Scan Help

P

pennman

Member
Jul 2, 2006
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clarksville, tn
Hey guys, was wondering if there was a serviceor a way to scan allmy photos to CD?
I have a couple hundred pics dating all the way back to PennCentral and the formation of CONRAIL to present, To many to scan by hand.
Any input would be great.
Thanks
Tony
 
Are they prints or slides?

You might be able to get something done at places like Office Depot/Staples or copy centres. If not, I know my local large camera shop offers a service, but it is not cost effective...

A couple hundred pictures is not that much. At a few dozen per night, you'll be done in a couple of weeks.

Andrew
 
I'm not sure about scanning services, but Andrew is probably right. Kinkos would be a definite probability there. But, if you have a "couple hundred", you should be able to pick up a cheap scanner for under $50 that would do the job. I think I paid about $40 for mine a few years ago and it's more than adequate. If they were to charge your even around 25 to 50 cents a picture, you'll be money ahead and you'll wind up with a scanner if you buy the hardware.
 
ezdays said:
I'm not sure about scanning services, but Andrew is probably right. Kinkos would be a definite probability there. But, if you have a "couple hundred", you should be able to pick up a cheap scanner for under $50 that would do the job. I think I paid about $40 for mine a few years ago and it's more than adequate. If they were to charge your even around 25 to 50 cents a picture, you'll be money ahead and you'll wind up with a scanner if you buy the hardware.
Click to expand...

I understand the hundreds ahead thing!! My big problem is that I'm not that computer happy. Whats involved in scanning them myself? Does the scanner do it alland you just save them?

Thanks for the help,
Tony(mr anti-techknowlegy):rolleyes:
 
Most scanners you can buy now are pretty much plug-n-play. If you are running a recent version of Windows, it is likely that the system will recognize everything, and you may not even need to install a separate program to run it.

Generally speaking, the scanner will recognize what kind of picture it is looking at, and give you various options based on what you want to do with the scan (email, print, whatever). For "backup" purposes, I suggest you scan them as "big" as possible. It might take a little longer, but then you can do whatever you need in the future. If you scan only for email or web for example, you won't be able to make big prints of them later. CDs and DVDs are cheap storage if you have a burner.

It is really not taht difficult. Talk to the most knowledgable staffer you can find at Best Buy or whatever and tell them what you want to do.

You did not answer if the photos were slides or prints. One caveat - slide scanners make beautiful scans that are often very big files (35 - 75 MB). They also cost more than flat beds.

Andrew
 
If you want a couple hundred scanned you'll be paying a couple thousand to get it done professionally.
 
MasonJar said:
I can't believe it, but Brian is right. I just looked up the prices at Staples and it's CAN$5.00 per photo scanned!! :eek:

Andrew
Click to expand...
Checked onit myself yesterday and its way to expensive to do at a service!
To awnser your question they are all 3x5 photos in BLW and color.
Looks like I'll be going to best buys or cirut city this weekend.
Thanks guys,
Tony
 
Tony,

I have an Epson scanner that has a utility that tries to govern all features of the scanner (e.g. copy, fax, scan and save, scan to email) but it does not work well. Starting the particular app you want is faster.

The other cool thing about it is it has the ability to recongize when there is more than one thing on the bed at once. So theoretically, you should be able to put 4 photos on the bed, and it will save 4 separate files for you.

Good luck!

Andrew
 
Yes, the majority of the bundled imaging software is outright crap. Using a stand-alone program like Photoshop Elements or Paint Shop Pro will produce far better results in the end although there is a steeper learning curve for the beginner.

What is your indented purpose for these photos when they are on the computer? If you're just scanning for a personal web page then scanning prints on a flatbed would be sufficient. If you're scanning for a presentation, however, as your original post might indicate, then you should look at scanning the negatives instead.
 
There is a freeware program called irfanview that does a good job for me. I also use it to resize files to upload to The Guage.
P.S. I have nothing to do with this program, except use it.

Loren
 
No, all these phots arefor me just want a way to save them so they dont get ruined over time.
Waswondering can you auto feed the photos like a copy paper or does each one have to be placed individually?

Anyone recommend a good scanner that won't make me broke?

How hard is it to use phot shop with the scanner?

thanks, Tony
 
It can be difficult to use the scanner directly with Photoshop. I would recommend that you use the basic scanner software (not the "dashboard" or "controller" or whatever purports to control all the functions) first to scan the image at a high resolution.

Then import or open the file in Photoshop to make whatever changes or enhancements you like. Be sure to save the original just in case.

As for inexpensive scanners, I have an Epson that I like. My father uses a Canon. There are some decent all-in-ones from HP, so if you want to save desk space, you can replace your printer, fax, copier and scanner with one device. They may have limited capability for transparencies (slides or colour negatives) though.

I would head down to your local big box electronics store and tell them what you want to do. Make sure that the list is complete though...!

Andrew
 
I don't see what's so hard about scanning directly into Photoshop. I've done it on Windows and OS X with four different scanners over the years and never had a problem. You simply go to File > Acquire > Scanner which launches the scanner's software over Photoshop. You can make initial adjustments with that and when you do a final scan the image ends up directly in Photoshop. From there you can do whatever you want with it.
 
Brian,

Thanks for the overview... I said it *can* be difficult, not that it had to be so. I have had to bypass the "all-in-one" interface that came with my scanner, and I find that the work goes faster (again, for me) if I just scan and save a bunch, and then tweak them in PhotoShop after the fact.

But you are correct - if PhotoShop can communicate with your scanner, it can be simple.

Andrew
 
I did this recently for my father's 80th birthday. During a 32-year navy career and twenty-odd years of retirement travel, he has collected around 5000 color slides. I called the imaging/copy service I use in my law practice. They agreed to scan the slides to *.jpg, and arrange the scanned images in folders named like his slide cubes. the images fit on two DVD's, and the results were spectacular--the images look great on a computer or TV, my dad is absolutely thrilled, and cataloging and captioning the pictures in Photoshop Elements keeps him occupied for hours at a time. Cost? Fifty cents a slide. Try a service bureau or commercial imaging service in your area, or a photo lab. Depending on the number of photos you should be able to get a similar rate.
BTW, when we outsource scanning of color prints, the cost is $0.40 per image. We use DTI (Data Technology Inc.--www.dtiglobal.com).
 
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