sowhat · « **Reply #7 on:** December 26, 2012, 03:24:01 PM »

Tried to manually crop a few pix. Turns out that my scanner is low resolution, and when I try to use them in a photo box, the picture is flagged as not looking good. Guess I have to go back to the photo place.

DH Data Recovery · « **Reply #8 on:** December 26, 2012, 03:53:06 PM »

or if you have enough pics just buy yourself a good scanner

DanH · « **Reply #9 on:** December 26, 2012, 05:37:04 PM »

Bulk cropping:
http://ekot.dk/programmer/JPEGCrops/

Sowhat · « **Reply #10 on:** December 26, 2012, 06:12:00 PM »

Thank you all. I have a more technical question, if I may.

I spoke with snapfish. They suggest a min of 800 x 800 dpi resolution. The problem is that when I set it, some of the pictures are blurry, but are less so at a lower resolution (could it be that scanning at 600x600 is the problem?). So they told me to save it at say, 400x400, but use those pictures as small pictures in the photo book, especially becuase when I do that they look ok in the book. Does this make sense, or should I just save them at 800x800 and then place them in the photo book as a small photo? Am I making sense?

Or is this too much trouble for an anniversary gift for my wife LOL?

Thanks again.

real-brisker · « **Reply #11 on:** December 27, 2012, 06:56:48 PM »

I just did the same the scans came out horrible. The best idea is to take pics of the pics by camera

DH Data Recovery · « **Reply #12 on:** December 27, 2012, 07:06:49 PM »

The best idea is to have a decent scanner

YankyDoodle · « **Reply #13 on:** December 27, 2012, 10:54:01 PM »

Quote from: Sowhat on December 26, 2012, 06:12:00 PM

Or is this too much trouble for an anniversary gift for my wife LOL?

Nothing is too much trouble for an anniversary gift!! As DH said, a good scanner, should give you a picture that looks as crisp as the original.

real-brisker · « **Reply #14 on:** December 28, 2012, 01:15:09 AM »

@DH - I was just giving a good idea for the current situation. (not in general)

Sowhat · « **Reply #15 on:** December 28, 2012, 01:48:15 PM »

Snapfish tells me that the scan should be at a high resolution and I should crop at their site. This will cut down on blurry pictures. BTW, i see that my scanned pictures are at a very high dpi. I guess it was after cropping and saving again, that the blurry started. I will let you know how it goes.

real-brisker · « **Reply #16 on:** December 29, 2012, 10:52:13 AM »

@sowhat - What program did you use to crop them?

Sowhat · « **Reply #17 on:** December 30, 2012, 01:30:53 PM »

Will use Snapfish.

Sowhat · « **Reply #18 on:** December 30, 2012, 01:31:49 PM »

During my iitial try, I used Microsoft Picture Viewer

real-brisker · « **Reply #19 on:** December 30, 2012, 01:34:55 PM »

If cropping on snapfish caused the bluriness, crop them elsewhere prior to uploading.