Slide, Negative Film, Photo Scanning: FREE Scanning Tips, Tricks, and Secrets

It’s easy to talk about quality.  Here’s a quick video of a comparison between normal scans vs. slide scans edited by ScanCanada.ca:

Slide Scanning: Compare Normal Scan Vs. Edited Scan By ScanCanada.ca

I want to share a simple story with you.

Tess, a customer from Toronto, found some old slides that belonged to her Father.  Here’s a quick video of her story:

Slide, Film, Negative Scanning: Slide Show of 60 Year Old Slide Scans

This scanning blog is just one place  where you can find my articles on how to convert slides, negative film, and photo into digital. Here’s where you can find my stuff…

HowToScan.ca

This is my side project when I’m not scanning for a living.  I will show you exactly how I scan my customer’s slides, negatives, and photos.  I try to make is as non-technical as I can.

Check it out, FREE Slide, Negative, Photo Scanning Guide

eZineArticles.com

These articles are a bit more technical, and my major focus is on understanding resolution.  I also have quick scanning tips as well.

Please visit, eZine Article Expert Author on Scanning

Squidoo.com

Here’s where you can get quick, fast tips on scanning your own slides, negatives, and photos.  If you don’t have the time, and want to jump right into scanning, check out, Squidoo: Squidoo Lensmaster HowToScan

Imagine your Dad’s reaction when he sees 60 year old slide scans of himself when he was just a boy.  Convert your family slides, negative film, and photo into HD quality digital images.  Slide, Negative Film, Scanning Services Toronto.
 

Your Digital Images Will Turn Out Backwards If You Do Not Know What Side To Scan

Make make sure your slide or negative film scans do not turn out like this:

Here is 3 quick tips to make sure you scan the right side of your negative film or slide, please check out…

What Side To Scan Your Slide or Negative Film

Most people think you need a lot of resolution / DPI to get high-definition digital photo scans. But the fact is, if you scan your 4”x6” photos 300 DPI, you still get HD quality digital images.  Here is 3 reasons why:

1.  Your HDTV Has A Screen Resolution Of 1080 x 1920

It does not matter if your HDTV is 32 inches or 52 inches– if you have an 1080p HDTV, the “screen resolution” is 1080 x 1920 pixels.  What does screen resolution have to do with your photo scans?

2.  Your 4”x6” Photo Scans Have A Pixel Dimension of 1200 x 1800

Instead of “screen resolution”, your digital photos have what is called “pixel dimension”.  When you convert a photo into digital, you are going to get digital image that has a pixel dimension of 1200 x 1800.

3.  Always Look At Pixel Dimension As A Yard Stick

Resolution is always confusing because there is so many terms: DPI, mega pixels, pixel dimension, screen resolution, etc.  To make it easier for you, always look at the pixel dimension or scree resolution.  Forget about DPI, mega pixels, 720p, 1080p– those are all fancy marketing terms that mean the same thing.

Anyway, back to your photo you converted to digital.  Remember I said that it has a pixel dimension of 1200 x 1800.  Now, if you look at your HDTV, it has a screen resolution (same thing as pixel dimension) of 1080 x 1920.  This means when you put your digital photo on your HDTV, it is going to fit perfectly.  Your HDTV won’t have to crop it, size it down, stretch, etc., to make it fit on the screen.  Your 4”x6” photo scan at 300 DPI is considered HD quality.

Always try to find a number like, 1080 x 1920.  And use your HDTV as a yard stick.  If, say your digital camera is 2 mega pixels, check and see the pixel dimension of the digital photos.  If your digital photos from your camera are 1200 x 1800 (give or take), then you know they are HD quality.  Always use pixel dimension or screen resolution as the yard stick.

