Photo Scanning......What's best for YOU!
You hear a lot about DPI, resolution, quality and levels of scanning, but the bottom line is what's best for you.
What do you want from your order?
Do you want to print 8 x 10 pictures? Or do you want to email the pictures to all of your family members to share and laugh? How you use the scanned images determines what you need as far as scanning.
300 DPI - If you're after sharing on the Web and small prints, this is the level for you. The files are small enough and the resolution is large enough to satisfy your needs.
600 DPI - If you want larger prints, up to 8 x 10, or want to archive your pictures for a while, this is the way to go.
For slide and negatives, see this page
How are you going to use the scans in the future?
Are you going to alter the photos, cutting out or adding in people? What about a huge photo collage that covers one wall of your living room? In considering the final use of the file, look at the preceeding question to determine your needs. For slide and negatives, see this page
How do you want your memories handled?
Whether it's 300 or 600 DPI (or higher if needed), we never use automated scanners. All of your media is HAND-SCANNED, cleaned, cropped, rotated and color corrected FREE OF CHARGE! For slide and negatives, see this page
Photo Scanning 101- What you need to know!
What's a DPI? And what does it mean to me?
DPI, or Dots per Inch, is the amount of dots that a printer or scanner can create within 1 inch of an image. While the more dots per inch will result in a more dense and detailed image, there are instances where too many dots will result in ruining the image. If that's th case, we will contact you.
What's the difference between a TIFF, JPEG, BMG, and what do I want?
TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) is a lossless format that translates into, "what you see is what you get." Basically, every portion of the image scanned is done without any computerized alteration, resulting in an exact copy of the scanned image.This process results in a HUGE file that will not lose any quality regardless of how many times you open and save it.
JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) photos are scanned using a lossy format, whereby the computer makes assumptions regarding colors, smoothing and general layout. The benefit to this is that you end up with a photo that this nearly identical to tthe original in a smaller file size (relative to TIFF). The downside to theis is that each time you open and save the original file, it loses more detail. The obvious workaround to this is NOT to save the file to the original name.
