RE: [Gimp-user] what is optical resolution
Thank you for your info. John J. Cruz M$ = Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt (FUD) Linux = Wisdom, Integrity and Truth (WIT) WIT shall prevail over FUD! -Original Message- From: Roland Roberts [ mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ] Sent: Friday, April 12, 2002 2:18 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Gimp-user] what is optical resolution >>>>> "jjc" == Cruz, John J <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: jjc> So my real question is should I buy a $200 HP camera at 1.3 jjc> Meg pixels or a $ 200 HP scanner? I just reread this and realized you asked about a _scanner_ not a printer. Sorry, I've been thinking of buying a color printer, so my brain was on the wrong track. I'd buy the scanner. If you can double you budget, I'd still buy the scanner. My Epson Perfection 2450 Photo scanner cost me about $360 and scans a 35mm slide at better than 6-megapixels. I use it for my hobby (astrophotography) where I can rarely trust the lab to print an acceptable result. In general, paper doesn't have the same dynamic range as film, so scanning from prints doesn't get you the same results as scanning from film. Still, scanning a 4x6 print at 1600dpi (the figure you originally mentioned) should allow you to print at 17x22 and still have 300dpi. You may have to do some work to sharpen up the scan, but it might work. Not having gone past an 8x10, I'm not the right person to ask for how _well_ it will work. The bigger problem is that the GIMP will only handle 8-bits/color which means you can't take full advantage of your scanner. From the rumors I've heard, this will change in GIMP 2, but I've also heard not to expect to see that for another year. roland -- PGP Key ID: 66 BC 3B CD Roland B. Roberts, PhD RL Enterprises [EMAIL PROTECTED] 76-15 113th Street, Apt 3B [EMAIL PROTECTED] Forest Hills, NY 11375 ___ Gimp-user mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user <http://lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user> ___ Gimp-user mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user
RE: [Gimp-user] what is optical resolution
Roland, Thank your for the information. jjc -Original Message- From: Roland Roberts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, April 12, 2002 2:11 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Gimp-user] what is optical resolution >>>>> "jjc" == Cruz, John J <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: jjc> Roland, You certainly have answered most of the questions I jjc> had in mind. I do have one remaining question, however. The jjc> digital cameras I've seen at stores like CompUSA only list in jjc> their spec. total pixels. For example 1.3 Meg pixels. My jjc> question is how can I translate this number to the print size jjc> I want to print (w/o perceptible distortion)? I print all jjc> photos on 8.5" x 11" photo paper and would like to print also jjc> at 17" x 22". The more common formats in digital camera are a 4:3 ratio, at least for the smaller formats. I have a 1.3 megapixel camera and it's formats are 320x240, 640x480, and 1280x960. Higher end cameras may do other things. Do a little more digging, you should be able to find something about the actual formats supported for your camera. jjc> I don't currently have a digital camera. I use the new Kodak jjc> format and for the developing process I request digitized jjc> photos. I don't now recall the size of each photo-file jjc> return (via CD) but I think each photo-file is a jpeg file jjc> under 1 Meg. jjc> So my real question is should I buy a $200 HP camera at 1.3 jjc> Meg pixels or a $ 200 HP scanner? What's the resolution of the scanner? A 1.3 megapixel camera will never produce satisfactory prints at 17x22 and, even though Ofoto (http://www.ofoto.com) claims it will print at 8x10, the quality if marginal. Acceptable for a family vacation photo, maybe, but not for critical work. Mind you, we bought a Fuji FinePix 1400 1.3 megapixel camera last year for vacation pictures where we expect to (1) put them on the web for our family members to view and (2) occasionally make 4x6 snapshot-sized prints for friends/relatives. For 8x10 prints, I wouldn't recommend anything less than a 2 megapixel camera, but again, that is primarily for non-critical work. I'd say spend the money on the printer if you are doing artwork. Even an inexpensive color printer is acceptable for proofs. My dad does commercial work and he considers his Tektronix Phaser (don't remember which model) only acceptable for proofs. For high quality, it goes to a service bureau. roland -- PGP Key ID: 66 BC 3B CD Roland B. Roberts, PhD RL Enterprises [EMAIL PROTECTED] 76-15 113th Street, Apt 3B [EMAIL PROTECTED] Forest Hills, NY 11375 ___ Gimp-user mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user ___ Gimp-user mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user
Re: [Gimp-user] what is optical resolution
> "jjc" == Cruz, John J <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: jjc> So my real question is should I buy a $200 HP camera at 1.3 jjc> Meg pixels or a $ 200 HP scanner? I just reread this and realized you asked about a _scanner_ not a printer. Sorry, I've been thinking of buying a color printer, so my brain was on the wrong track. I'd buy the scanner. If you can double you budget, I'd still buy the scanner. My Epson Perfection 2450 Photo scanner cost me about $360 and scans a 35mm slide at better than 6-megapixels. I use it for my hobby (astrophotography) where I can rarely trust the lab to print an acceptable result. In general, paper doesn't have the same dynamic range as film, so scanning from prints doesn't get you the same results as scanning from film. Still, scanning a 4x6 print at 1600dpi (the figure you originally mentioned) should allow you to print at 17x22 and still have 300dpi. You may have to do some work to sharpen up the scan, but it might work. Not having gone past an 8x10, I'm not the right person to ask for how _well_ it will work. The bigger problem is that the GIMP will only handle 8-bits/color which means you can't take full advantage of your scanner. From the rumors I've heard, this will change in GIMP 2, but I've also heard not to expect to see that for another year. roland -- PGP Key ID: 66 BC 3B CD Roland B. Roberts, PhD RL Enterprises [EMAIL PROTECTED] 76-15 113th Street, Apt 3B [EMAIL PROTECTED] Forest Hills, NY 11375 ___ Gimp-user mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user