Learn More About Photo Scan Resolution So You Can Have More Control Over Your Digital Images

Choosing the right DPI for photo scanning is just the start.  If you like to learn more on how to get better looking photo scans, please read my eZine article:

Get Excellent Quality Photo Scans: Three Tips

Good luck with your photo scanning project!
Konrad M.
ScanCanada.ca

I want to show you a short series of slide scans from Tess O’Neal, a customer from Toronto.  These images you see below are 40 years old slides!

Slide Scan From 1951 – Tess’ Mother.

Slide Scan 1951 –  Baby Tess with her Mom.

Slide Scan 1953 –  Tess has a sister, Angela!

Slide Scan 1957 – And then another sister, Marge!

Slide Scan 1957 – Tess’ sister Marge with Mom.

Slide Scan 1958 – The Family, Including Grandpa and of course Dad taking the photo.

Do these remind you of your own collection of family slides, negative film, or photos?

Is there a reason you’re NOT converting those slides sitting in your closet into digital? Do something about your Dad and Mom’s collection of film and slides, and convert those memories into digital.

We’re a small team of graphic designers that make up ScanCanada.ca.  We have been converting film, slides, and photos since 2005, and have been editing digital photos since 2000.   And our number one goal is TRUST. This is why my team and I invite you to try a FREE test-run.  Here’s how it works…

Get FREE Scans Before You Decide On Scanning ALL Your Slides, Film And Photos

Let our work speak for itself.  I’m confident in our work, so that’s why I invite you to ship or drop off, say, 25 – 50 slides, photos, or negatives.

I’ll scan them, at no cost.  If you’re completely happy with the quality, send the rest and my team and I will be glad for the opportunity to scan the rest of your family’s originals.

Also, my team and I guarantee all scans.  If you’re not happy with the results, no problem– we’ll either re-scan, re-edit, or not charge you for them.

To start your FREE Test Run, please visit: ScanCanada.ca: Professional Slide, Film, Photo Scanning Services

At 1500 DPI, You Will Get HD Quality Digital Images

If you’re converting your negatives or slides into digital, and want true HD quality digital images, you don’t need to scan them at 4000 DPI.

Scanning your originals at 1500 DPI will give you true HD digital images.  Also, scanning at 1500 DPI is going to save a lot of time.  At 4000 DPI, it takes me about 3 minutes to scan a negative.  At 1500 DPI, it takes about 45 seconds.

How can 1500 DPI be true HD?  Well, have a look at your HDTV.  Did you know the resolution of your HDTV is only 1080 x 1920.  Have a look…

Or take a look at your computer monitor– in my case it is only 1366 x 768.  Check it out…

How about an iPad? The screen resolution on that thing is 1024 x 768.  Here is the big picture…

What’s do these numbers have to do with your slide or negative scans?  Well, if you scan a 35mm slide or 35mm negative at 1500 DPI, you are going to get a digital image that is 1275 x 1950.  Look here…

You see, at this pixel resolution, your digital images are bigger than your HDTV.  1500 DPI is all you need!

Learn More About Resolution So You Can Have More Control Over Your Digital Images

This stuff is just the begining.  If you want to learn more about resolution so you can do a lot more with your scans, check out…

Understanding Resolution For Better Slide, Negative Scans

Good luck with your scanning project!

Konrad M.

ScanCanada.ca: Professional Slide, Negative, Photo Scanning Services Toronto

Why Are You Not Getting Quality Slide, Negative, Photo Scans?  Here Are 5 Reasons Why And What You Can Do To Get Better Looking Scans

- by Konrad M., owner of  ScanCanada.ca

Mistake #1: Thinking You Need The Most Expensive Scanner With All The Bells And Whistles

Do you think Eric Clapton needs the most expensive guitar to sound like he does?   No, of course not! He can use any old guitar you find in pawn shops, and he still can sound great.

Maybe like me you went out and got the best scanner you could find.  It had all the fancy features that promised you quality scans.  Then when you finally figured out how to use Digital Ice, Color Fix, DEE, etc., you still got lousy looking scans.  It is very frustrating.

