Simply defined, a digital image is any image taken from a computer, scanner, or digital camera. Digital cameras create these images using a CCD chip, which is composed of many small light sensitive cells arranged to divide the pictures into rows and columns of smaller sub areas, and scanners function almost the same way. Slide scanners contain one row of light sensitive cells, and a motor that moves the row down the slide, creating columns that form the total image grid.

Why Is It Better To Scan Slides As Opposed To Scanning Prints?

Scanning film and film slides, generally speaking, produces higher quality images than simply scanning prints. The main reason for this is because scanning the film or slide is, in a sense, using the original image to make a copy, while an already developed print is more of a second generation copy, which will in turn produce a third generation copy once it is scanned.

Film also contains greater detail and contrast, since most film is capable of at least 3,000 dpi, compared to 300 dpi for color photo paper. A film scanner allows for enough quality image pixels to be scanned, as opposed to a standard type of scanner, and thus can produce more detailed, higher quality images, particularly when it comes to creating larger sized prints.

Scanning Slides

When it comes to your precious memories there may be times when you want to scan some of your slides on your own, and if so, here are some tips to help you insure optimal results:

1. Make sure that you own a printer with slide scanning ability, and if not, usb slide scanners can be purchased online or through office and electronics store.

2. Make sure that any software that was included with your scanner is installed, and that all of your electronic components have been properly calibrated. Keep in mind that scanning slides manually can take a long time, generally three to four minutes per slide.

3. Create a folder for each set of images that you want to scan. You can create folders based on category, occasion, the name of a person, or any other identifier you choose. Make sure that you have pressed the correct button for either color or black and white images, and be sure that you are scanning the correct side of the slide. This can be confusing, and depending on the slide scanner that you are using, paying attention to the orientation of the slide is one way to help make sure you are scanning correctly.

4. Carefully stack your slides on one side of your scanner, making sure not to stack them too close to the edge of your table or desk. With a flatbed scanner, it is usually possible to load multiple slides at once. With a specially designed film scanner, you will probably have to load and scan each slide one by one.

5. Always crop your photos before scanning, via your scanner preview mode. This is very important, since most people make the mistake of cropping their originals instead.

6. Enable Auto focus mode before scanning.

Keep in mind that slide scanning is an often complicated process and that it may take a few attempts before you are able to achieve optimal results.

Although digital cameras have been around for a few years and are becoming more and more popular many of us still have a large number of older film camera paper prints, slides and negatives. Most people keep their paper prints and negatives at their homes and only use digital formats for new photos they shoot with their new digital cameras. In this article we will discuss converting your old paper prints into digital format.

Photos are usually kept at home in one of three formats:

Paper prints: the most common format, usually at sizes like 4X6 and 5X7. Over time paper prints tend to lose their quality. Depending on how well they are kept the paper might turn yellow and bend and the colors might fade.

Negatives: also known simply as film. This is the processed film usually 35mm from which the prints where made. Although negatives can get damaged over time they are more likely to maintain their high quality. Negatives are hardly used unless new paper prints are needed.

Slides: very similar to negatives used for projecting photos on a large screen.

There are many advantages to digital photography. Having your photo album in digital format allows you to easily print paper copies either at home or using a printing service, to view your photos on your computer, to share photos with friends and family and maybe most importantly to practically archive your photos for eternity. So if digital format is that good why not convert all those old photos from traditional paper and negatives to digital? Here is how:

There are different considerations when converting from paper to digital. Professional photographers spend a lot of time and money on this process. For most amateurs and consumers very simple methods can be used which are both cheap and easy. Scanning paper prints and negatives requires different equipment and considerations. For most home users scanning the negatives is not necessary.

Scanning paper photos prints

Photo paper prints are easy to scan. You can choose to scan them yourself at home (purchasing a scanner that can do the job is usually cheap and costs less than a $100).

There are pros and cons to scanning at home. If you have a small number of photos scanning at home is easier.

If you are going to scan at home consider the following:

Resolution: the resolution of a scan is measured by the number of dots per inch that the scanner can produce. Most scanners can scan at 1200 DPI or more. Usually the scanner can be set to scan at different resolutions. The higher the resolution the slower the scan and the bigger the photo file size will be. For most paper prints scanning at 300 to 600 DPI is enough but you can experiment scanning at higher resolutions if you feel it provides better results.

