Scanning at 300dpi for A4 printing and above

Bernard Ong · 21st September 2004

Dear Clubsnappers,

I am thinking to buy the Minolta Dual Scan IV to scan negatives up to 300dpi or above for A4 / A3 publication purposes. As the Dual Scan IV indicates 3,200dpi, does that means that it is over specified for my need?

In thats the case, i can actually look for lower dpi scanners at a lower price to meet my needs.

Is that right?

Kindly advise.

Thank you.

Bernard Ong · 21st September 2004

Any kind soul to enlighten me on this?

linse · 21st September 2004

As a 35 mm negative is 36x24 mm in size (if I'm not wrong), scanning at 300 dpi would mean a final output of only approx 450x300 size! That's not enough to print at A6 size let alone A4 and A3.

Bernard Ong · 21st September 2004

According to general magazine publishers, they require prints at 300dpi or larger for A4 / A3 publications.

That is why i intend to buy a scanner that can meet my needs. I using film camera and got no intention and budget to change to DSLR at the moment.

Snowcrash · 21st September 2004

Originally Posted by Bernard Ong

According to general magazine publishers, they require prints at 300dpi or larger for A4 / A3 publications.

That is why i intend to buy a scanner that can meet my needs. I using film camera and got no intention and budget to change to DSLR at the moment.

I think you need to learn more about film scanning vs flatbed scanning.

On the other hand, you can get shops to do it for you (scan into CD as you process your film with them)

Try ColorLab (they have high resolution called 16base) or Grace Digital

The scan image can print at A4 size.

chaotic · 21st September 2004

Originally Posted by Bernard Ong

According to general magazine publishers, they require prints at 300dpi or larger for A4 / A3 publications.

That is why i intend to buy a scanner that can meet my needs. I using film camera and got no intention and budget to change to DSLR at the moment.

I think you got a bit confused over the concept of dpi.

When the magazine people say 300 dpi for their A4/A3 publications, A4 is 8.27 inch x 11.69 inch, so if you need print full page A4 at 300dpi, you need an image size of 2481 x 3507.

now for film scanners, as pointed out earlier, 300dpi scan results in very small file because the full frame is barely more than an inch wide. Therefore, if you intend to print the same size as the tiny film negative on the A4/A3 or whatever size paper, the 300dpi scan is fine.

Zann Tiang · 24th September 2004

Originally Posted by chaotic

I think you got a bit confused over the concept of dpi.

When the magazine people say 300 dpi for their A4/A3 publications, A4 is 8.27 inch x 11.69 inch, so if you need print full page A4 at 300dpi, you need an image size of 2481 x 3507.

now for film scanners, as pointed out earlier, 300dpi scan results in very small file because the full frame is barely more than an inch wide. Therefore, if you intend to print the same size as the tiny film negative on the A4/A3 or whatever size paper, the 300dpi scan is fine.

chaotic is correct.

you need a final output of 2481 X 3507.

chantyeroop · 24th September 2004

Yes, you are right. General magazine publishers would have their scans made at 300dpi.

The Minolta Dual Scan IV is not over spec if you want to blow up to A4/A3 for publication purposes.

You should look at the max. pixel which is 3120 x 4680 (H x W)
http://konicaminolta.com/products/co...ification.html

To blow up to A4(11.69"x8.27") at 300 dpi, you would need to have :-
(height) 8..27 x 300 = 2481 pixels
(width) 11.69 x 300 = 3507 pixels

For A3 scans, the resolution to use is 260 dpi, which would have :-
(height) 11.69" x 260 = 3039 pixels
(width) 16.53" x 260 = 4297 pixels

Which are well within the specs of the scanner. If you have doubts, this link could help :-
http://www.guides.sk/scantips2

Newman · 25th September 2004

A high dpi scanner would be able to resolve more details in your target i.e. negative, photo, etc. If you compare a 1200dpi and a 3200dpi scanner, the 3200dpi scanner will definitely pick up more detail. Even if you only want to print a 4"x6" image at 300dpi, it's better to scan at higher dpi and then resize it to get a better result for print. Of course it also depends on your original target. If you were to scan a 2"x3" image from a magazine which was printed at 250-300dpi, scanning at 1200dpi wouldn't result in a much better scan as at 300dpi or 600dpi because there isn't enough detail to benefit. If you are scanning film to print at A4 then the benefit can be clearly seen.

21st September 2004	#1
Bernard Ong Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 407	Scanning at 300dpi for A4 printing and above Dear Clubsnappers, I am thinking to buy the Minolta Dual Scan IV to scan negatives up to 300dpi or above for A4 / A3 publication purposes. As the Dual Scan IV indicates 3,200dpi, does that means that it is over specified for my need? In thats the case, i can actually look for lower dpi scanners at a lower price to meet my needs. Is that right? Kindly advise. Thank you.

24th September 2004	#8
chantyeroop Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: North Eastern Zone Posts: 849	Yes, you are right. General magazine publishers would have their scans made at 300dpi. The Minolta Dual Scan IV is not over spec if you want to blow up to A4/A3 for publication purposes. You should look at the max. pixel which is 3120 x 4680 (H x W) http://konicaminolta.com/products/co...ification.html To blow up to A4(11.69"x8.27") at 300 dpi, you would need to have :- (height) 8..27 x 300 = 2481 pixels (width) 11.69 x 300 = 3507 pixels For A3 scans, the resolution to use is 260 dpi, which would have :- (height) 11.69" x 260 = 3039 pixels (width) 16.53" x 260 = 4297 pixels Which are well within the specs of the scanner. If you have doubts, this link could help :- http://www.guides.sk/scantips2 Last edited by chantyeroop; 25th September 2004 at 12:02 AM. Reason: wrong url given and to emphasize some text

21st September 2004	#3
linse Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Singapore Posts: 314	As a 35 mm negative is 36x24 mm in size (if I'm not wrong), scanning at 300 dpi would mean a final output of only approx 450x300 size! That's not enough to print at A6 size let alone A4 and A3.

25th September 2004	#9
Newman Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: TBC Posts: 948	A high dpi scanner would be able to resolve more details in your target i.e. negative, photo, etc. If you compare a 1200dpi and a 3200dpi scanner, the 3200dpi scanner will definitely pick up more detail. Even if you only want to print a 4"x6" image at 300dpi, it's better to scan at higher dpi and then resize it to get a better result for print. Of course it also depends on your original target. If you were to scan a 2"x3" image from a magazine which was printed at 250-300dpi, scanning at 1200dpi wouldn't result in a much better scan as at 300dpi or 600dpi because there isn't enough detail to benefit. If you are scanning film to print at A4 then the benefit can be clearly seen.