Scanning for Gallery, Some APUGers know what to do

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Gallery and sharing my images and seeing some wonderful others is so much fun for me. I dont know how some APUGers put so much sharpness and elegant tones in to 500 KB image ? When I get big or small files from lab and downgraded to gallery size , that action kills the quality.

What is the secret ?

Umut

[Rick A]

I scan my silver gelatin prints and upload them.

[BMbikerider]

If I scan a print for the purposes of showing it on the web I scan at 72 dpi, save as a small J peg (File size) and upload that when I need to.

Scanning negs and transparencies, I scan at 72 dpi, but size the output image to at least 8x12, Save as a smal J Peg as before and upload that as and when required.

I have photoshop but tend not to do anything to the images before uploading, just resetting the size if need be.

[Felinik]

This article contains some interesting information about web and dpi...

http://www.scantips.com/no72dpi.html

[vpwphoto]

I digi-photograph the finished print. Although I don't know if you are talking about me.

[spijker]

I scan prints upto A4/Letter on my all-in-one printer/flatbedscanner. Scan at 300 dpi which gives you a file that's too big file pixelwise for apug but nice to work with. The original scan gets loaded onto the PC where I clone out some major dust spots (if needed) and adjust the levels a bit so that the full luminance scale is used. The white print border is always the brightest part of the photo. Crop out the white border. Then resize to 800 pixels on the long side using bicubic sharpener. Resizing makes all the tiny dust spots disappear. I convert the scan to greyscale (desaturate) first and re-tone in electronically to match the print. Save as jpg and you have a file to upload to APUG. For the editing, you can legally download Photoshop CS2 for free from the Adobe website but for simple stuff like this, anything goes. Once you got the hang of it, it doesn't take all that long per photo.

The 11x14 inch prints don't fit on my scanner. I tried to scan them with the fancy printer/copier/scanner at work but I got a lamp reflection on the scan with the glossy prints. Not so with the smaller glossy prints on the home printer/scanner. So I also photograph the larger prints with a DSLR on the tripod. The camera files are essentially treated the same way as the scan files.

Glossy prints (RC & FB) are a pain to re-photograph. I can often see the camera reflected in the print. I'm interested in hearing how other APUG members deal with glossy prints. The images currently in my gallery are all re-photographed 11x14 prints except for the table & chairs image. As an experiment, I scanned that in 2 half photo scans and glued them together in photoshop. Not very successful and it's still visible but only if you know about it.

[Matthew Wagg]

Not strictly allowed as its a digital process, but a sharpening tip for the web is to resize your image to web dimensions in photoshop, duplicate the layer and then run a high pass over it. Set the mode to overlay, flatten the image and save it.

[jnanian]

hi umut

i just adjust the contrast / levels to match the print ..
when it is large ( usually 300dpi ) then "save for web"
( i use cs2 ) after i resize it at 72 ( they are usually saved
at less than 100 kb ) ... probably others have other tricks
i don't sharpen or unshapen or do any dance moves, its like a straight print ...

it sounds like your lab is good, but they are lite on the scans.
you might consider getting a used or refurbished skanner
and the free version of PS .. it might take a little getting used to
but in the end you will realize it is a piece of cake

john

[edcculus]

I prefer to scan prints I've already finished in the darkroom. Easier to get better quality with a low end scanner for the web. My usual settings are:

300 dpi
grayscale mode (people go back and forth on this, but its just for sharing on the web, so it probably doesn't matter in the end)
adjust levels so the most data is captured.
tell the scanner software to save in a lossless format like .tif

In Photoshop (I don't do anything in Photoshop that over enhances the scan. Just things to make the on screen image appear the most like the already produced print)
-adjust levels/curves so the image on screen matches the print as close as possible
-apply unsharp mask - do this very subtly. It really helps scanned images pop off the screen and resemble the physical print better.
-save
-save copy as imagename_lowres.jpg
-reduce file size for web upload

I really haven't gotten a good way of scanning negatives down. I do it on occasion, but since I don't have a finished print in hand, I end up over manipulating it in Photoshop. When I have a finished print, I already have gone through the vision steps of exposure, contrast, dodging/burning etc in the darkroom.

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

Thank you all,

If you know Ilya, his digital files are my favorite. I think Matthew Wagg's post is interesting and sounds something familiar to I read couple of years back and I have no good memory.

I think the trick is to scan image in two ways and than dublicate these to images in to one. Yes , that is used by todays high qualiy magazine photographers and bw images.

Let me ask few questions to Matthew : Here is his post ;

Not strictly allowed as its a digital process, but a sharpening tip for the web is to resize your image to web dimensions in photoshop, duplicate the layer and then run a high pass over it. Set the mode to overlay, flatten the image and save it.

I dont know the terminology:

A- How can I high pass the image ?
B- What is setting to overlay ?
C- What is flatting the image ?
D- And is there a free online photo editor site to work with layers , high pass filtering and others ?
E - What is the size of a 72 dpi scan of a 35mm film ? What needed to say to lab ?
F- Is that 72 dpi is the resolution of LCD screens and makes everything looks sharper ?

Now , I will jump to Felinik's link.

Umut