Hello,

I am an amateur B&W photographer who uses only a 35mm camera. I would like to scan in my B&W prints and mostly negatives to my website. Could you please tell me the best scanner (software?) for this..or what I should look for in a scanner I buy.. and any related info. such as format JPEG etc. that works best.

Thank you in advance Ted Kadala

-- Ted Kadala (kadalat@volvo.com), October 13, 1999

Answers

For web output, up to say 700 pixels on the longest dimension, I don't think you need anything fancy. A cheap 300 dpi flatbed for scanning 10x8 prints, and a (not quite so cheap) 2400 dpi film scanner.

Output is usually JPEG, at 'quality' setting around 75 to 90.

For software, Photoshop is very common, but contains much more than you need for simply preparing the images for the web. I use a load of home-made stuff for trimming borders, resampling, etc, and cjpeg for writing the final JPEG files.

-- Alan Gibson (Alan.Gibson@technologist.com), October 13, 1999.

I just started using the Olympus ES-10 negative scanner and I am very impressed with it. It can scan negs and transparencies with high resolution (1700 dpi). It's relatively inexpensive ($325 at BUY.COM) but is a bit slow. A preview scan takes only 10 seconds but a full res scan takes a good 5-10 minutes. I would not recommend it for high volume work, but it's otherwise outstanding. The images I have scanned so far have turned out beautifully.

-- Asher (schachter@a1.tch.harvard.edu), October 14, 1999.

Format depends on what the images will be used for. If they will displayed only on a computer screen, RGB, jpeg at 72 dpi. If images will be printed, TIFF Greyscale scanned at 300 dpi. The best scanner and softawre? The best, what I use, is a Fujiscan Lanovia 550 with C- Scan software. Unfortunately, the Fujiscan costs around $40,000. But you said, "the best". There are good scanners on the market for around $300. Good luck.

-- Joe Cole, digital imaging specialist, APHA (jcole@apha.com), October 19, 1999.

Re: Above slip of the typo. Should read, Greyscale jpeg at 72 dpi. Sorry.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), October 19, 1999.