I recently read an article about converting your paperwork to digital form that you can easily share by computer. I use my scanner a great deal but the article in Family Tree Magazine by Sunny Jane Morton settled a few questions for me. (The whole article “The Paperless Chase” can be found in the September 2013 issue, page 41.)
Morton offers 10 hints for converting to computer files, but hint no. 2, which she entitled “Pick a number” was the one I needed most. My most puzzling scanning issue was trying to decide what “resolution” to use for each item. In simple terms, the “resolution” is how you tell your scanner how much “detail” to copy. To do this, you assign a number to the resolution, the higher the number, the more detail in your photos and documents. Of course we want all the details, but that comes at a high price in terms of how long it takes to scan the photo, how much memory it takes up on your flash drive and how expensive your scanner and software might be.
Most machines scan between 250 to 800 dpi (dots per inch) more expensive ones scan up to 4,800 dpi. According to Morton, 300 is fine for most documents. For photos 600 dpi is good enough for general purpose photo scans; but there are many things to consider. Most people cannot tell the difference in the printed photo that is scanned as 600 compared to one that is scanned at 1,200. However, where a 300 or 600 dpi scan takes about half a minute to scan and less time to save; a 1,200 DPI scan takes a couple of minutes to scan and about half a minute to save on your computer; and it takes up more memory on your computer, flash drive or DVD. So why might you want to take the extra time and space if you don’t have to?
A couple of reasons to scan at 1,200 may be: 1. You need to enlarge it on screen to really zoom in and identify faces or print on a sign. 2. It may be the only photo that exists of your great grandmother and you want prints that may be used to copy from, 3. You may want to print enlargements or crop the photo more tightly, which requires greater detail of the original. 4. You may want to do some serious photo repair or retouching.
There will very rarely be need for a 3,600 or 4,800 dpi scan. But if quality is your major concern, whenever possible scan from slides or negatives at 2,400 to 3,600 dpi. If it is precious and worth the time and trouble, a 4,800 dpi scan of a negative can yield a beautiful print as large as 16 inches by 20 inches.
A final quick note about file extensions, (Morton’s hint no. 3) though I’ve said it before, save with a JPG file extension to send e-mails or if that’s the only extension a program recognizes. The problem with JPGs is that they lose quality every time it gets saved. Most programs today recognize a TIFF file, so that is a good general choice.
Columnist Nina Brawn of Dover-Foxcroft is a longtime genealogy researcher, speaker and teacher. Reader e-mails are welcome at ninabrawn@gmail.com. Her semimonthly column is sponsored by the Aroostook County Genealogical Society which meets the fourth Monday of the month except in July and December at Cary Medical Center’s Chan Education Center at 6:30 p.m. Guests are always welcome. FMI contact Edwin “J” Bullard at 492-5501.
