150 dpi OR 1200 dpi...You Choose

The same original was scanned to produce both of these images. Editing is the same for both. The only difference between them is due to the resolution at which the scanner was set--150dpi for the top, and 1200dpi for the bottom. Please feel free to share this information with everyone working tirelessly to preserve their priceless photo collections. Choose the right resolution!

Photos Scanned from Books or Textured Paper

Scanned photos from books and other textured papers sometimes leave you with disappointing images. It's hard to say exactly what resolution to recommend. Experiment with various dpi's based on the size you wish the photo could be printed. Editing the original using a blurring technique and some shading might minimize dots or texture enough to gain a print, though it could end up needing to be smaller than you hoped.

Share Your Original Photo as well as the Cropped Portion

If your original contains an amazing photograph of a family member, of course you are going to get an incredible scan at a high enough resolution to capture that photo and print it any size you desire. However, be certain to take into consideration what other family members will be looking at if you don't share the entire original image with them, as well. Using these images as an example, look what would be missing from the family's story if all you shared was the amazing cropped portrait. Does your collection contain any photos that cause you to wonder what the original looked like?

Disappearing Tape

Take a look at your photographs with tape in various areas. Always scan the entire photo to preserve the original image. Then consider cropping out as much of the tape as possible by moving the scanner's selection tool and scanning the smaller section (with less tape showing) at a high enough resolution to print at the size you desire. Photo editing techniques can lighten the tape or make it a different color to help make it disappear. Don't let that tape keep you from preserving those damaged images. If you have to scan a photo taped to an album, look at the tips on other blog posts regarding scanning from albums.

Photos Stuck to Glass

Sometimes photos get stuck to flat glass, sometimes to domed glass. Depending on the situation, it might require a professional's help in scanning if you are facing an issue with curved glass. However, if the glass (with photo stuck to it) will fit your scanner bed, place a transparency sheet down on the glass bed of your scanner. Then carefully place the glass and photo down over the transparency sheet so you don't scratch your scanner's bed. Scan at correct resolution for print size. Then carefully lift the glass and photo. Most of the time there will be problems with color, tears, cracks, or changes in surface texture. If it's a one-of-a-kind photograph, it's better to try and get a good scan before the image degrades any further. Digital editing can be done at any time. Preserving the original should be your prime motivation to scan as soon as possible.

Dogs' Eyes Don't Have to Glow

Yes, you could simply color in the eyes on a dog's photo with a black marker. However, here's another trick that would probably have your family rewarding you with fabulous treats! Be certain to scan the original "bad eyes" photo at a high resolution, perhaps about 800dpi or more, so that when you zoom in on the digital file to edit the eyes you see smoother edges instead of pixels (tiny square boxes). Grab another good photo of it's eyes, scan that "good eyes" photo at a high resolution as well, then select the eyes (one at a time) from the new "good" photo's digital file and move them to cover up the glowing orbs in the "bad" photo. Or you could use the photo editing tool that is supposed to fix pets' eyes...but it's not a guarantee. Or, in this instance, these eyes came from a photo of a totally different dog. Be creative in rescuing such darling photos of furry family members.

What if You Don't Know Everyone in Photograph?

It's great to scan a group photo based on the size you want to print it. Again, printing same size as original--scan at 300dpi; twice the size--scan at 600dpi, etc. However, be sure you take into account it just might contain the only image of a relative you don't readily recognize. If the photo is on loan to you, and you have to return it after scanning, think through your options. A good overall scan plus some detailed scans of individuals really won't take long at all, and may well give you images that prove integral to your family's pictorial history later on. This photo ended up providing us with a couple's only photo from that time in their lives. It also yielded the only picture we have of two sisters together.

Tiny Specks Just Might be Treasured Images

Don't overlook those tiny spots in a photo! Scan the entire photo at 300-400dpi to preserve the original image. Then use the scanner's selection tool to make a little box around the tiny spot (plus some of the area around it). Scan at 2400dpi or 3200dpi or more and take a look at what the scan reveals. In this case it's a relative doing some ice fishing, as noted on the back of the photo. Tiny specks may bring you previously unknown treasures!!!

Scanning Newspaper Articles in Large Scrapbook Albums

Sometimes these larger albums need to be scanned on "large format" scanners with the ability to accommodate up to 11"x17" originals. If you cannot locate one in your area, check with Family History Libraries which may have just such equipment provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--and the equipment is free to use. Be sure to go through each page of your album before scanning and make note of which articles or items need to be scanned at a higher resolution than the 300dpi used to capture an image of the entire page. If there are small newspaper clippings you would like to see printed in a family history, for instance, decide how large you will be printing the clipping. Maybe you would like it to be printed three times the original's size so that you can clearly see the writing. In that case, scan it at 3x300dpi or 900dpi (which usually doesn't exist as a setting on scanners). So change the dpi to the next higher number in the scanner's list of choices...usually 1200dpi. Set the cropping tool of the scanner around the little clipping and scan at the higher resolution. That gives you an awesome digital item to use and print as a yellowed version or converted to a black and white copy. If you have ever downloaded a newspaper article from the internet and it's very blurry, there's not much that can be done because it wasn't scanned correctly. Now you know!!! And all your scans will be great for others to read!!!

