Scanning Pictures

[Greg mgm]

Considering a new slideshow project and have a question about scanning pictures.
In the past I've either scanned single or multiple pics, then in PS2 cut them up, cropped and resized for video use. Of course it's so time consuming!
Do any of you have tricks or tips on scanning pics? Do you mostly scan one pic at a time, then crop?

[John 'twosheds' McDonald]

My Epson scanner auto detects multiple images when I scan so I don't need to separate them by editing in Photoshop.

[Chuck Engels]

My scanner also has detection for multiple images but I use the Multiple Scan tool in Photoshop Elements to separate them automatically, works great. There is a free tutorial based on Photoshop Elements 7
http://muvipix.com/products.php?searchp ... 0&btn.y=13
ib-Dividing Scanned Photos (PSE7)

[Bob]

Photoshop Elements has the scan and divide photos feature. Photoshop CS has File > Automate > Crop & Straighten Photos which is similar.

[Greg mgm]

Glad I asked. I don't have any of those programs and my scanner is older and doesn't detect multiple pics.
I need to do some updating!

[momoffduty]

I've tried the multiple scan in PSE and prefer to scan one photo at a time. Most of my projects need to have the photos in order and it is easier for me to go thru a stack. For a family history project I was writing descriptions down for each photo as I scanned and typed up a word doc to go with the photo CD.

[Kent Frost]

This is me reviving a 2 year old thread, but I couldn't help but pitch in on this:

We just recently did a slideshow video for my girlfriend's brother who passed away last month. Here's something I discovered: Even though you can easily scan multiple pics at once using your scanner, something I noticed is that my Epson will auto-expose based on what you section off to have scanned. Therefore, even if you put 6 photos on the scanner bed, when you section off only 1 photo at a time, it will give a much better readout for that individual picture, but not so much if you try doing the same thing for multiple pics at once. Not only that, but you'll have better control over filesizes if you're doing high-res scans of single pics that are equal to a 15+ megapixel picture from a digital camera rather than 6 photos at a 50 or 60 megapixel equivalence. The images came out with better color depth and exposure, and replicated the original feel much more accurately.

[Ron Hunter]

So, I interpret your comments as "single photo scanning" produces better results than "multiple photos that are separated by software"?

[Kent Frost]

In my experience, yes. You can get okay results doing them all at once, but the scanner itself concentrates its exposure settings better on individual images.

[Bob]

I normally scan one photo at a time. But, if I have a lot to scan, I may scan multiple at a time -- I group similar photos together when I do that. I'll set the scan resolution to a value appropriate to my intended purpose.

I use Vuescan scanner software instead of the software that came with my scanner. It comes in two flavors, standard and professional. I have the professional edition which includes unlimited updates and extra features. One of the extra features is the ability to store the raw scanner sensor data as a file. Vuescan can open the raw file and process it as if it were an original scan. You can optionally save in DNG format and open and process the file in Adobe Camera Raw (or Lightroom if you have that). I've grown fond of saving in DNG and that's become my preferred workflow. Exposure and resolution has not been an issue doing it that way.

[Kent Frost]

The next time you do, try this: Go ahead and load as many pics on the scanner as you want, and then choose an image in the bunch and see what it looks like in the preview when you select all images to be scanned at once, then draw a square around just that image (be careful to stay inside the edges of the pic). See if you can tell a difference in exposure and color quality between both ways. I have an Epson Stylus NX215 scanner/printer, and it just seems to give me better results one at a time.

[Chuck Engels]

I think it depends a lot on the scanner and the software. I tend to "fix" every image anyway in Photoshop so I scan clean with no adjustments, all of the images look just like the originals and they are all different. Then I split them all in Photoshop and make adjustments one by one there.

[Kent Frost]

I think it depends a lot on the scanner and the software. I tend to "fix" every image anyway in Photoshop so I scan clean with no adjustments, all of the images look just like the originals and they are all different. Then I split them all in Photoshop and make adjustments one by one there.

I do the same, but my edits need less work using this method.