Speed: If you have a small number of photos speed is not an issue. If you have hundreds or more of photos scanning speed becomes important. To get fast scans you would have to scan at the lowest resolution possible that results in good enough scans – for most paper prints 300 to 600 DPI is enough.. Also if you’re going to buy a scanner check the scanning speed (usually measured in the number of scans per minute make sure that you check the speed at the DPI you’re going to use).

Photo feeding: if you only have a small number of photos this is not an issue. If you have many photos make sure that the scanner you buy allows fast and easy loading of photos. Some higher-end scanners will let you load a stack of photos and will automatically feed and scan them for you. These scanners are the right choice if you are planning on scanning hundreds or more photos.

Scanning negatives and slides

Scanning negatives and slides is harder than scanning paper prints. In most cases it is easier and best to buy a dedicated usb slide scanner. If you want to scan at home your standard flat scanner will not be good enough. In most cases you will need to spend money on purchasing a film/slides scanner. Those scanners are more expensive than the flat paper scanners. Negatives and slides are small high resolution sources and thus require scanning at higher DPI than paper prints. In most cases 2400DPI or higher should be used.

The considerations for scanning negatives and slides are similar to scanning paper prints. If you need to scan just a few negatives or slides speed and ease are not important but if you’re going to scan hundreds or more you should spend more money on scanners that can feed the negatives or slides automatically or can just load a roll of film and scan it.

In conclusion scanning your photo negatives and slides at home is easy. You can do it yourself with no trouble. You can convert all your memories into digital format with a small investment and make sure that you can enjoy those photos and also keep them in their original quality for eternity.

The best way to preserve your older photographs is to carefully preserve the negatives. Negatives fade much more slowly than printed pictures, but they are a bit fragile if not cared for carefully. To keep your negatives free from dust and scratches, consider these steps.

Use Archival Sleeves

You can purchase plastic sleeves for your negatives to be stored in. these are different than the sleeves the film developer may have put on your negatives. They are typically on a paper-sized sheet with holes for a binder, so you can easily store your negatives in an organized manner. Be sure to use an acid-free product to store your negatives, because acid that is sometimes found in plastic can damage your negatives.

Why are sleeves so important? Archival sleeves keep dust off of your negatives. Even small pieces of dust can cause permanent scratches on a negative that will ruin any future reprints you might want to make. Archival sleeves also make it easier to handle your negatives without the risk of fingerprints. Fingerprints on a negative are not removable, and they will show up in a printed image.

Proper Storage Box

If you wish to house your negatives in a box for long term storage, choose either a metal box or a box made from acid-free cardboard. This is important even if you have the negatives in an archival sleeve. Again, the acid in most storage containers, including plastic and wood containers, can damage negatives.

Protect from Moisture

Moisture is one of the biggest enemies of a photographic negative. Keep your negatives dry by throwing a silica gel pouch into the box where you are storing them. Even if moisture does not touch the negatives, moisture that is in the air can cause them to curl or cause mold and mildew growth on them, which destroys them.

Choose the Proper Storage Location

Your negatives need to be in a relatively dry location. The humidity should be around 60 percent in the area where you store your negatives. Also, they need to be protected from extreme heat and exposure to sunlight. A cool, dry place, like a basement, is ideal.

Consider a Permanent Storage Solution

No matter how careful you are with your negatives, damage can occur. You cannot control all of the factors in the environment, no matter how hard you try. Also, storing your negatives becomes cumbersome over time, as you have to constantly deal with boxes and binders. Instead of storing your negatives, you might want to consider permanently storing them in a digital format.

You can buy a USB slide scanner so you can scan them, create a positive digital image, and store it on a CD or memory card. The CD or memory card can then be used to make prints if you should want them at a later date. High resolution scanners make it possible to turn that box of negatives into a carefully preserved digital file, without sacrificing image quality. Instead of a box crammed full of negatives, you will have one or two CDs with all of your pictures on them ready to share online or offline.

Negative scanning is a term that is used to refer to the scanning of both photo negatives, most typically those on 35mm film, and also, of film slides. Scanning negatives or film produces a more quality print at a higher resolution, since scanning a print would produce a lower quality, second generation copy of the image.

Think of the difference in quality between the music on a CD purchased at a store and the music on a tape made from that same CD, and it is easy to see why scanning negatives and film slides is the preferred method of the professionals when it comes to obtaining prints from these mediums.

Make sure to always organize your negatives by group, and use your scanner’s batch mode to scan each negative by category both before and after scanning. You can still name each scan individually if you want to, but the batch scan feature eliminates the absolute necessity of this step.

