Monday, March 05, 2012

What resolution should I scan photos or film?


Download Scanning Calculator (Excel spreadsheet).

Reference: Dennis Curtin Short Courses Exploring Pixels and Colours (accessed 24th February 2012)


Roger Ley asks 'I scan 6"x4" photos on an Epson flatbed. What resolution should I scan at to 1) make A4 prints on a colour inkjet and 2) output to my computer screen.'
Answer: Download the scanning calculator Roger!

Kennis Chan asks 'What resolution should I scan 35mm on my Plustek OpticFilm to print out A4 size prints.
Answer: From the scanning calculator you need to scan at 3600dpi to make A4 prints at 300ppi output. Hint: the file size created will be 51.86 megabytes when scanning at 3600dpi but the printer only needs 25.31 megabytes file size to output to A4 size.