Video:Tips for Scanning Photos

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Transcript:Tips for Scanning Photos

Hi, I'm Gretchen Siegchrist for About.com, and I'm here today with some tips for scanning photos.

Clean the Scanner and Photos

With all scanning projects, it is so important to keep everything very clean. Having just a speck of dust on the scanner bed or a photo can ruin hours of work. You want a plain, white lint free cloth and some water. You do not need any special cleaners, though glass cleaner will not harm your scanner. Be careful not to spray anything directly on your scanner. Spray the cloth and then wipe down the scanner with the damp cloth and you are going to do the same thing with the top of the scanner.

For photos, this is a nice cloth you can buy at a photo store. It is static free, so you wipe down the photos and prevent them from attracting any hair or dust.

Positions the Photos in the Scanner

When you lay the photos down on the scanner bed, make sure you do not touch the scanner. Put them right into the corner. That way it will be perfectly lined up. Usually scanner software will let you adjust and tilt the picture if it is not straight, but it is easier to get it right the first time.

Most scanning software will recognize and create multiple files as long as you leave at least half an inch between the photos and documents. You can scan 2, 3, 4 photos at a time, which will save you a lot of time.

Set the Scanned Photo's Digital Resolution

Then you are going to come over and open your scanning software. This will vary from program to program, but there are a few things in common with all of them. When it comes to resolution, more is not necessarily better. After a certain point you are just creating a larger file size, but not getting any more detail out of the photo. You do not need to go any higher than 600 dpi with a 4x6 photo.

There are a lot of editing adjustments I can make, but I find it is easier to do that later. Be sure to do a preview scan, that way you can see if there is anything on the photo.

Save the Scanned Photo

After the photos have scanned, it is really important to save an archival copy, and then another copy for editing. So I will create an originals photo, and I will save an original copy there. Then I have a scanned photo folder, and I will save another copy there, and that will be the copy that I edit. But if anything happens to them, I will still have the original copy.

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