Scanning Old Photos and Writings

Dogdots · October 18, 2011

I'm scanning all my old Grandma's photos. I'm not doing photos individually .. which I'd like to do, but by the pages from most of the albums. She has some writing under them that I'd like to have along with the photos. Kinda like looking at her photo album 'as she did it'. But I can't get the writing to show up like I see it on the scanner preview or how I see it in the album.

This is what it looks like just scanned with the lid down.

This is what it looks like when I put a towel over it instead of the lid.

And this is a screen capture of what I'm seeing on my preview for the scanner.

I'm using the Epson Perfection V600. I just received the scanner not too long ago and I'm really new at scanning with it. Maybe someone could help me with this. I don't know if my settings are correct size wise. All I'd like to do is make the pages big enough to see the photos nicely on a computer screen or TV and read the captions. I'll be downloading these onto a stick for viewing.

I've opened the pages into CS5 and done some adjusting to see if I can get the writing to show up more, but no such luck.

Thanks

basflt · October 18, 2011

increase resolution as high as your PC can handle
uncheck the adjustments

make your own adjustment in PS . just as normally with photo's
size down to the desired size

Dogdots · October 18, 2011

basflt wrote: »

increase resolution as high as your PC can handle
uncheck the adjustments

make your own adjustment in PS . just as normally with photo's
size down to the desired size

Thanks .. I'll give it a try

Dogdots · October 18, 2011

I cranked up the resolution to 12800 dpi and then was told I need to reduce resolution or Scale setting or decrease the size of the selected area to within 10500 x 30000 pixles.

I've not a clue what I'm doing .. Gonna go out and play with the dog for awhile and clear my head. Will try messing with things again when I come in.

I did keep reducing the resolution and got to 1200 and it scanned it, but the white lettering didn't show up.

Know there's a setting that will work ... has to be.

basflt · October 18, 2011

i just tried on my Epson
no problem here

check if you have correct driver
latest for your model is from 2010
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?oid=139863&prodoid=63084673&BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=Downloads&platform=Windows32&x=33&y=8

also ;
try the icons below adjustments , esp the 4th one

also ;
Dots Per Inch is not the same as Pixels Per Inch

dpi is how its scanned [ quality ] ,
when high enough you can see dust on your scans
i was more aiming at measurements , ie 8x11 inch output is not big

just take some time to experiment w it ( and keep calm

)
your scanner is just a new camera , but with different settings

Dogdots · October 18, 2011

basflt wrote: »

i just tried on my Epson
no problem here

check if you have correct driver
latest for your model is from 2010
http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/supDetail.jsp?oid=139863&prodoid=63084673&BV_UseBVCookie=yes&infoType=Downloads&platform=Windows32&x=33&y=8

also ;
try the icons below adjustments , esp the 4th one

also ;
Dots Per Inch is not the same as Pixels Per Inch

dpi is how its scanned [ quality ] ,
when high enough you can see dust on your scans
i was more aiming at measurements , ie 8x11 inch output is not big

just take some time to experiment w it ( and keep calm )
your scanner is just a new camera , but with different settings

Calm ... oh my I was so frustrated with myself

Thank goodness I have a calm dog .. she brought be back down to earth.

How big would you suggest. I didn't know what to set it at when I started so I picked 8x11. Suppose I can make it as big as a monitor screen ... right? I thought I'd crop in when in CS5 giving them the finishing touch. But I can see where you want to get the best scan, size wise prior to doing something like that.

I'll play with the 4th box under adjustments.

How do I check to see which driver I have for my scanner? I just bought this scanner a few months ago.

I've been scanning with the Digital Ice software, but should I scan it with the dust removal only? I did a few slides using just the dust removal and it was awesome.

MarkR · October 18, 2011

Just a couple of thoughts.

1. Too high resolution will, as mentioned above, increase the visibility of dust, scratches, etc. without necessarily giving you a better scan. Sometimes this over-agressive scanning can be helpful, especially if you are doing a full restoration.

2. Digital ICE works great when it works great. Certain kinds of film (esp. some b&w) give it fits. Worth scanning both ways (on and off) to see which works better.

Dogdots · October 18, 2011

MarkR wrote: »

Just a couple of thoughts.

1. Too high resolution will, as mentioned above, increase the visibility of dust, scratches, etc. without necessarily giving you a better scan. Sometimes this over-agressive scanning can be helpful, especially if you are doing a full restoration.

2. Digital ICE works great when it works great. Certain kinds of film (esp. some b&w) give it fits. Worth scanning both ways (on and off) to see which works better.

I've noticed that about the Digital Ice .. it can make a photo a whole lot worse.

Gonna keep playing with it ... human vs manual vs machine

Dogdots · October 18, 2011

I took a deep breath .. set some settings and it's working

I'm sure it could be better, but I'm not messing with with it

Thanks a whole bunch. My family will enjoy these for years to come. Grandma's words written long ago will be cherished for years to come by all family members now.

basflt · October 19, 2011

nice to hear you got it working Mary

you can check version by right-clicking the title-bar > about Epson scan

as for size
a golden rule is one and a half to two times the size you want the final image to be
in size as dimensions that is

for scan resolution [ DPI ] you can only experiment
no guideline
it depends on
- PC
- the photo
-how much detail you want / need

Dogdots · October 19, 2011

basflt wrote: »

nice to hear you got it working Mary

you can check version by right-clicking the title-bar > about Epson scan

as for size
a golden rule is one and a half to two times the size you want the final image to be
in size as dimensions that is

for scan resolution [ DPI ] you can only experiment
no guideline
it depends on
- PC
- the photo
-how much detail you want / need

Thank you for the info on the 'size'. I didn't know that before. As for the resolution .. your right .. it is an experiment

Finally found my driver ... It's version 3.8.4.1. Don't know if that's current or not. I checked the link you gave previously and I see it's a 384A ... do I download it?

basflt · October 20, 2011

Dogdots wrote: »

do I download it?

no , you dont need it
it cant hurt , but it wont give much benefit either
A means ;
you only need this one if you get ; Unable to Write to File errors

Dogdots · October 20, 2011

basflt wrote: »

no , you dont need it
it cant hurt , but it wont give much benefit either
A means ;
you only need this one if you get ; Unable to Write to File errors

Ok .. I'll leave it alone.

Thank-you for the help on this

Now my days will be spent scanning. Think I'll ring in the New Year still scanning

basflt · October 21, 2011

almost forgot
you can also scan directly in photoshop

file > import > WIA

Dogdots · October 21, 2011

basflt wrote: »

almost forgot
you can also scan directly in photoshop

file > import > WIA

Thanks a whole bunch

I tried yesterday and couldn't figure it out. Did see the WIA and didn't know what it was.

Thanks again!!!!!!

Dogdots · October 21, 2011

Me Again ...

I tried scanning from Photoshop ... dang that's cool

Thanks again!!!!:D

Scanning Old Photos and Writings

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