Very dark scanned images ~ what to do?

[usports2]

I am scanning all the photos taken at my wedding in 1985. None are professional photos, so I'm not working with the best in quality here!

The photos tend to be dark and shadowy.

Should I scan at 200 dpi?

Any hints on how to improve the quality? I tried the unmask trick, but they are still terribly dark.

I unfortunately do not have the negatives anymore :annoyed:

Any help would be greatly appreciated. The one regret I have from my wedding day is that I didn't have a professional photographer and a beautiful album. If I could figure out how to improve these photos, I think that by digi scrapping them I can finally have the album of my dreams.

I use PSE 5.0

Thanks,
Donna

[omiof5]

Someone should be along to help you soon. You need to scan much higher than 200 dpi unless your pictures are very large. It depends on how much editing you want to do. I'm having some antique pictures restored by a professional and this is what he told me to upload: "The scanning resolution should be at least 600 dpi for an 8x10 photo. If the photo is smaller than 8x10, please raise that resolution so the resulting file is about 60 MB or larger." I doubt that most of us need files that size, but I usually do my own scanning at 600 dpi. But I'm absolutely not the expert here!

[usports2]

Someone should be along to help you soon. You need to scan much higher than 200 dpi unless your pictures are very large. It depends on how much editing you want to do. I'm having some antique pictures restored by a professional and this is what he told me to upload: "The scanning resolution should be at least 600 dpi for an 8x10 photo. If the photo is smaller than 8x10, please raise that resolution so the resulting file is about 60 MB or larger." I doubt that most of us need files that size, but I usually do my own scanning at 600 dpi. But I'm absolutely not the expert here!
Oh wow, 600 dpi!!! I'm way off. That should help with the clarity of the photos, too, don't you think? The photos are mostly 4x6, so I'm sure my files won't be too large if I scan at the 600 dpi.

Thanks for the quick help!

Donna

[LadyCarolyn]

I too would say 600 DPI, then you can take it into your software and adjust the curves for better colour.

[scamptx]

In PSE5, you should be able to do some photo editing work that can bring your photos up to snuff. (I have PSE4 and 6, and restoration is a favorite thing of mine, although I wouldn't call myself an expert!) The book I go to most for quick help with this is The PSE5 Restoration and Retouching Book by Matt Kloskowski. It's simple and direct, and he has lots of step by step help for all "ages" of photos.

Re: DPI. If your only intent is to use the photos digitally, 300 DPI may be enough. I usually scan at that, and the (few) layouts I have printed turn out fine.

The other thing that you said puzzles me--that they are scanning dark. Let us know if upping the DPI solves that. If not, try a different scanner and see if it's a scanner problem. (If you don't have a friend with a scanner, try a photo place, or print shop, or test one at a store like Best Buy...:D )

[Janet]

Yes, you will want more than 200 ppi. And, it depends on the size of the photo - I usually end up looking at the output size. 10-15 mb each usually allows for adequate pixels for most any scrapbooking need you might have. Some scanners tell you before you scan what the file size will be which helps tremendously. That way, the 2x3 photo will work as well as an 8x10 if you want to crop it and still have it take up a large portion of your page without having to have an enormous file. It's really all about having enough pixels, not the actual setting of ppi. That 2x3 photo needs as many to work with as the 8x10. The only way to do that is to adjust the ppi to end up with about the same end file size.

As for the darkness, yep, some scanners just seem to darken anything you put on them. Check to see if you have levels or histogram adjustments on your scanner. For scrapping use, they're fine to use! :) Really dig into the settings available to you with the scanner you've got and play around with them.

[usports2]

Yes, you will want more than 200 ppi. And, it depends on the size of the photo - I usually end up looking at the output size. 10-15 mb each usually allows for adequate pixels for most any scrapbooking need you might have. Some scanners tell you before you scan what the file size will be which helps tremendously. That way, the 2x3 photo will work as well as an 8x10 if you want to crop it and still have it take up a large portion of your page without having to have an enormous file. It's really all about having enough pixels, not the actual setting of ppi. That 2x3 photo needs as many to work with as the 8x10. The only way to do that is to adjust the ppi to end up with about the same end file size.

As for the darkness, yep, some scanners just seem to darken anything you put on them. Check to see if you have levels or histogram adjustments on your scanner. For scrapping use, they're fine to use! :) Really dig into the settings available to you with the scanner you've got and play around with them.
OK, now I know I need to look at the output size. I'll play around with the scanner and see how to do that. I'll also take some photos to FIL and see how his scanner works....I don't think it's the scanner, though, because, unfortunately, the photos all seem to have a shadow on them to start with.

Thanks all!
Donna

[debbers]

Some scanning software can be adjusted. Make sure it knows you are scanning photos, and not documents. See if you can brighten it a bit on the scanner end.

As close as you can get in the scanning software/hardware to the original, it'll be that much better of a picture that you can adjust manually in your image program.

deb