Re: [Gimp-user] what is optical resolution
> "jjc" == Cruz, John J <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: jjc> Roland, You certainly have answered most of the questions I jjc> had in mind. I do have one remaining question, however. The jjc> digital cameras I've seen at stores like CompUSA only list in jjc> their spec. total pixels. For example 1.3 Meg pixels. My jjc> question is how can I translate this number to the print size jjc> I want to print (w/o perceptible distortion)? I print all jjc> photos on 8.5" x 11" photo paper and would like to print also jjc> at 17" x 22". The more common formats in digital camera are a 4:3 ratio, at least for the smaller formats. I have a 1.3 megapixel camera and it's formats are 320x240, 640x480, and 1280x960. Higher end cameras may do other things. Do a little more digging, you should be able to find something about the actual formats supported for your camera. jjc> I don't currently have a digital camera. I use the new Kodak jjc> format and for the developing process I request digitized jjc> photos. I don't now recall the size of each photo-file jjc> return (via CD) but I think each photo-file is a jpeg file jjc> under 1 Meg. jjc> So my real question is should I buy a $200 HP camera at 1.3 jjc> Meg pixels or a $ 200 HP scanner? What's the resolution of the scanner? A 1.3 megapixel camera will never produce satisfactory prints at 17x22 and, even though Ofoto (http://www.ofoto.com) claims it will print at 8x10, the quality if marginal. Acceptable for a family vacation photo, maybe, but not for critical work. Mind you, we bought a Fuji FinePix 1400 1.3 megapixel camera last year for vacation pictures where we expect to (1) put them on the web for our family members to view and (2) occasionally make 4x6 snapshot-sized prints for friends/relatives. For 8x10 prints, I wouldn't recommend anything less than a 2 megapixel camera, but again, that is primarily for non-critical work. I'd say spend the money on the printer if you are doing artwork. Even an inexpensive color printer is acceptable for proofs. My dad does commercial work and he considers his Tektronix Phaser (don't remember which model) only acceptable for proofs. For high quality, it goes to a service bureau. roland -- PGP Key ID: 66 BC 3B CD Roland B. Roberts, PhD RL Enterprises [EMAIL PROTECTED] 76-15 113th Street, Apt 3B [EMAIL PROTECTED] Forest Hills, NY 11375 ___ Gimp-user mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user
RE: [Gimp-user] what is optical resolution
Roland, You certainly have answered most of the questions I had in mind. I do have one remaining question, however. The digital cameras I've seen at stores like CompUSA only list in their spec. total pixels. For example 1.3 Meg pixels. My question is how can I translate this number to the print size I want to print (w/o perceptible distortion)? I print all photos on 8.5" x 11" photo paper and would like to print also at 17" x 22". I don't currently have a digital camera. I use the new Kodak format and for the developing process I request digitized photos. I don't now recall the size of each photo-file return (via CD) but I think each photo-file is a jpeg file under 1 Meg. So my real question is should I buy a $200 HP camera at 1.3 Meg pixels or a $ 200 HP scanner? jjc -Original Message- From: Roland Roberts [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Friday, April 12, 2002 11:49 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Gimp-user] what is optical resolution >>>>> "Amit" == Amit Mukherjee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Amit> Can anyone explain to me what optical resolution means. I am Amit> looking at the product specification of an Epson scanner and Amit> it says that the optical resolution is 1600x3200 dpi. What Amit> does this mean ? Optical resolution is the real resolution of the scanner. Anything higher is interpolated and you can do at least as well in the GIMP as the scanner will do. Generally, I don't count on anything higher than the lower number; i.e., for your case, I treat 1600x3200dpi as 1600dpi. And to avoid the whole problem with asymmetric resolution, I just bought an Epson Perfection 2450 Photo scanner with 2400dpi optical resolution. We used to have an (old) Scanmaker E3 with 300x600dpi optical resolution, but I found trying to operate it at 300x600 instead of 300x300 just caused little jaggies in the results; I don't think the stepper motors were doing a good job position the platform. Newer scanners should do better, but I still prefer the scanners with resolution the same in both directions. roland -- PGP Key ID: 66 BC 3B CD Roland B. Roberts, PhD RL Enterprises [EMAIL PROTECTED] 76-15 113th Street, Apt 3B [EMAIL PROTECTED] Forest Hills, NY 11375 ___ Gimp-user mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user ___ Gimp-user mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user
Re: [Gimp-user] what is optical resolution
> "Amit" == Amit Mukherjee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Amit> Can anyone explain to me what optical resolution means. I am Amit> looking at the product specification of an Epson scanner and Amit> it says that the optical resolution is 1600x3200 dpi. What Amit> does this mean ? Optical resolution is the real resolution of the scanner. Anything higher is interpolated and you can do at least as well in the GIMP as the scanner will do. Generally, I don't count on anything higher than the lower number; i.e., for your case, I treat 1600x3200dpi as 1600dpi. And to avoid the whole problem with asymmetric resolution, I just bought an Epson Perfection 2450 Photo scanner with 2400dpi optical resolution. We used to have an (old) Scanmaker E3 with 300x600dpi optical resolution, but I found trying to operate it at 300x600 instead of 300x300 just caused little jaggies in the results; I don't think the stepper motors were doing a good job position the platform. Newer scanners should do better, but I still prefer the scanners with resolution the same in both directions. roland -- PGP Key ID: 66 BC 3B CD Roland B. Roberts, PhD RL Enterprises [EMAIL PROTECTED] 76-15 113th Street, Apt 3B [EMAIL PROTECTED] Forest Hills, NY 11375 ___ Gimp-user mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.xcf.berkeley.edu/mailman/listinfo/gimp-user