Digitize old 4x6 5x7 Pictures
RedSox
Registered Users Posts: 92 Big grins
I am undertaking a potentially very tidious and time consuming task trying to digitize old 4x6 or 5x7 family pictures. Mostly likely I won't be able to find negatives. Has anyone done these before? I am open to any recommendations that will not break the bank:D .
So what shall I do in an efficient way? Scan, shoot with digital camera with right lens and right lights than PS retouching? Walmart? I am not looking for top notch quality as most of them are snap shoots that don't have great quality (lens, printing) anyway. But I have lots of them and need to find a quick way to process them.
Thanks for all the suggestions!
Eric
So what shall I do in an efficient way? Scan, shoot with digital camera with right lens and right lights than PS retouching? Walmart? I am not looking for top notch quality as most of them are snap shoots that don't have great quality (lens, printing) anyway. But I have lots of them and need to find a quick way to process them.
Thanks for all the suggestions!
Eric
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Comments
I've been doing the same thing over the last couple of years. I use a Epson Perfection 3200 Photo scanner which can handle both prints and slides. The results have been excellent to the digital stage...I haven't actually printed any. The retouching skills I'm just learning so I can't really help you there. Some of the B&W's from the 40's and 50's have excellent resolution. Good Luck!
Tickled Pixels
Tickled Pixels Blog: "A walk in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm"
Shoot film
Print glossy
Scan with a flatbed scanner
= digital file that could be manipulated or sent via e-mail, etc.
Both satin finish and matte finish have been more of a problem, and I don't like the results from the scanner. For those I prefer an actual copy stand and digital camera to digitize the image. My Minolta A2 digicam works nicely with its real-time preview for positioning and the macro mode of the lens. Two sources of illumination, flanking the photo on either side, (diffused "Daylight" CF bulbs work nicely) and I can get fairly high productivity.
If the photos are curved, use a piece of plexiglass to hold the print flat. Don't use window glass because it will tint the image.
Test extensively to determine your best settings, and shoot in batches according to size. A reference number included in the shot, cross-referenced with a journal of the images, can help with identification and sorting later.
Moderator of the Cameras and Accessories forums
For effeciency, you may wanna consider a batch print scanner. I work in a store that offers shoebox scanning for a nominal fee (check ur local photo store to see if they do the same). It was a big buzz at PMA and allot of folks are now offering this service. We use a Kodak i1220 scanner that allows us to scan multiple prints of varying sizes in batches. The scanner and software auto correct (to an extent) and more importantly adjust for skew and such so you need not worry too much about having your stack flush when you feed it through. We set ours to scan at 300 dpi for the print size detected, but that can be adjusted as well. It's a pretty slick system for archiving and saves a mountain of time.
cheers,
Take a look at VueScan software also for driving whatever scanner you finally use. I have used this for years and it works very nicely.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
Looks like the flatbed scanning is the way to go. Most pictures are high gloss.. so I will leave the matt ones to take care of later. I will check the Vuescan once I get home. Regarding the scanner (none comercial), do they have any sort of loader, or I will have to load one, scan than take the picture out, than the next one and the next.... Also do you recommend any workflow/batch process to make the life easier?
Ziggy, regarding taking picture of matt ones, I don't have any macro lens. The only one has 'marco' printed on the lens barrel, I believe is the 24-70. I have 2 point'n shot. A G2 and SD 800. They claim that they do marco too. But I don't think the SD 800 will do a good job, at 28mm (FF equivalent) it has very visible barrel distortion and corners are soft. I might give G2 a try. I guess I need to try my lenses/camera first... But if anyone has any suggestions on lens, please do. and Thanks again for all the suggestions.
Eric
On the Epson V-700, and several other Epson flat bed scanners, you can gang scan several prints at a time, and then the software will automatically rotate them to square them up, and give them different files names.
Try scanning the matte or satin finish prints before purchasing a macro lens. You may be surprised. I have done some macro photography of prints with great prime macro lenses, and I vastly prefer to scan prints on a flat bed scanner - faster, easier, and generally much better quality.
You can see many of the files I have scanned from Kodachrome slides or from B&W prints here in my family gallery Most of the slides were done with a CoolScan IV film scanner, the prints were done with a macro lens or a flat bed scanner.
If you have a lot of prints, gang scanning will help speed up the task, but it will take some time to do a good job.
Moderator of the Technique Forum and Finishing School on Dgrin
http://scanmyphotos.com/
A shoebox full ( as many as you can get in) for $50.00
If you are only doing a few sets, cheaper than the scanner.