Why can you NOT get consistent quality scans with even the best scanners out there?

Any scanner on the market is amazing at giving you a lot of pixels.  A $200 scanner can scan the same amount of pixels as a $6000 scanner.

But here is the rub:  scanners were made to scan pixels, but not at EDITING your scans.  Sure, the more expensive the scanner, the more scan enhance features it comes with.  But if you ever tried scanning you know how frustrating it is to get scans that look worse than the originals, even after you pressed all the fancy buttons.

You need accept the fact that there are no short-cuts.  It would be amazing if you could press a few buttons, and let the scanner to all the work.  But that is not how it works.  If you continue to rely on your scanner to edit your slide, negative, photo scans, you will NEVER get quality digital images.

Mistake #2:  The More Resolution You Use, The Better The Quality Image You Get

What do you think most people do when they load up their scanner and choose a resolution or DPI (dots per inch)?

I think most people want to go as high as possible.  They use the highest DPI the scanner can give.  But all they get is a HUGE digital image that has MORE dust and scratches.

Just because you scan your negatives or slides at 4000 DPI, or photos at 1200 DPI, does not mean you will get higher quality images.  There is a point where you STOP scanning image detail, and start scanning the surface of the film or photo.

For instance, photos have a limit of 300 DPI.  After that you are scanning minute dust and scratches, the gloss off the photo paper, oil from finger prints, etc.

Yes, I recommend scanning at higher resolutions, but do not think that you will get more quality.  Scanning at a higher resolutions will never work at getting you higher quality.

Mistake #3: Here Is How To Scan 2000 Slides, Negatives, or Photos In ONE Week

If you want to scan as many originals as you can, as fast as you can, here is what you can do.

First, do not bother cleaning your slides, negatives, photos before loading your scanner.  Sure, cleaning your originals before putting them in the scanner will remove 90% of the dust, but who cares, cleaning just gets in the way.

Second, just load your originals in any which way you want– and hope you scanned the right side so that the scan is not backwards.  Do not bother learning what side you should scan.  Taking the time to load your originals properly will just slow you down.

Yeah, you get it.. I am being sarcastic.  But what is funny is, these small things like cleaning your originals and learning what side to scan are so trivial that most people skip them to save time.

But remember this one thing: these are your ONLY originals, you may as well convert them into digital RIGHT the first time.  This means you have to take your time.

Sure, scanning is a BIG job that takes a while. But if you do the job right the first time, you are ensuring that your originals are backed up properly.  If anything happens to those originals, you will have the peace of mind knowing you have EXACT copies, or better looking copies, backed up digitally.

Mistake #4: Thinking You Need Be An Expert At Graphic Design To Get Quality Images

Earlier I talked about how you should not use your scanner to edit your photo, negative film, or slide scans.  Here is what I recommend instead: edit them yourself, using software designed for fixing digital photos.

I know what you are thinking, “he is crazy!”.

But the only way to get quality slide, photo, negative scans is to edit the digital images by “hand”. I know it is very tempting to use your scanner software to do this job– but if you have ever tried using this method, you know how frustrating it is to keep getting bad scans.

You need a better method to scan and edit your family’s slides, negatives and photos.

Mistake #5: Not Getting Help With Your Home Scanning Project

You know what, it took me 6 years to figure out how to get quality scans, and to perfect it.  Let me tell you a story how figured it out.

It was 2004 and I just spent weeks scanning my parents photos.  At the time they looked OK.  I had a pretty good scanner, and I used scan enhancement features like Digital Ice to fix my scans.

But then I put my scans on my HDTV and they  looked horrible– all of them were absolutely useless.  I was so frustrated because I just spent all that time scanning them, and they were useless.  But you learn from your mistakes.  And thanks to this mistake, I figured out how to perfect scans, every time.

Anyway, I picked up the project again, and this time I would try a different way.  I guess I am lucky because I have been using Photoshop since 2000, so I knew how to manipulate digital images.  So instead of using all the fancy scan enhancement features that came with the scanner, I did a “natural” scan.  This means I had a digital image with NO editing done to it.

