best way to scan 4R photos into soft copy

[kaisin]

i would like to back up some 4R photos(around 300 of them) into soft copy
when i use my 3-in-1 printer to scan at 1200dpi, the result was not really up to standard
the colour was different from the original, it was more dull and the soft copy was not sharp at all

will the quality improve if i use stand alone scanners like canon lide 110, anyone has any experience with it?

need help here

 

[An drew]

Can try this. I'm not expert.

http://www.canon.com.sg/business/products/scanners/flatbed-with-film-scanners/canoscan-9000f

 

[ST1100]

You are better off trying to get hold of the original soft copies. Lab prints are at 240 dpi, so it doesn't matter if you get a better scanner. The protective film on the prints, as well as the optical/scanner system further degrade the transfer process. You end up with each picture having less than 1mb of real data (despite whatever the file size says).

The colour shift can be mass corrected with a one white balance click.

 

[tester99]

sorry for digging the thread. i'm also looking to scan around 1,000 old photos (from like 1930s-1980s). no negatives were kept and i only have the 4R gloss/matte printed photos.

1. Is there any place where i can RENT a high-end scanner (with automatic 4R feeder) for a day or 2?
2. If not, are there any services in SG that help me to digitize all of them? all the results i got from searches are overseas-operated.

i have my own flatbed scanner but it's low-end and extremely slow. not intending to buy a high end one either, because it is going to be a one-off archival (we have soft-copy RAWs nowadays..)

very inclined towards renting because i have the time to spare, and scanning service is gonna cost a bomb (based on overseas prices).

please advise!

 

[Octarine]

I don't think there are any rental shops for scanners, but check with the camera rental shops. Maybe they have a set. For 1,000 photos I'd invest in my own flat bed scanner and scan software. Vuescan delivers great results even with low end scanners, it's used by the film community for scanning their negatives. It has a batch scan option where you only feed the images manually, press 'Scan' etc .. Free version available with some limitations for RAW / DNG, full version for USD80, iirc. Might want to try that first before you spend more money elsewhere. Next good thing would be a CanoScan or Epson Vxxx (don't know the current numbers, I have an Epson V600 with film slot).

 

[nathaniel]

I scanned mine (1000+ negatives) at a lab--their scanner had a slot for negatives. cost was $4/roll under promotional price, last time I checked it was $6/roll. These were NOT high-res scans, which I understand are more expensive. I think I got better resolution scanning the 4R on a flatbed scanner at home (but tedious). For one really precious photo, I enlarged to 8R and did the scan using my flatbed.

 

[tester99]

Hi all,

I'm not sure if my post was misunderstood - but i'm looking for 1 to scan the hardcopy 4R photos, rather than the film (which the owners did not keep).

also, does it mean there's no auto-feeder (4R) for such purposes? it's gonna take a really long time if i were to place it on the flatbed scanner myself (even if done in batches of 3-4).

Octarine : yup i've tried VueScan and the results are similar to my stock Brother drivers/software. also just to add, i don't need to scan and keep in raw/dng. i just need JPG of 3MP. that should be more than sufficient for viewing on monitors / TVs.

another alternative i thought of myself is to shoot a picture of the picture itself. i have a 5D classic/550d, tripod and remote control. coupled with soft window light, would the results be decent compared to using a mid-range flatbed scanner?

the following question would then be : is there any photoshop action i can use to auto-detect edges of a photo so i can snap 4 pics at once and let it auto-crop the pictures and save as 4 separate jpeg files? i've seen people advising that but no links were provided. i couldn't find any myself either.

 

[Edwin Francis]

another alternative i thought of myself is to shoot a picture of the picture itself. i have a 5D classic/550d, tripod and remote control. coupled with soft window light, would the results be decent compared to using a mid-range flatbed scanner?

the following question would then be : is there any photoshop action i can use to auto-detect edges of a photo so i can snap 4 pics at once and let it auto-crop the pictures and save as 4 separate jpeg files? i've seen people advising that but no links were provided. i couldn't find any myself either.

I'd rather use a scanner for prints. I would only use a copy setup if 1. the prints are too big for the scanner, 2. are mounted in a frame and hard/impossible to remove safely, or 3. they need to remain in the frame on the wall. (I think Catchlights posted some good step by step photos on how to do this about a month ago)

Dunno if PS can crop separate photos out, but my HP 3-in-1 scanner software detects individual photos, then crops and rotates them. I rarely need to intervene.

 

[lthg25]

sorry for digging the thread. i'm also looking to scan around 1,000 old photos (from like 1930s-1980s). no negatives were kept and i only have the 4R gloss/matte printed photos.

1. Is there any place where i can RENT a high-end scanner (with automatic 4R feeder) for a day or 2?
2. If not, are there any services in SG that help me to digitize all of them? all the results i got from searches are overseas-operated.

i have my own flatbed scanner but it's low-end and extremely slow. not intending to buy a high end one either, because it is going to be a one-off archival (we have soft-copy RAWs nowadays..)

very inclined towards renting because i have the time to spare, and scanning service is gonna cost a bomb (based on overseas prices).

please advise!

There are locally services who scan your photos. Below link is one of them

SaveMyPiz.com - Preserving your memories, one piece at a time... - Save My Piz - Preserving your precious memories one piece at a time...

 

[sinned79]

I think Photohub provides photo archiving service. u can also check with them.

 

[jfoo]

Hi all,

I'm not sure if my post was misunderstood - but i'm looking for 1 to scan the hardcopy 4R photos, rather than the film (which the owners did not keep).

also, does it mean there's no auto-feeder (4R) for such purposes? it's gonna take a really long time if i were to place it on the flatbed scanner myself (even if done in batches of 3-4).

Octarine : yup i've tried VueScan and the results are similar to my stock Brother drivers/software. also just to add, i don't need to scan and keep in raw/dng. i just need JPG of 3MP. that should be more than sufficient for viewing on monitors / TVs.

another alternative i thought of myself is to shoot a picture of the picture itself. i have a 5D classic/550d, tripod and remote control. coupled with soft window light, would the results be decent compared to using a mid-range flatbed scanner?

the following question would then be : is there any photoshop action i can use to auto-detect edges of a photo so i can snap 4 pics at once and let it auto-crop the pictures and save as 4 separate jpeg files? i've seen people advising that but no links were provided. i couldn't find any myself either.

canoscan toolbox, a software that comes with canon scanners has a function which allows you to scan 4 x 4R photos (or more if they are 2R) at a time and it will auto crop the photos into individual files. a real time saver.

photoshop cs3 has File>Automate>Crop and Straighten Photos that will also do the same job.

 

[Octarine]

also, does it mean there's no auto-feeder (4R) for such purposes? it's gonna take a really long time if i were to place it on the flatbed scanner myself (even if done in batches of 3-4).

Good things need time. Especially if your prints need additional adjustments (White Balance comes in here because scanner work similar to cameras).

the following question would then be : is there any photoshop action i can use to auto-detect edges of a photo so i can snap 4 pics at once and let it auto-crop the pictures and save as 4 separate jpeg files? i've seen people advising that but no links were provided. i couldn't find any myself either.

Vuescan has this option as well. I can scan 12 film frames in one shot. Just read through the manual, it's very detailed.