High Resolution Scans - Look blurred on screen

Gimpymoo · 5 Dec 2006 at 18:52

I am going through some old photos and scanning them in at a high resolution for the sake of archiving and being able to print large size prints at a later date if needed.

When I say high resolution, I mean 7145 x 10762 @ 1000 DPI.

The images appear to be slighlty out of focus on the screen.

Will they print OK and simply look blurred owing to their high resolution?

I am scannig with an Epson CX6400 which is not a bad scanner really.

Am I being silly scanning at these resolutions, its just they are important photos.

Any help appreciated. Many thanks.

Scam · 5 Dec 2006 at 18:57

I'm not really clued up on scanning photos as such, but isnt 1000dpi overkill? Back when we scanned some negatives at uni i seem to remember using 300-400. 240/300 is the norm for printing anyway? :confused:

MacX · 5 Dec 2006 at 19:09

Scam said:
I'm not really clued up on scanning photos as such, but isnt 1000dpi overkill? Back when we scanned some negatives at uni i seem to remember using 300-400. 240/300 is the norm for printing anyway?

Yes!

For example, if a good print is at 300d.p.i. you really are wasting your time scanning prints at above 400dpi. All you get is larger files, not more detail. If you want to scan for enlargements, you have to scan the negatives on a film scanner or one of the later and more expensive Epson flatbeds.

Amp34 · 5 Dec 2006 at 19:10

Are you sure you just havent got to the limit of the original photo? Blowing a 6 by 4 up to larger proportions will always make it blurry. Also remember digital prints have always been sharper than 35mm, maybe you have become used to digital on your pc so 35mm sharpness doesnt seem enough?

Gimpymoo · 5 Dec 2006 at 19:17

Thanks for the above info.

So, for a 9x6 photo, what settings should ideally be used?

MacX · 5 Dec 2006 at 19:18

Amp34 said:
Are you sure you just havent got to the limit of the original photo? Blowing a 6 by 4 up to larger proportions will always make it blurry. Also remember digital prints have always been sharper than 35mm, maybe you have become used to digital on your pc so 35mm sharpness doesnt seem enough?

Don't get me started!

But a good digital print will not offer any more detail to be scanned when printed at 300dpi than a good 35mm print at 300dpi.

MacX · 5 Dec 2006 at 19:19

Gimpymoo said:
Thanks for the above info.

So, for a 9x6 photo, what settings should ideally be used?

Try it at 300 and 400dpi. See if you can spot the difference. At 400dpi you might get lucky and pull a little more detail out. If not use 300dpi. The file size will be much smaller than your 1000dpi!

Abyss · 5 Dec 2006 at 19:20

are you sure the scanner can actually scan at 1000dpi, and it's not just interpolating it? Whats the make/model of the scanner?

Gimpymoo · 5 Dec 2006 at 19:32

Epson CX6400. I believe it does interpolate. However, I would just like a normal clear scan.

MacX · 5 Dec 2006 at 19:35

Gimpymoo said:
Epson CX6400. I believe it does interpolate. However, I would just like a normal clear scan.

Like I said, 300-400dpi. You REALLY are restricted when scanning printed material. If you want to do a better job, you will have to get the negatives and scan them in a film scanner.

Results of 35mm and film scanner shown in one of my other threads. Ahem... No pimpage really. Couple of threads down.

Amp34 · 5 Dec 2006 at 19:54

MacX said:
Don't get me started!

But a good digital print will not offer any more detail to be scanned when printed at 300dpi than a good 35mm print at 300dpi.

What I mean is maybe he is so used to looking at that 5mp digital image on his PC that he is confused as to why a magnified verson of a scan from a 6x4 source is blurry in comparison.

A digital 6x4 and a good quality 35mm 6x4 print will look pretty much identical.

Have you got the negative? That will be a lot clearer if scanned that the photo (as long as you have the adaptor).

MacX · 5 Dec 2006 at 19:59

Amp34 said:
What I mean is maybe he is so used to looking at that 5mp digital image on his PC that he is confused as to why a magnified verson of a scan from a 6x4 is blurry in comparison.

A digital 6x4 and a good quality 35mm 6x4 print will look pretty much identical.

LOL

Now that makes more sense to me in a 'not a red rag to a bull' kind of way.

Although if you want to take it further, we could include unsharpened RAW images which look blurry when compared to, well, just about anything that's in focus.

Blackvault · 5 Dec 2006 at 22:25

We in work (Snappy Snaps) scan at a default 800 dpi and when we scan slides we use 800 dpi as well. When we print using the Epson Stylus Pro 9800 for posters we print at 300 dpi.

Not that helpful but I'd thought I'd comment anyway.

Blackvault

Gimpymoo · 6 Dec 2006 at 03:48

MacX said:
LOL

Now that makes more sense to me in a 'not a red rag to a bull' kind of way.

Although if you want to take it further, we could include unsharpened RAW images which look blurry when compared to, well, just about anything that's in focus.

Well, I sharpened the images in Paint Shop Pro and they look a lot better?

Thanks.

What would cause the slight "bluriness" then?

MacX · 6 Dec 2006 at 10:06

Gimpymoo said:
Well, I sharpened the images in Paint Shop Pro and they look a lot better?
Thanks.

What would cause the slight "bluriness" then?

No problems.

Blurriness can be caused by the combination of the material you scan which produces a copy of a copy, plus the general limitations of flat bed scanning printed material.

It is one of the reasons why I moved to scanning 35mm originals.

Belly · 6 Dec 2006 at 17:55

Gimpymoo said:
Epson CX6400. I believe it does interpolate. However, I would just like a normal clear scan.

I'd suggest you only scan at the scanners maximum settings before it starts interpolinating. If you need to interpolinate later you can do so in PhotoShop or one of the proprietary plug-ins. Many people suggest that the last thing you do (after levels, colour balance etc) before printing etc is to adjust the sharpening.

I used to scan all my photos before buying a digital camera and found that nearly all of them required an amount of sharpening before I cound do anything with them.

You can set up an action in PhotoShop. I prefer using the high pass filter in PhotoShop. It works for me.