Getting your Images in Digital Format

At the risk of stating the obvious, it's going to be hard to digi-scrap if you don't have any pictures in digi-format.

It will, of course, be super easy to digi-scrap if you have a digital camera.  When digital cameras first came out, they were often dismissed as inferior to film cameras, but now everyone has one LOL.  So as I update this entry 5 years later, kind of a moot point.

If you want to get your old film pictures to digi, there are two ways to go about it: 
(1) Negative Scanning.  I know nothing about this, but hey, it's an option.
(2)  Scan the pictures using a scanner.  Again, not going to recommend a specific one, but when you scan the pictures there are two things you need to think about . . . 

Scanner thoughts:
(1) Brightness/Contrast/Color.  Some scanners come with software that will automatically fix a photo, some just have settings you can play with to make sure your pictures are brought in with the right colors and contrasts.  There should be instructions for this in your manual (reading manuals is a good idea!!!) or on-line at the company's website.  Don't ever just give up and think "Oh, well my scanner sucks, it just won't do it right," or "I guess my scanner just scans everything in really dark."  Dig in and figure it out!  (While you're at it, you may want to make sure your computer monitor is properly calibrated so you can get an accurate idea of how your pictures are scanning in!  Click here for more on monitor calibration.)
(2)  Resolution.  You need to scan your picture at a high enough resolution that you have enough pixels to work with.  (If the words resolution and pixels are scaring or confusing you, you may want to reread "Picture/Layout/File size.")  Here's what I do: [A] If I'm just going to use the image as a normal size photo in a layout, I'll scan it in at 300 ppi, which is the resolution I make my pages.  (This would work for pictures in the 2nd page of this LO.) [B] If I'm going to enlarge the picture and make it my focal point photo or use it for an entire page (like in the 1st page of this layout,) I scan it in anywhere from 500 to 800 ppi.
(3) For more info: do an internet search for "photo scanning tips"

Once you get a picture scanned in at a high resolution, you need to work with it to get it down to 300 ppi so you can use it in Photoshop and on a layout. 

Altering the file size:
When I have a 4x6 picture scanned in at 800 ppi, I want to: get it down to 300 ppi, while enlarging the actual picture size to like 12x18.  At 800 ppi, the 4x6 picture in pixels is 3200x4800.  At 300 ppi, the 12x18 picture in pixels is 3600x5400.  (Or, just enlarging it to 8x12 at 300 ppi gives you 2400x3600 in pixels.)  As you can see, it's pretty much the same amount of pixels, just in a different format -- at 800, it's a bunch of pixels in a small space, at 300 it's a smaller amount of pixels per inch, but over a larger space.  (Please tell me this is *kind of* making sense?)

Anytime I see this subject discussed at TwoPeas, someone always mentions that Scott Kelby, in one of his Photoshop books, says that when changing file size like this, to always "do it in repeated steps of 10%" until you get to where you need.  In other words, when you have a 4x6 picture at 800 ppi, don't just change it to 12x18 at 300 ppi in one fail swoop and be done with it!  The picture will look very wonky if you do it this way.  You're going to have to take your time.  I usually go down in 100 ppi increments and up 1 or 2 inches each time.  In other words, I:
1. Start at 800 ppi, 4x6
2. From the file menu, choose "Image > Image Size."  The box that comes up would look like this [see image at right -->].  Making sure the "constrain proportions" box is checked, I type "5" in the width box (the length will automatically change in proportion since the "constrain proportions" box is checked), and "700" in the Resolution box.  Now my picture is 700 ppi, 5x7.5 inches [as reflected in the second picture at right -->  Pictures will enlarge if you click on them.]
3. 600 ppi, 6x9 inches
4. 500 ppi, 7x10.5 inches
5. 400 ppi, 8x12 inches
6. 300 ppi, 9x13.5 inches

Depending on how large you want your image to be when you are done, you can go up 1.5 or 2 inches each time, or change the resolution in increments of 50 instead of 100.  Experiment with it and keep your eye on the picture quality during each change.  Worse comes to worse and you ruin your work?  Scan it again or don't save over your original file until you're positive you have the changes you made right.

Comments

[Glenda]

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