You should also take care to make sure to use a scanner with Kodak’s Digital ICE photo restoring software. You can also use a special film cleaner and compressed air for especially stubborn particulate matter. USB slide scanners mostly meet this standard.

Before you start scanning, you should adjust your settings to 3000 DPI. In terms of file formats, we recommend that professional photographers use the TIFF format, and that novices use JPEG, due to the large file sizes of the TIFF format.

You should also compare the difference in negative resolution with Kodak ICE and without, and never, ever, crop your negatives until you have scanned the entire image in.

What Are Some of The Benefits Of Negative Scanning?

First of all, whether we want to admit it or not, most of us have at least one or two dusty boxes sitting in our garage, attic, or basement full of old negatives and slides, and unorganized photos. In short, a treasure trove of memories that no one will ever see.

Do not let your family history molder in a cardboard box. Instead, you can preserve it safely, inexpensively, and using a usb slide scanner.

A photographic negative is a very delicate thing. It can be permanently damaged by the slightest fingerprint or piece of dust. Scratches cannot be removed from a negative, yet they do show up on a print made from the damaged negative. If you have negatives in your home, you need to make sure that you store them properly to preserve them. You just might need a reprint from it when you least expect it. Best of all is to digitize your slides and negatives so you can keep them on a computer or DVD for posterity. A USB Slide Scanner is your best starting point.

Negative Preservers

One option you have to preserve your negatives is to place them in archival quality negative preservers. These are 8 ½ by 11 sheets divided into sleeves that are the right size for a strip of negatives. If your photo lab cuts your negatives, you simply slide the negatives into the sleeve and stick the sheet into a binder. Use lint-free gloves when handling negatives so that you do not accidentally put a fingerprint on them. Be sure that the sheets are made from acid-free materials so that your negatives will last for many years.

Glassine Envelopes

Glassine envelopes are traditional negative storage devices used by professionals. The envelopes are translucent and are made from non-plasticized paper that is acid-free and pH negative. Both negatives and photographs can be safely stored in these envelopes and can be used as long-term storage options. One benefit of glassine envelopes is the fact that they come in a wide range of sizes, making them ideal for the professional who shoots on a variety of formats.

Uncut Sleeving

Some photographers prefer to leave their negatives uncut. This can create a difficulty when storing negatives, but it does lower the risk of damage on the developing end. Roll sleeving is the best storage option for uncut negatvies. This is a continuous roll of plastic sleeving that the photographic negative roll can be fed into. The sleeve can then be cut and rolled for storage. Again, these storage sleeves should be acid-free.

Digital Storage

Another option for storing negatives is storing them digitally. Professional negative scanning services can scan negatives and make high-resolution positive images from them. The resulting images are burned onto a CD, which can then be stored. Future reprints can be made directly from the CD.

Digital storage eliminates the need to hang on to negatives for years and years. Photographers who have many years of shooting under their belts know how much of a challenge it can be to keep all of the negatives in order from various photo shoots through the years. With digital negative storage, many images can be stored on one compact CD.

Regardless of the storage option you choose, never leave your negatives in the sleeving from the developer. Unless you are using a professional lab, the sleeving will not be acid free. This means that the acid in the plastic or paper can damage your negatives. Some labs will not sleeve negatives at all, leaving them open to fingerprints, scratches, and dust. Choose the storage option you prefer, and store your negatives in a safe way in order to properly preserve the images they contain.

Storing film negatives can become a hassle quite quickly, and since today’s photography is turning more and more digital in nature, you may want to find a digital storage option for your negatives and slides. Scanning negatives and turning them into a digital file is entirely possible, but you need the right equipment to do so.

Scanning Negatives at Home with a Flatbed Scanner

If you have a scanner with the right adapter, you can scan negatives and slides at home using a simple flatbed scanner. Keep in mind that simply putting your negatives on a flatbed scanner will not work. Flatbed scanners are designed to scan photos by capturing the reflection of the light shown on them. Because negatives are transparent, this does not work. You need a transparency adapter to scan negatives. The transparency adapter, when used in place of the scanner’s lid, shines light onto the negatives from above, and the sensors can pick up this light and capture a digital image of the print. Without the adapter, a scanned negative or transparency will look like a big black square.

