>I am scanning some negatives right now and have noticed something that I >haven't noticed before. . .
>When I do a quick scan at 100 dpi at 300%, it is sharper than scanning the >same negative at 300dpi at 420%. Does anyone know why? I think it looks >better (on my computer screen anyway) at the lower resolution. I haven't >tried printing anything to see if there is a visible difference. >Traci Bunkers >Bonkers Handmade Originals Hi Traci, Without getting too deep into the technical reasons, the difference you are seeing on your screen is perceptual. While scanning an image at a higher resolution and percentage will give you more detail and thus an image with more "information", the same image scanned at a lower resolution will visually appear sharper because there are fewer pixels to capture the range of grays/colors in your image. In the lower res scan, the contrast between light and dark areas will be greater than an image that captures a greater range of tones, so the image appears sharper. If your local library has a copy of Professional Photoshop by Dan Margulis, check it out. It is a little old at this point, but I learned a lot about professional quality scanning and Photoshop as they relate to printing digital images or optimizing them for web. I know there are many other competent books in print that cover these same topics, so you really can't go wrong when it comes to the basic principles. Cary
