I have on loan from relatives 500-1000+ old (1918-2000) amateur family prints in poor condition in albums. I need to digitize them for archival purposes by scanning or buying a Camera Stand with lights to photograph with DSLR. I already have an Epson V600 and Vuescan for scanning. I have second hand a D5300 with kit lens and a used Canon D60 with kit lens. I barely know where the shutter button are located; that's about it for my photography knowledge. I want to create digital images in RAW format, if possible, with the best dynamic range, color accuracy and resolution to keep as Genealogy archives.
If I use the scanner which I have some familiarity with how do I set up the Professional Tab to simultaneously generate a RAW (DNG?) file, a TIFF file and a JPEG file on a single pass? Is RAW (DNG) the output I need?
Which would give the most accurate reconstruction of these old, damaged images for archival purposes: scan or photograph? If photograph, what lens to buy or rent? I have priced copy stands at B&H. I have attached two prints I already scanned: one my father at about age 18 (he was born in 1901) and a photo our church deacons with my father & me on the far right (I was an honorary deacon) from Oct 29, 1944. I use Lightroom Classic on Windows 10 laptop.
druid_city_dude wrote:
I have on loan from relatives 500-1000+ old (1918-2000) amateur family prints in poor condition in albums. I need to digitize them for archival purposes by scanning or buying a Camera Stand with lights to photograph with DSLR. I already have an Epson V600 and Vuescan for scanning. I have second hand a D5300 with kit lens and a used Canon D60 with kit lens. I barely know where the shutter button are located; that's about it for my photography knowledge. I want to create digital images in RAW format, if possible, with the best dynamic range, color accuracy and resolution to keep as Genealogy archives.
If I use the scanner which I have some familiarity with how do I set up the Professional Tab to simultaneously generate a RAW (DNG?) file, a TIFF file and a JPEG file on a single pass? Is RAW (DNG) the output I need?
Which would give the most accurate reconstruction of these old, damaged images for archival purposes: scan or photograph? If photograph, what lens to buy or rent? I have priced copy stands at B&H. I have attached two prints I already scanned: one my father at about age 18 (he was born in 1901) and a photo our church deacons with my father & me on the far right (I was an honorary deacon) from Oct 29, 1944. I use Lightroom Classic on Windows 10 laptop.
I have on loan from relatives 500-1000+ old (1918-... (
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Look here:
https://www.hamrick.com/support/ Hamrick is the company that makes Vuescan. There is also an author named Sasha Steinhoff who wrote "The Vuescan Bible" about scanning with Vuescan and "Scanning Negatives and Slides". The Bible is expensive now with people wanting $70 to over $200 a copy. It used to be available as an e-book, you might find it somewhere or a pdf download of the book on line. I have it in paperback and on my Nook e-reader.
Here is one site where you can read the Bible online, but no download.
https://issuu.com/panlembas/docs/rocky.nook.vuescan.bible.jun.2011https://www.hamrick.com/vuescan/vuescan.pdf is the latest version of the Hamrick manual for Vuescan
Thank you for the tips. I'll check both out.
"I need to digitize them for archival purposes"
Are you wanting to accurately record them as they now are? Or, do you want to try to remake them to what they once were? Will removing them from their albums cause damage?
I want restore them to original quality. All are underneath a clear sheet of something thàt clings to the page. It tears often as I have to pry it off the image. I just want the best representation of each scene/individual in the image.
If it were me and I understand what you described, I would not want to remove them. Therefore, using a scanner might not work at all. Getting albums to lay flat on the scanner might not work. That leaves taking photos of them with your camera. Macro lenses with a flat field of focus are not cheap but you can sell it when the project is over.
Restoration to original picture quality will be painstaking Photoshop work. Perhaps someone else knows of automated software that will do restoration.
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