Scanning Album Pages

Ahhhh, those wonderful old albums! Family members worked so hard to get photos printed and placed in those little black corners (that tasted awful to lick so they would stick). Each page contains photos and/or memorabilia as well as priceless handwritten notes giving us a glimpse into the thoughts and creativity of people intent on preserving moments in time for themselves or others. If you have stewardship over just such a treasure, you have the ability to keep it preserved as is without ever removing another photo. Yes, some pages might be missing pictures we long to find and fill in that gap. But for now you can scan each page at 300dpi to digitally preserve it. If you are intent on printing any of the items on the page at the same size they are, then you are fine working with the scanned page as is at 300dpi. However, if you need a photo printed at a larger size, keep the entire page on the scanner and move the selection box to scan just the single photo you want. Change the resolution to something like 1200dpi if a close-up image such as the one above is desired. Then put all the digital files of the scanned pages and individual photos onto a DVD and share these files with anyone and everyone in the family! Now everyone has their very own album...well, almost! 

Just too Pink

Does your priceless photo collection contain photos that look a bit too "pink?" There are many ways to handle these items, but never scan them in grayscale mode just to make them black and white again. Grayscale digital files are less cooperative to work with during photo editing than those scanned in color. Scan everything in color mode, even if it makes the pinkish photos look even more ghastly pink as a digital scan file. Scanners are great tools to help us duplicate and share one-of-a-kind photos, but they do have a tendency sometimes to enhance colors you may have to mute a little during the editing process. You have the option during digital editing to fade out the pink, change the color to a sepia (more brownish) tone, or convert it to black and white. Here is a comparison of a pinkish scan converted to black and white.

Uncle's Gotta Go...Just Need Dad

This fabulous photo has so many amazing historical details and is truly appreciated by the family holding it in their collection. However, it also holds an opportunity to gain the one and only photo of their ancestor taken at this period of his life. Fortunately it is a very sharp and well-lit photograph, so a close-up of any size was definitely an option.

Cropping this closely means making a higher resolution scan of the original. A closer crop can make for a better image and helps keep the work of removing other people to a minimum. However, it is a personal decision as to how much of the original photo's details will be cut off in the process. Sometimes it is more important to keep the details in the entire photo, especially if it helps link the item to a particular period of time. If you aren't sure exactly how much you want to cut off for the final print, then restore the entire photo and make the decision after you have totally removed the other image(s).

A Photo of a Photo is Better than No Photo at All

What if you visited a relative and saw a photo like this in a frame...but the person wouldn't ever let you take it for a spin in your scanner? Yeah, a camera will work in a pinch! Just make sure it's set to take high quality pictures (large files). Most phones have good cameras in them, but many people have the settings adjusted to take lower resolution images (small files) for use on the web. Grab that photo even if it's not perfect. It's the best you can do. So now you have a photo of a print of a photo--but hey, it's all you've got. These days photo editing software can help fix uneven lighting and focus, and you might be surprised at the results. Hey, the photo below is better than having no photo at all!!!

Old Color Negatives Can Hold Treasured Images

If you know of anyone with a stash of old negatives (which are sometimes color "positives" as above), hopefully you will share this blog post with them. It's often tempting to toss what could be perceived as "useless" negatives, especially these days when it's become so difficult to find a place to "develop" prints from anything other than 35mm. An on-line search yields many places offering to handle such priceless items. However, most people are reluctant, to say the least, to let such pieces leave their hands and risk getting "lost in the mail." These days a relatively simple piece of equipment, a "film scanner," can take the above image and automatically turn it into the image below in one step. Obviously there is a bit of color damage and correction to be made to this photo using a computer and image editing software, but this example demonstrates the possibility of reaping family photos held in these old negatives.

Put the Scissors Down...There's an Easier Way to Remove Someone from a Group Shot

Is your favorite photo of a relative that one where everyone else is in the way? This happens a lot so most people who work with photographs have a "stash" of digital files they fondly call "backgrounds." You can make your own using fairly plain digital paper from a digital scrapbooking kit. Just turn it black and white to use with B&W pics, or change the color and tint to make it work with your color photos. A marvelous set of tools exist in Photoshop Elements and Photoshop to help extract a person from a group without touching scissors to your picture, so it's not as tedious or destructive a task as in days gone by. Add a bit of shading around the edges of the entire photo or just the background if desired and you may just end up with a an amazing new portrait of your ancestor! Just remember that scans of group photos need to be at a higher resolution to ensure your ability to print the cropped photo at your desired size. That means measuring the height of the person you want to extract, figure out how large you want to print the final photo, do the math and scan appropriately. Same size = 300 dpi, twice as large = 600 dpi, three times as large = 900 dpi or more, etc.

