> On 6 Apr 2009, at 22:39:32 PDT, PETE wrote: > >> I have some old photos without negatives. I want to transfer them >> to my mac without losing quality. (I sold my scanner several years >> ago!).
On Apr 7, 2009, at 1:06 AM, Ken Daggett wrote: > A scanner is the only reasonable way I know of. Another way is to photograph them with a digital camera. Not as easy as the scanner for constant lighting, focus, etc, but it can work. > Buy a good one and get to work. I don't know about needing a "good one"? It seems to me that any old scanner that you can make work with your computer will be good enough quality unless you're needing special software bundled with high-end scanners to remove artifacts, correct faded colors or focus, etc. I've bought USB scanners for between $2 and $10 total that can scan 4,800 dpi (ppi). I haven't compared the "quality" of the output, but somehow I imagine it's like .mp3 audio, I doubt the average person could see the difference between an average scan and a good one (of identical resolution & bit depth). One other thought, scanner output is typically gigantic files that would need to be converted into some sort of compressed format, whereas most digital cameras can generate a reasonably compressed file immediately. The general rule-of-thumb I've heard is 200 pixels-per- inch minimally, meaning if you had an original photo that was 8 x 10" you'd need to be at 1,600 x 2,000 pixels minimally for the entire image. Most scanners would be many, many multiples higher than this, and you might want to dial down the quality of a scanner to get a smaller output file, but if you were photographing the prints you'd likely want to frame the image in nearer the highest quality available on the camera. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed Low End Mac's G3-5 List, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list?hl=en Low End Mac RSS feed at feed://lowendmac.com/feed.xml -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