I then opened the natural scan in Photoshop and spent hours trying to figure out how remove dust and scratches, fix color fading, bring back the exposure levels, etc.  It was not perfect, but it was WAY better than my first attempt.

It took me months to perfect this technique.  And now 6 years later, I have a business scanning family and commercial slides, negative and photos for a living.  I have converted over 500,000 slides, negatives, and photos into digital.  I NEVER use short-cuts like Digital Ice, and I have a small team of graphic designers that help me edit all scans by “hand”.

The Best Part? Discover How I Scan And Edit My Customers Slides, Negatives, And Photos

The best news is, I have a side project showing you how step-by-step how I edit my customer’s slides, negatives, and photos.  If you are the DIY type check out…

How To Scan Slides, Negatives, Photos: Free Scanning Tutorial: HowToScan.ca

You do not need Photoshop– you can download a free program called GIMP that does the exact same thing.  And since I will show you in my scanning tutorial, step-by-step, you do not need a technical background in graphic design.  All you need is a strong commitment in wanting better looking, higher quality family scans.

And one more thing.  Do your friends and family a big favour– when you learn these scanning techniques, teach them what you have learned.  It is the biggest gift you can give them: to permanently preserve their family story by showing them how to convert their own slides, negatives, and photos into quality digital images.

Good luck with your family scanning project!
Thank you,

Konrad M.
ScanCanada.ca: Professional Slide, Negative, Photo Scanning Services Toronto

Trouble Scanning Your Own Slides, Negatives, Photos? Here Are 3 Tips That Can  You Get Better Looking Scans

I have been scanning since 2005, and scanned over 500,000 slides, negatives and photos.  Here are three core things I have learned to get me better quality scans.

1) What Does Digital Ice Do To A Photo, Slide, Negative Scan

My first tip is not to use Digital Ice.  Your scanner may have all these fancy scan enhancement features, like Digital Ice, Color Fix, Dust / Scratch Removal, etc.  Do not be tempted to use them.

I know, scanning your family’s originals is a big project, and it is going to take a long time.  And it is very tempting to think your scanner has a quick fix for getting quality scans in a short time.

The fact is, you might save some time, but you will pay in another way.  Check out what Digital Ice did to this negative film scan….

The negative scan on the left has detail missing because Digital Ice thought some of the white in the lettering was dust.

The whole point of digitally archiving your family’s slides, negatives, and photos is so they are AT LEAST the same quality as the originals.  If your scans look lousy, then what is the point of converting them?  Even if you save some time using Digital Ice, you still end up with digital photos that are not worth keeping.

2) How Can You Get Better Scans Using The Scanner You Already Have

I can use a $200 scanner, and get great high quality scans everytime.  How?  First, I do not use the scan enhancement software that came with the scanner.  What I do is, I try to get a “raw” or “natural” scan.  No Digital Ice, no DEE, no Color Fix, none of those fancy sounding features.

Once I get a natural scan, I edit the digital photo in software MADE to edit digital photos.  I know, I know… this may seem like a lot of work.  It is just easier to press the Digital Ice button, and let the scanner do all the work.  But you do want quality scans, right?  And if you want the job done right, you may as well take some time to learn some quick editing tips.

I have a side project called HowToScan.ca.  This is a free scanning tutorial, showing you exactly how I scan my customer’s slides, negatives and photos.

Even if you do not know anything about Photoshop or GIMP (a free photo editing program that dose exactly what Photoshop does), that is ok.  In my scanning tutorial I will show you, step-by-step, how to scan and edit your family’s slides, negatives, and photos.

Check out…

A Non Technical Scanning Guide: HowToScan.ca

And here’s the table of contents….

