# Scanning Photos
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [March 9, 2000, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601 "2000-03-09T20:11:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2000, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/1 "2000-03-09T20:11:00Z")
I need some suggestions of a place to get my older photos scanned. I don’t have negatives to alot of them. I obviously don’t have access to a scanner, but want to put sum purty pittchers un a website.
I called Kinkos and they charge $24/hr to use the 'puter, and $10 a photo for the full service guys to do it. The local Library doesn’t have services. Anyone have any ideas for a cheaper way to get it done?
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### Author:  [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2000, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/2 "2000-03-09T20:22:00Z")
At that cost per hour you could pretty quickly pay for a decent flatbed scanner in the 600dpi range. If you want to scan film or slides that’s another matter. Film scanners are many times as expensive. The cheapest real film scanner I’ve seen is the H-P photosmart for around $400 but I don’t know if it’s any good. I sometimes use a Nikon film scanner at work but they start at about a grand.
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### Author:  [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2000, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/3 "2000-03-09T20:35:00Z")
Just get a scanner. You will have unlimited access to scanning pictures, forever and ever. Better than paying an hourly rate. Padeye is right - it’ll soon add up to the price of a scanner.
If your standards for quality are low, you can find some scanners with transparency adapters. I had a Plustek Scanner with such an adapter. The slides I scanned were not too great, but with some tweaking with Paint Shop Pro, they were bearable. I think the PlusTek scanner was about $150. It broke, alas (too much moving it around) and I got a MicroTek scanner with transparency adapter, which is as useless as tits on a brass monkey. (I’ve been waiting for an opportunity to use that quaint turn of phrase! ;)) Some “built in” transparency adapters are pretty bad - the MicroTek one sure is. The PlusTek one wasn’t that great, but at least I got _something_ out of it. I plan on getting a more expensive transparency scanner soon.
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### Author:  [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2000, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/4 "2000-03-09T20:42:00Z")
I got my umax scanner for under $200 Can, with the rebate, and it works wonderfully, with an epson 740 colour printer I can print photo quality prints, no worries, and I’m just a newbie!
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“Patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings.” Bob Dylan
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### Author:  [@Atrael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atrael)
#### Post date: [March 9, 2000, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/5 "2000-03-09T21:08:00Z")
While we’re on this subject, I’ve encountered a problem with my printing recently…the photos scan in looking crisp and sharp, but when I print some of them out, the print out fuzzy. I have an HP812c printer using Kodak paper. Any suggestions?
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### Author:  [@TripleAnt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TripleAnt)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2000, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/6 "2000-03-10T22:19:00Z")
I work at a Walgreens in the photo dept. and we have one of those Kodak photo machines which scans pictures and then prints them out. They come out looking very much like the original. All you need is the print, not the negatives. For us, it is 7 bucks per sheet, but you can get a whole mess of pictures on one sheet. Just a thought.
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“I have a lot of good ideas, problem is most of them suck.” -George Carlin
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### Author:  [@bda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bda)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2000, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/7 "2000-03-10T22:39:00Z")
yes . . just buy a scanner. decent ones can be had for under 2 bills. has anyone ever tried to scan a trans/slide using sheets of white paper on top of them? seems that might reflect the light back.
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### Author:  [@bda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bda)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2000, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/8 "2000-03-10T22:43:00Z")
another thought. . i have paint shop pro 4, it lets you create a neg image of a pos. maybe later versions will let you create a pos image of a neg?
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2000, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/9 "2000-03-10T00:17:00Z")
You can get a nice scanner for $50 these days from online stores like [surplusdirect.com](http://surplusdirect.com)
You wont be needing more than 300dpi as a matter of fact, I often don’t use more than 150 dpi cause the screen only sees 72 dpi.
