In this article you’re going to learn...
If you're not sure how resolution works, then you might waste time scanning low quality images.... or waste time scanning images way too big for your needs.
Here's what you need to know...
Fire up you scanner, and look at your settings for "Resolution". Here's how mine looks like...
Simply input your DPI (dots per inch or PPI, pixels per inch).
So what DPI do you use? Well, let's have a look at 300 DPI...
At 300 DPI you turn your 4x6 photo into the same size: 4x6 digital image. That's because when your photos were printed in the photo lab, they use 300 dots per inch to print your photo. So at 300 DPI, you're getting an exact copy of your original photo.
And, a 4x6 photo scanned at 300 DPI will be HDTV quality...
You can watch your 300 DPI photo scans as full resolution, HDTV quality images.
Now let's double the DPI to 600. Here's what happens...
At 600 DPI you DOUBLED the size of your original photo. Your scanner mathematically figured out how to take your 4x6 photo, and make it into a 8x12 photo WITHOUT losing quality. This means you can take your 600 DPI photo scan into a print shop and re-print it at 8x12.
And at 900 DPI? The same thing...
At 900 DPI you you'll get a 16" x 24" digital photo. You can even get away with 24" x 32".
Let's say you have those old 2" x 3" photos. Now, remember, if you use 300 DPI you'll get the exact same size...
As you can see, 300 DPI will give you the SAME image.
Let's see what happens when I use 1200 DPI?
At 1200 DPI, you turned your tiny 2x3 photo into a 16x24 digital image -- without losing any quality.
Which of these scanning troubles do you want to overcome?
Hey, my name is Konrad. I've been scanning professionally since 2005. I've helped multi-billion dollar companies, pro sports teams, pro photographers, artists, museums, book publishers, etc. I've scanned over 930,000 slides, negatives, photos.
The reason I'm telling you this is because no matter what challenge or frustration you're having, I know exactly what you're going through. So, to help you RIGHT NOW, I've put together a super simple scanning guide to get you started.