HowToScan.ca: Free Scanning Guide, Table Of Contents

3) What Resolution Should You Scan Your Slides, Negatives, and Photos

Here is the quick answer– if you want all your digital images to be at least HD quality, here is the resolution I use….

4” x 6” Photos: 300 DPI
35mm Slide scans: 1500 DPI
35 Negative Film scans: 1500 DPI

When you scan your photos at 300 DPI, you will get a digital image that is 1200 x 1800.  This number means that your digital photo will fit perfectly on your 52”, 1080p HDTV.  How? Well, your HDTV has a screen size of 1080 x 1920.  And your 300 DPI photo scan is 1200 x 1800. In other words, your digital photo has a larger resolution than your HDTV.

Also, if you scan your film and slides at 1500 DPI you will get a digital image that is around 1275 x 1950– which is also bigger than your 1080p HDTV.

I personally use 900 DPI for photo scans, and 4000 DPI for slide, negative scans.  Even though it takes longer, and it may be a bit over-kill, I rather have too many pixels then too little.  I never know what sort of technology they will come out with in the future.

Did These Scanning Tips Help?

If you want to go deeper, and learn how to properly scan your family’s slides, negatives, and photos, I invite you to check out my  free scanning guide, HowToScan.ca.

Thanks for reading!

Konrad M.
ScanCanada.ca

These 5 Basics Will Help You Control What You Do With Your Slide, Negative, & Photo Scans

To help you better understand what is the best resolution to scan your family slides, negatives, or photos, here are 5 basics to have in mind.

1) Higher DPI Does NOT Equal Higher Detail Scans

The number one myth is that the higher the resolution, the better the quality and detail your scan will be.  That is exactly what I thought– “I will setup my scanner at the highest resolution possible, and I will see detail I could never imagine”.

Except there are limits.  Have a look at your actual slides, negatives, or photos.  When they were developed, the print shop used a certain amount of dots per inch to print them.  A typical 4” x 6” photo was printed at 300 dots per inch.  That means the print shop used 300 colored dots per inch to make up your photos.  So your photo has a limit of 300 DPI.  Same for a 35mm slide or negative.  These guys were printed (emulsion coated on film) using about 1500 DPI.  Quick note: I had arguments with professional photographers saying that slides and negatives have over 1 million DPI– we just do not have the scanners to pickup that detail yet…. but I digress.

You see, your originals have limits.  And once you setup your scanner to go past those limits, you are no longer picking up detail.  All you are doing is making your digital image bigger.  This leads me to my next point.

2) Higher DPI / Resolution Only Makes Your Digital Image Scans Bigger

I just talked about how scanning at a high resolution will not give you more detail.  All you will get is a bigger scan.

This is what your scanner does when you increase the resolution: it will produce the EXACT quality and detail of your original slide, negative, or photo at a bigger size WITHOUT losing quality.

Here is an example. Remember, your physical photo is 4” x 6” at 300 DPI.  When you setup your scanner for 600 DPI to scan that photo, you basically doubled it in size.  So if you bring your 600 DPI digital image to a print shop you can make a physical print that is 8” x 12” WITHOUT losing quality.  So you took your 4” x 6” photo, scanned it at 600 DPI, and now you can re-print it 8” x 12” without losing quality.

You did NOT add extra detail or added quality.  Your scanner just did the math and made sure you got the same quality as your original but at a bigger size.  It all goes back to the quality and amount of detail your original has.  Most people I know used simple cameras, and had their photos developed at generic photo shops.  If that is the case, it is most likely your photos are 300 DPI, and your slides and negatives are 1500 DPI.

3) Your HDTV Will Only Display At 1080 x 1920 Pixels

Lets look at your physical photo again– it is 4” x 6” at 300 DPI.  Now if you convert all those numbers into digital, you would get a 1200 x 1800 digital photo.

How?  Scanner magic*:

4” x 300 DPI = 1200
6” x 300 DPI = 1800

*math.