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### Author:  [@inertia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inertia)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2000, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/10 "2000-03-10T00:31:00Z")
Omni: Got to [http://www.pricewatch.com](http://www.pricewatch.com) and buy a scanner. It’s the first place I go when I want to buy computer stuff and I buy quite a bit for personal and business use. If you get a refurbished one, you can get a 1200dpi 32bit scanner for under $50. That’s an awesome deal. Additionally, you don’t want to use the highest quality scan you can get either. A typical photo at high resolution can get up to a couple o’ meg. Not something you’d want to put on a web page.
If you don’t want the hassle/have the time to get a scanner, I’ve seen do-it-yourself scanners at Wal-Mart. It’s $1.00 per pic.
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2000, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/11 "2000-03-10T15:56:00Z")
My local overpriced photo store has a photo scanner thingy for $49.00 It’s just for photos sort of. Makes it easy to do, thats all.
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### Author:  [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2000, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/12 "2000-03-10T16:22:00Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Originally posted by bda:
> **another thought. . i have paint shop pro 4, it lets you create a neg image of a pos. maybe later versions will let you create a pos image of a neg?**
Isn’t a negative image of a negative the positive image? Sorry, I haven’t had enough coffee this morning, can’t think…
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### Author:  [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2000, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/13 "2000-03-10T16:25:00Z")
Demo, your not exactly burning things up with this first paost since getting the 'puter back. I’d reread things a bit more carefully.
I did however say that I **don’t** have most of the negatives, so the point is moot.
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### Author:  [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2000, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/14 "2000-03-10T16:40:00Z")
**Atrael:**
[quote]
While we’re on this subject, I’ve encountered a problem with my printing recently…the photos scan in looking crisp and sharp, but when I print some of them out, the print out fuzzy.
[quote]
Couple possibilities, here.
1. If you’re scanning at a low res (say, 75-100dpi), your pix will look fine on screen (72 dpi res.) but you’ll need more resolution to print them well. See #3 below.
2. If your scanner has a sharpness option, try playing with that, see if it gets better.
3. If you know what resolution the final output is going to be, scan the photo at a multiple or an even percentage of the final print res. For example: If you’re printing at 720 dpi, scan the photo at 1440, 720 or 360 dpi. This produces prints of perceptibly better quality.
**Omniscient** , I’ll enthusiastically second the reccommendations to go purchase a scanner. The catalog in front of me lists full-function beds for as low as 89.95. Get 36-bit color at a minimum, and try for the highest “true dpi” resolution for what you’re looking to spend.
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stoli
Well, blessed is just about everyone with a vested interest in the status quo,
as far as I can tell.
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### Author:  [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2000, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/15 "2000-03-10T17:07:00Z")
Damn, this is the only time I’ve ever had to scan anything, I don’t know that I’d get enough use out of the thing. A $100 is an awful lot of beer money. I only take pictures maybe once a year on vacation. I don’t do any graphic design. I’m just not sure its cost effective. Damn this computer, always making me want more.
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### Author:  [@Falcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Falcon)
#### Post date: [March 10, 2000, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/16 "2000-03-10T17:29:00Z")
Then Omni, find a Chicago Doper with a scanner. 😉 Or hell, snail mail them to me and _I’ll_ scan them for you.
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Winner, SDMB’s Biggest Chat Addict
“Only two things that’ll soothe my soul - cold beer and remote control.”
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2000, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/17 "2000-03-11T01:17:00Z")
Well dude, all you really have to do is take the pics & have Kodak put them on CDROM, of course you’d need the negs.
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### Author:  [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2000, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/18 "2000-03-11T01:20:00Z")
Gee handy, thanks for that insightful input.
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [March 11, 2000, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/19 "2000-03-11T16:39:00Z")
Well, maybe you do, Im not really sure these days.
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### Author:  [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2000, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-photos/14601/20 "2000-03-12T06:24:00Z")
Omni, try going over to your local wolf Camera or other camera type shop. If I recall correctly, they have your typical photoscan type machine and it _might_ let you save them to disk. In fact, I’d call first if I were you because I’m probably insane, but that’s how I remember it from about two years back.
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“I guess one person can make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn’t.”
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