Scanning Negatives at Home with Film Scanners

If you plan on scanning negatives frequently, you may want to purchase a scanner designed to scan film. These scanners give you a better final image, because there is no piece of glass between the negative and the image sensor. Also, the light is more intense with one of these scanners. They also typically have a higher dpi resolution than flatbed scanners.

Another reason film scanners give a better final image has to do with the density of the image. Photographs have a density of approximately 2.0, and negatives have a density of about 3.0. Because flatbed scanners are designed primarily for documents and photographs, they are calibrated closer to the 2.0 range. This means that scanning negatives with a flatbed scanner will result in tonal loss. This is slight, as in a negative the tonal loss occurs mostly in lighter areas, but it does affect the final image quality a bit.

High Resolution Is Key

Regardless of whether you use a flatbed scanner or a film scanner, you will want to scan your negatives at the highest resolution possible. This will make the scanning process take a while, but if you intend to make prints off of the resulting digital photos, you will be glad you took the time to scan the picture at a high resolution.

If you are one of those people with boxes of old negatives in your basement or hall closet, you are not alone. Photography has been a popular hobby with people ever since the invention of the first camera.

One problem that professional and amateur photographers alike have always faced is deciding the proper way to preserve their art once it has been shot and developed.

The good news is that if you are one of those people with boxes of old negatives and pictures old enough to be in the historical archives, many companies offer 35mm slide scanners that do a great job of digitizing your old slides and negatives.

Scanning a negative not only allows for the development of the image, but also enhanced digital clarity, even for the oldest negatives. Photo restoration can also repair sun damage and scratches. While there are many companies that offer these services, here are some things that you should look for when choosing a photo restoration and slide scanning service

3000 dpi slide scanners for 35mm slides, as well as 110,120,126,127, and 200 format slides

Industry standard automated dust and scratch removal, utilizing programs such as Kodak Digital ICE. The slide scanning services that you choose should include a manual color rotation, cropping, red eye removal, rotation, and additional dust and scratch removal as points of service.

Additional photo scanning services, preferably 600 dpi photo scanning services for both priceless, antique photos, as well as newspaper clippings, postcards, and other medium.

Does it really make a difference what size memory card you use? If you take a lot of pictures, then choosing a memory card with more storage space will likely be a priority for you, so the short answer, simply put, is yes.

When choosing the most logical memory card size, you should first take into account how many pictures you usually take at a time. As stated in the previous paragraph, If you are a world traveler, your memory card needs will be different from those of a person who only uses a camera for holiday get togethers.

You will also need to decide how big the files are of the pictures that you take. Smaller files, such as those for online pictures will take up less space and enable you to fit more on a card. Larger files for printing will need more room.

If you have a 2 megapixel camera, 128MB is usually enough. For a 3 or 4megapixel camera, a 128MB or 256MB memory card is usually plenty. For a 5megapixel camera, start with a 256MB memory card.

Years ago, 35mm film cameras were the “latest and greatest,” and many people archived their favorite photographs on 35mm slides. This may have seemed like a good idea at the time, but viewing and storing these slides usually turned out to be more effort than expected. The problem many people ended up with was having hundreds, and possibly thousands, of slides and a broken slide projector. Even with a working projector, setting up a slide projector for a slide show can take a lot of time.

With today’s digital image technology, you can scan 35mm slides and conveniently store them on CD’s and DVD’s. There’s no slide projector to drag out of the closet and no slide carousels to fill with slides. Once you scan your 35mm slides and transfer the images to a CD or DVD, all you need is a computer or DVD player to view your pictures.

When you decide to scan 35mm slides, your first step should be determining which slides you want to preserve. Pick out the best shots to scan. It may be tempting to scan every slide you own, but this will probably result in your spending more time and money on the project than you intended. Eliminating near-duplicate slides and slides you don’t need to keep in your collection will save you time and money later on.

If you have a large number of slides to scan, you’ll want a dependable slide scanner. A high quality scanner can run in the thousands of dollars. There are some less expensive models, but remember that “you get what you pay for.” Lower end scanners only allow you to view the scanned images. You will not be able to make prints with these scanners. There are professional photography services that scan 35mm slides, and this may be your best option. Their work is guaranteed, and you won’t need to worry about what you’re going to do with an expensive slide scanner once your project is completed. Professional 35mm scanning services are able to remove dust, scratches, and other blemishes from the slides, giving you enhanced images.

