greymule Loc: Colorado

I am scanning some old color negatives using a new Epson Perfection V600 Photo.

Does anyone know what the best resolution at which to scan? The default is 300 dpi. Result- crap. Tried 9600 dpi. Long time to scan, but beautiful. However, enormous files- 600+ mb. Then when I try to reduce size in photoshop, say for printing, to 300 dpi the image returns to crap. The user's manual is no help.

Any suggestions or sources from which to learn?

ahanonymous Loc: Queens, NY

1200 DPI should be plenty. The images below were from 1200 DPI scans.....

Jimi Hendrix


Our Gang 1976

greymule Loc: Colorado

Thank you, Kind Sir. I'll give it a whirl!

BuckeyeTom73 Loc: Chicago area

If you want the equivalent of a 12 Megapixel DSLR file, you need to scan at about 4200 ppi. As the 35mm format is about 1 inch by 2/3 inch, you get 11.76 Mpix doing this. If you up the scan to 4800 ppi you get about 15 Mpix.

The file size will then be similar to the TIFF version saved by Photoshop of the same DSLR size. If you work in 16 bits per pixel-color you need 6 bytes per pixel. The 12 Mpix shot should use 70 MB or so, and the 15 Mpix needs about 90 MB.

Your 9600 ppi scan should produce a 60 Mpix "picture" and at 16 bits/pixel-color a 360 MB file size. If you are seeing 600 MB you may be saving in 24 pits per pixel-color or you may have a luminance or CMYK file needing 8 bytes per pixel.

I scan most of mine at 4000 ppi -- about 10 Mpix and 60 MB file when done -- and get acceptable results most of the time. If a negative has lots of dust, scratches, or is old it can help to go higher to allow more room for fixes.

greymule Loc: Colorado

Thank you so much. I'll give it a twirl.