Scanning 35 mm Slides for printing to A4

JL
Posted By
Jan_L_Richards
Feb 1, 2004
Views
235
Replies
6
Status
Closed
My husband has probably 5,000 slides which we would like to scan, and quite a few of them we would like to print as an A4 size photo. I have a Canon i965 printer and hp Scanjet 4570c which does a very good job of scanning photos, and from what I can see slides. The only thing I am having a problem with is what dpi should I be using to get the printed photo clear and in focus without Photoshop having to do too much work, because I believe that if it is not good to start with you can’t expect a good result.
I trust that I have made myself clear in what I am trying to do and that someone can help me. Jan
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MM
Mac_McDougald
Feb 1, 2004
Your scanner does 2400ppi. Not as good a 2400 as a film scanner, but that’s what you have to work with and if it pleases you, then it’s plenty good enough.

So scan your slides at actual size at 2400. That’s the max optical resolution you can produce.

This translates to an A4 around 290ppi, all you need for printing. Note that 35mm doesn’t translate to A4 proportion-wise, so you’ll either be cropping (not good as will lower your overall ppi) or simply leaving a larger border on one dimension (better).

You can always uprez some if you’ve cropped and need more ppi, but of course YMMV here.

HTH,
Mac
F
flddb
Feb 1, 2004
My first scanner was a 2400 ppi and made for good prints in the A4 size range. If you don’t plan to crop the photos, the resolution should be satisfactory.

Don’t be too critical of the idea of routinely using Photoshop (or something similar). Scanning has its limits and introduces artifacts in the photo images that the film/chemistry part of the process will not. Photoshop can let you compensate for the limits of your particular scanner and its software. It also lets to tune the electronic image to yield the kind of print you want with the paper you are using (they are all different).

So scan at the maximum dpi you can get, and save the files in tif format for maximum detail. And have fun. It’s a real kick to be able to do your own color printing.

Bob in Las Vegas

wrote in message
My husband has probably 5,000 slides which we would like to scan, and
quite a few of them we would like to print as an A4 size photo. I have a Canon i965 printer and hp Scanjet 4570c which does a very good job of scanning photos, and from what I can see slides. The only thing I am having a problem with is what dpi should I be using to get the printed photo clear and in focus without Photoshop having to do too much work, because I believe that if it is not good to start with you can’t expect a good result.
I trust that I have made myself clear in what I am trying to do and that
someone can help me.
Jan
JS
Joao_Short
Feb 13, 2004
Jan,

I DO HAVE the same problem but opted for a different solution which, I think, will give you better results although will give you some extra work.

I simply re-photographed the slides using a Canon Powershot G3 digital camera. To do that I put the slide over a Medialight LP-100 (which has a color temperature suited to daylight); then, thru a simple aluminum tube (internally painted black) which supports the camera I photoed the slide using Macro Mode.

The results are outstanding for an amateur wanting to have its memories preserved and you have the bonus of digitalizing your old photos to be edited digitally and printed at almost any size as the resolution is MUCH higher.

If you need more details please contact me at com br

Hope this works for you
NS
Nancy_S
Feb 14, 2004
Joao,

How long is the tube? Is just the lens "inside" the tube?
JH
Joe_Henry1000
Feb 14, 2004
Joao,

That’s very clever! BTW, what’s a Media-Light LP 100? A light table or something?

Joe
B
BobHill
Feb 14, 2004
Jan,

BUT, either process would take a great amount of time to do 5000 slides. It WOULD be less expensive, but you might want to consider finding someone with a slide/film scanner who could produce those in bulk into workable TIFF files.

Bob

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