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I am using Photo & Graphic Designer 6 and scanned old photos into my computer. When I sent them off to Shutterfly to be copied, they came back super small! I wanted 4 x 6 photos. I did not use this software, but am hoping to not have to re-scan all my old photos. I can't figure out how to re-size my photos through this software so when I send them off to be copied again, they are closer to their original sizes. Mostly 4 x 6.
Hello Laura Jean
When you scan an image that is to be printed you have to scan at the highest resolution. Check that you did this the last time you scanned your old photos. You cannot enlarge photos that have been scanned at a low resolution (e.g. 96 dpi) and then enlarge them later for printing. They have to be scanned at a high resolution (e.g. 300 dpi) in order to be as sharp as the original. If your original images were scanned at a low resolution you will have no choice but to re-scan them all.
I have an HP Scanjet G3110 and the specs say Selectable resolution is 12 dpi to 999,999 enhanced dpi at 100 percent scaling and Hardware Resolution is 4800 x 9600 dpi, 48 bit. I wish I understood more! Sorry.
Assuming you just inserted and ran the installation disk that came when you purchased your scanner, some default program pops up when you scan something. The settings to change should be in there somewhere. Sometimes the default program is pretty worthless (in my opinion), and, if you are lucky, more powerful ones are included and installed from that disk. After playing with the ones that came with my scanner, I've found that Presto PageManager is actually one of the better (if not the best of the) programs for scanning with, but I had to play around with the settings to figure it out. Perhaps this will get you started. If not, give more information on what happens when you scan--what program pops up (or which one do you open), etc...
LJ, if you are scanning a photo that is originally 8x6, a perfectly acceptable resolution to scan it at is 300dpi and then when printed out at 8x6 it will look as good as the original. If you scan it at 4000dpi and print it out as a poster it will look no better than the original. All it will do is magnify the inevitable blur caused by the limited quality of the lens that took the original photo and any faults on the paper it was originally printed on.Quote:
Originally Posted by Laura Jean
I have to laugh when I watch CSI and see them enhance a shop security camera (you know, the crap quality cams you see on those true crime series) so that what was a blurred hand suddenly becomes a superb in-focus shot of a female hand with little transfers of pixies on the long nails and a ring on which you can read the engraving. Entertainment has progressed so much faster than Science LOL :D
I don't have the HP scanning software, I use the simple Epson scan which serves my purposes. When you get the scanning dialog up, simply check what the default resolution it is set to. If your pictures came back tiny from Shutterfly, then my guess is you scanned at 96dpi. Change this to (at least) 300dpi
Attachment 80628
By the way, the higher the scanning resolution, the larger your scanned images will be and if you are uploading them to Shutterfly, a 4800dpi scanned image will take forever and won't give you any better quality than 300dpi. Such high resolutions are reserved for professional print media and not for mere mortals like you and I.
I hope this helps :thx