Make sure your scanner’s software is user-friendly and can handle what you want it to do. Good scanner software will allow you to make color adjustments to your images before you scan your 35mm slides. A common customer complaint is that the scanner software is difficult to set up and even more difficult to use. If you’re unable to use the scanner software, you can use Adobe Photoshop or a similar image editing program.

About thirty-five to forty years ago, 35mm slides were quite popular. Families documented their vacations and special occasions with series of slides, businesses used slide shows for important presentations, and students learned about faraway places and science from slide shows. Each slide was placed, in order and in the correct orientation, into the slide carousel, and the show began.

Image technology has come a long way since the 60’s and 70’s. PowerPoint presentations, digital cameras, and photographs on CD’s and DVD’s are used for displaying pictures and presentations. Many people have boxes and cases full of old 35mm slides that sit gathering dust because viewing the slides is too cumbersome or the slide projector is broken. Fortunately, slides can now be converted to a digital format onto CD’s and DVD’s for easy storage and viewing with slide scanning.

You can use a flatbed scanner or a film scanner to scan your slides. Film scanners can range in price from $300 to over $1,000, but they produce a higher quality reproduction. Some of the scanner features you need to consider before making a purchase are resolution, DPI, PPI, dynamic range, and bit depth.

The resolution of a scanned image is the measurement of how sharp, or clear, the scanned image is. The DPI, or dots per inch, is the measurement of the number of image dots a printer is capable of printing into 2.54cm (one linear inch) of space. A higher DPI typically results in a higher resolution. Pixel, a combination of the words “picture” and “element,” is a term that refers to the smallest unit of an image. This is typically a color dot. The number of pixels a scanner supports (megapixels) and the size of the image produced determine the PPI, or pixels per inch. As the size of an image increases, the PPI decreases. Scanners with higher megapixels produce images with higher resolution. Dynamic range refers to the capability of distinguishing levels of brightness in an image. A low dynamic range results in a blurry, undefined image, and a high dynamic range produces a sharp, crisp image. Bit depth, or color depth, is the measurement of how many bits, or single units of information, are used to create each pixel in a digital image. Higher bit depths result in brighter and deeper image colors.

There are some drawbacks to do-it-yourself slide scanning. As mentioned previously, the cost of a quality scanner may be prohibitive. You may also end up with a scanner that is difficult to operate or does not perform as you expected. Common problems of scanning slides at home or at your business are damage from fingerprints, choosing the appropriate settings on the scanner, and difficulty producing pictures without scratches and other unsightly marks. Slide scanning can also be a very time-consuming.

For an easier approach to scanning slides, try a professional photography business that offers this service. Professional slide scanning services use top of the line scanners, and the scanned images are clear and blemish-free. You won’t need to bother with purchasing special equipment to scan your slides, and reputable scanning services guarantee their work. Your slide scanning project will be completed in no time!

If you are getting ready to scan photos, there are a few things you should know. The process will be much easier if you do a little prep work beforehand. These tips will help you get the desired result from your scanning project.

Choose the Pictures Carefully

Your pictures will scan exactly as they are. If there is a fold on the picture or a scratch on the surface, it will show up in the scan. Sometimes the scanner picks up specifically on these flaws, and they look even worse on the scanned image. For this reason, you need to choose the images carefully.

Find images that are in good condition, and clean any fingerprints with a lint-free cloth before you begin. Also, choose images that have bright colors and sharp contrasts, because sometimes quality is lost when you scan photos on a home flatbed scanner. While you can use enhancing software to brighten up images, you still want to start with the best possible original image.

Choose the Right Resolution

You will need to choose the resolution for your image, whether you are scanning it at home or choosing a scanning service. Remember that scanned images are measured in a unit called “dpi,” which stands for dots per inch. The higher the number, the clearer the image is.

A resolution of 300 dpi is a good choice when scanning at home. You will not get large prints from this size, but you will be able to print standard image sizes up to 5 x 7 and display the images online, without taking up too much of your computer’s memory. If you need a larger image, you may want to burn it onto a CD or hire a scanning service. If you only intend to display the image online, a smaller resolution will suffice.

Choose the Right Format

If you have the option to choose the file format, consider carefully which one you will use. On most scanners, TIFF and JPEG are both offered. TIFF is a better option for archiving an image. These are larger files, which means they give a good quality for printing. JPEG files are slightly compressed. They do print well, but not as well as TIFF files. These files work well for posting images online. Since TIFF files are larger than JPEG files, TIFF files can be converted to JPEG files, but not the other way around.