This number, 1200 x 1800, is your pixel dimension.  Write this down: your pixel dimension is the most important number.  Do not worry about dots per inch, resolution, mega pixels, etc.  Those are just a bunch of numbers that mean the same thing.  Whenever you get a digital image look for the pixel dimension.

Anyway, I just mentioned your HDTV is 1080 x 1920– that is its pixel dimension.  And your 4” x 6” photo scan has a pixel dimension of 1200 x 1800.  Since your digital image will fit perfectly on your HDTV, it is going to be displayed at HD quality.

What if you scanned your 4” x 6” at 900 DPI?  Would you see more detail on your HDTV at this resolution?  This is what you would get:

4” x 900 DPI = 3600
6” x 900 DPI = 5400

You would get a digital image that is 3600 x 5400– that is awesome! But, wait…  Remember your HDTV is only 1080 x 1920.  It has a limit.  So your HDTV is going to re-size it down to 1080 x 1920.  Or it is going to crop most of your digital image, giving you maybe the bottom corner.

But now worries.  Remember how I said that at a higher resolution you get a bigger picture– not more detail or quality.  So when your HDTV re-sizes it down to 1080 x 1920 you are NOT losing quality.  It is just making it smaller so that if fits your screen, but still maintains the same quality.

Are you seeing how all this resolution stuff is coming together so far?

4) How Resolution, DPI, And Pixel Dimension Gives You Mega Pixels

The basics of what your scanner does is this:  it takes the actual physical size of your original and multiplies the amount of DPI or resolution you imputed.

Here is what I mean.  Your 35mm slide’s physical dimensions is 0.85” x 1.30”.   When you tell your scanner you want to scan your slide at 1500 DPI, here is what you get…

0.85” x 1500 DPI = 1275
1.30” x 1500 DPI = 1950

So your pixel dimension is 1275 x 1950.  Remember how I told you to write down “pixel dimension”?  This is why it is important, because all these numbers we are using (300 DPI, 1500 DPI) all equal to the same thing: pixel dimension. Lets have a look again…

4” x 6” Photo Scanned at 300 DPI = 1200 x 1800
35mm Slide Scanned at 1500 DPI = 1275 x 1950

The pixel dimension is pretty close, thus you are getting pretty much the same digital image.  And even though you used different DPI, you still got the same digital image pixel dimension.

Now, I am sure you have heard of mega pixels.  To get your mega pixels, simply multiply your dimensions….

1200 x 1800 = 2.1 million.  In marketing terms 2.1 million is 2 mega pixels.

5) What Resolution You Should Scan Your Slides, Negatives And Photos

The simple answer is, if you want to maintain the same quality, scan your 4” x 6” photos at 300 DPI, and your 35mm slides and 35mm negatives at 1500 DPI.

Even at 2 mega pixels (see above), you are still getting HD quality digital images.  Remember, your HDTV is only 1080 x 1920 in pixel dimension and at 300 DPI / 1500 DPI you get 1200 x 1800 / 1275 x 1950.

But it is always better to have too much resolution than too little.  I scan my photos at 900 DPI and my slides and negatives at 4000 DPI.  This give me a 3500 x 5200 digital image, which is around 18 mega pixels.

Conclusion: A 1200 x 1800 Digital Image Is Enough

I just want you to know that as long as you scan your photos at 300 DPI and slides and negatives at 1500 DPI, you will be safe.  Your digital image will be the SAME quality as your original.  This is good to know because 1) scanning at higher resolutions take way longer so you can save some time, and 2) you do not need to go higher than that if want to view your scans at HD quality.

But if you are interested in “future-proofing” your family’s originals, then I suggest scanning them at 900 DPI for photos and 4000 DPI for slides and negatives.  You never know what future technology will bring.

Good luck with your scans!

Konrad M.

Oh, if you have weird sizes, like 2” x 2” negative film, etc, here is the best resolution to scan them at…

What Resolution To Scan Unusual Size Photos, Slides, Negatives