How do I re-size old photos I scanned so they print larger?

[Big Frank]

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.

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.

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

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



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