I have been told that the a photo I scan does not look better on a
computer monitor if the scan is above 300 dpi. However, am I correct to
say that if I scan at, say, 1200 dpi, AND I enlarge a portion of the
scanned photo, the enlarged portion on the computer screen will look
better than if I scanned at 3000 dpi?

I'm a newbie at this, so if I did not express my question well, please
excuse.

Thanks in advance for yuor advice.

Pedro

In article <MPG.197634fa251adb05989688@news.west.cox.net>, pfnolan@cox.net
says...
Not likely unless you are speaking of a very tiny portion of it...
I dont know the size of your photo, but suppose it is
6x4 inches. If you scan it at 300 dpi, you will get an image size of

(6 inches x 300 dpi) x (4 inches x 300 dpi) = 1800 x 1200 pixels.

Extremely few screens are that large.

If you scan it at 150 dpi, you will create an image size of
(6 inches x 150 dpi) x (4 inches x 150 dpi) = 900 x 600 pixels.

If you have a screen size of 800x600 pixels or 1024x768 pixels, this may
be more the size image you want. You probably want it to fit on your
screen.

Anyway, this is the concept.. Just put in other numbers for the area you
are scanning, and the image size in pixels that you want.

--
Wayne
http://www.scantips.com "A few scanning tips"

Dear Wayne:

Many thanks for the explanation. I have viewed your Scantips site many
times. I don't understand it all (which is not your fault), and I am
VERY impressed with your knowledge.

Please keep in mind I am just learning how to deal with scanning,
especially the *concepts* of scanning and dpi. With your explanation,
you've taught me about one concept - the dpi relationship to the size
of the image on my monitor. Until now, I did not grasp this rather
simple concept. However, I still have one other question, if you don't
mind.

Assume that I have a 6X4 photo I am scanning, but I want only a portion
of it and this would be for a 6X4 photo. I scan only that portion of
the original photo I want (making sure it has somewhat of a 6 to 4
ratio.

With the math concepts you've given me, scanning this enlarged area
would have to be 150 dpi for my 1024X768 screen (if it is to fit within
my monitor).

But what about slides being scanned, which (as I understand it) should
be scanned at 2400 dpi? How will such scanned slide imagess fit into a
screen like mine? In addition, wouldn't a high resolution scanning be
better for manipulation by a photo imaging program, especially if you
are enlarging from the scanned photo?

Your comments would be appreciated. I know I'm exposing my ignorance
here, but I thought I'd get my questions out now that I have the ear (or
sight) of the known expert.

Thanks.

Pedro





In article <39icnVNtJZ8dCpGiRTvUpQ@august.net>,
Fulton@ScanTips_*N0spam*.Com says...