Making a Copy vs. Making a Scan

When a friend showed me a page from her family history, this stunning photograph (to the left) caught my eye immediately. Turns out she had taken a beautiful original photo of her mother into a local copy store and had several prints made to distribute to family members. This was one of those prints.

I scanned her old photo at 600 dpi so that it could be printed at twice the original's size, as my friend requested. You can see from the image (photo to the right) that making a scan of a photo is a better choice than getting a print from a copy shop. Although there is fairly good equipment available now for making copies, a scan is still the best choice for capturing all the subtle lighting and details in your family's photographs.

"Well, shut my mouth"...an old Southern saying comes to life!

Recently a friend showed me her only photo of an ancestor and asked if this gentleman (born about 1839) could have a digital "makeover." Intent on maintaining her historical collection of photographs, she knew the original would never be harmed in the process.

Because of the relatively plain background this "fix" was quick and easy. A digital cut made across the entire photo and through his mouth enabled the top half of the photo to be slid down just enough to make his mouth look much more natural. Sure, the "blown out" lighting is one of the hardest (if not impossible) things to bring back. But at least this family's collection now includes a kinder-looking version of this amazing photo.

Missing Pieces of a Photograph

This photo has suffered so much damage throughout the years, and the family hoped to recover whatever they could of the darling image before it completely fell apart. Fortunately there is enough of the original to "borrow from" to fill in much of the missing areas because the family was not looking to maintain historical accuracy. Budget constraints might cause you to place limits on the extent of restoration done by a professional. Be sure to fully discuss the options of printing a smaller size, cropping to lessen the area to restore, and any other ideas a specialist might suggest. There is a positive side to this limitation of funds you might be facing. In effect, you will end up with what can be considered a "more historical image" when restoration stops short of perfecting such a photo. No matter what level of restoration you can achieve (or afford to have done), the result will always provide you with the joy of a newly-found image for your family to print and share.

Restoration from a Damaged Negative

Here is a composite layout to emphasize the importance of saving ALL your negatives, no matter how damaged. The wrinkled negative (below left) was scanned. The result of the scan can be seen as the unrestored portion of the photo (above right). The restored portion of the photo demonstrates just how much of an image might be recovered with some heavy-duty restoration techniques. Definitely inspiring to those hoping their one-of-a-kind negatives will yield a photo treasure! A larger negative can be scanned at 2400dpi or even 1200dpi, instead of the usual 3200dpi used for the smaller negatives and slides.

Water Damaged Photo

A severely damaged photograph just might be saved by some tight cropping as well as heavy restoration. Before deciding to toss such an image, be sure to look at the background and other parts of the image to see if anything can be "borrowed" to cover the damage. Sure the waves and sand are similar, but the main focus of this priceless image is now back on the girl, and that's how it should be! When scanning such images, you will want to increase the resolution enough to make a 300dpi print of the final cropped image. So if the original photo is half the size you intend the final print to be, scan at 600dpi. Scanning at above 600dpi increases your options regarding print size when the restored photo is cropped tightly.

Yellowing Photo

Ah, those yellowed 70's photos...They just might hold enough color to recover an amazing print. Scanning an image printed on that "bumpy" paper of old yields "dots" which can be overcome by blurring the scanned image a bit. However, if your original is blurry to begin with, you might want to keep the speckled look rather than risk having too blurry a final print. Many of these old pictures need some cropping, so be sure to scan at a high enough resolution to increase the size of the wanted images. In this instance, the original 3.5" square was scanned at 1200dpi, producing a cropped 5" x 7" print.

Grainy Photographs with Severe Surface Damage

The original is 3.5" x 4.5" and the family hoped to print this image much larger than it's original size. It isn't the damage that is determining the final print size, but the photo's "texture" or spotted appearance. Were this to be a very sharp original, a slight blurring of the surface would have produced a smoother image ready to print at the desired size. Unfortunately, it is so blurry to begin with that smoothing the surface would harm the final image too much. Printed at a smaller size, the photo looks great hanging on a wall in a wonderful frame. When looking at your old photos, remember that hanging their restored prints on a wall minimizes the appearance of surface texture enough to trick the eye into thinking you must have a marvelous original. Also, consider printing in black and white. The contrast helps "sharpen" the image, as opposed to the softer tones of a sepia print. However, sometimes sepia prints help minimize surface damage. Experiment with printing to see which works best for your image.

Removing Writing on Photos

There is much more than writing to remove on these two photos. Damage across the middle and bottom of one includes writing and surface problems. The other darling photo has writing across the middle. Thankfully the family had both photos, and restoration involved using parts of each to repair the other. If you are considering restoring damaged photographs, be sure to check for similar images. Even if they are not exactly the same, it might be possible to "borrow" some parts to fix the damages. When scanning such images, be sure to increase the resolution to gather more "good" pixels to repair the "bad" parts. If you need to crop most of the damage to retain a salvageable image, then be sure to increase the resolution in order to print an edited  image the size you desire.