From restoring and preserving old family photos to creating a digital archive, scanning photographs definitely has its benefits. This article will focus on tips and techniques in the world of scanning.
There are numerous reasons for scanning photographs. Scanning a photo will create a digital copy of the photo, giving you a vast range of options. Some of which include:
- Preserving. Did you know that old photo albums – the ones that your family photos are seemingly stuck forever in – contain destructive glues and chemicals, such as acid, which can damage photos over time?
- Restoring. Once you’ve scanned an old photo, you can restore the image using photo editing software, such as Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo. You’ll be able to turn faded, torn or yellowed photographs into impressive photos that are crisp and clear.
- Editing. Even if your photos aren’t that old, scanning and using photo editing software will allow you to tweak your photos to your liking. For example, you now have the option to remove red eye, crop your photo to eliminate distracting backgrounds, enhance contrast and lighting or convert your photo to black and white.
- Archiving. Converting your physical photos into digital to create an archive has several benefits. If your photos are digitally archived, you can make additional prints, store your images on CD or DVD (which not only saves space but if your original copies are destroyed you’ll have a backup), email or post your photos online and even create digital scrapbooks.
There are numerous different scanners available in today’s market. Some scanners are part of an all-in-one (printer/scanner/copier) while others are stand-alone scanners. Every scanner comes with its own software, which you’ll need to install onto your computer before attempting to scan. Although there are many scanners out there, they all work in pretty much the same manner: open your scanner’s software, position your photo on the scanner’s glass and follow the software’s directions.
Photo by blacklord
Before you attempt to scan, it’s important you check your photos and your scanner’s glass plate for smudges, dirt, lint, fingerprints...basically anything you don’t want to be seen forever on your new digital image. Most scanners give you the option to scan in colour or black and white (B&W). Even if you want your coloured photo to eventually be a B&W, it’s best to choose to scan in colour. You can always convert your photo to B&W later with photo editing software. If you scan in B&W, your future options become extremely limited. You can always convert colour to B&W, but converting B&W photos to colour is a much more challenging task.
Next: On page two, you’ll learn tips on scanner resolution and which format type you should save your scanned images as.