Scanning Photos for the Web

Scanning Photos for the Web
Scanning Photos for Web Pages
This is not meant to be a complete lesson on scanning, but rather, an overview of the process and issues of concern.
Part 1 - The scans
Scanner: UMAX Astra 1200S (list: $249.95)
I am using VistaScan 2.4.0 software to scan. (Each scanner has its own program. You can also use Photoshop as a plug-in application for most scanners.)
Here is a "screen dump" of the VistaScan software so that you can see what the interface looks like.

screen shot of VistaScan

In this shot a photo has already been inserted into the scanner and the "preview" function has been finished. You will notice that Color, RGB, Reflective, 150 dpi, and 100% modes have been set. The picture edges have also been cropped as shown by the white dashed lines around the photo. All that's left to do now is hit the Scan button which the cursor is pointed at.
The Process (Macintosh computers)
Apple Menu Item:
Vista Scan: Scroll to Acquire
Vista Scan menu visible on screen allows you to choose:
Color
Reflective, transmissive, negative, or ADF
dpi (dots per inch)
% at which you want to scan
General Settings that I use:
Color: RGB
Reflective
100 dpi
150% (note: Some of the close up Cranberry pics were scanned at up to 800%)
Here is an example:
http://www.edutel.org/cranberry/cranberry_tour2.html
First photo is scanned at 150%, whereas the second was first cropped and then scanned at 800%.
Place photo so that it aligns with upper right hand corner of scanner.
1. Choose the PREVIEW option on the VistaScan menu.
2. This will show you exactly what your picture will look like.
3. You may now change the brightness, contrast, etc. (much as you would on your tv set) using the control features available.
4. Once you are satisfied with the image, go to the left top of the menu and choose your "crop" tool icon. This will allow you to crop off unwanted edges and to focus on the part of the picture that you want to show.
5. At any point you may change selections and you may PREVIEW as often as you like.
6. When you are satisfied with the image in the window, choose the SCAN option from the VistaScan menu.
7. You will get a prompt to name your photo file. You must name your photo file and save it to the folder of your choice. I save my in a folder to my desktop. This keeps all my scans in a folder that is labeled to describe what's inside, and if it's on my desk top, I am less likely to lose it! In the steps below, I am in the process of scanning 10 photos of cranberry bogs.

a) Choose "DESKTOP" so that you are saving your photo files to the desktop and not to the VistaScan folder.
b) I will open a New folder by choosing New "folder" icon.
c) Name the new folder "Cranberry Bogs"
d) Name my first scan, "oldcenter"
e) File Format: TIFF
8. The scanner will begin and you will see a CALIBRATING bar on the VistaScan menu. Once the bar stops, you have scanned your first picture!!
Scan 2: oldpumphouse- I previewed this originally at 150%. I really couldn't see the pumphouse. So, I changed my % option to 400% and previewed again. My view is improved but not perfect. If my goal was to show the pumphouse, I would keep increasing the % option. However, increasing the percent option means that I would have to crop my photo and in this case I would lose a great part of the bog.
http://www.edutel.org/cranberry/cranberry_tour5.html
I choose SCAN and am prompted to give my photo a name. (Note: I am working in the folder "Cranberry Bogs" on the desktop so I do not have to make any changes as long as I am scanning photos that I want in this folder.
Scan 3: oldcenter_east (scanned at 150%) http://www.edutel.org/cranberry/cranberry_tour4.html
Scan 4: pumphouse2 (scanned at 150%)
http://www.edutel.org/cranberry/cranberry_tour5.html (bottom photo)
Scan 5: flooding_bogs1 (scanned at 150%)
Scan 6: flooding_bogs2 (Here I want a close up! )
http://www.edutel.org/cranberry/cranberry_tour3.html
Look at the difference between these two photos. The first photo has been scanned at 150%. The second has been scanned at 300%. I began to scan for real detail at 800% (But I could hear my machine screaming for memory! I was able to get a cup of coffee and drink half of it while I waited for my scanning to be complete.) The photo is slightly blurred which while not obvious at 100 - 300%, made it almost unrecognizable at 800%. This photo was scanned 4 different times in order to get some detail with the most clarity.
Scan 7: post_harvest
Scan 8: plant (Here again I want a close up!) See description of Scan 6 http://www.edutel.org/cranberry/cranberry_tour.html
Scan 9: boghop1
Scan 10: boghop2
Now I have scanned all my photos. They are all sitting in a folder on my desktop called "Cranberry Bogs". I now need to convert the photos to either GIF or JPG format so that I can place them in an HTML document.
Part 2 - Converting from TIFF to JPG
Software: I am using Graphic Converter V3.4.1 (shareware available for $35.00)
You may also use: Adobe Photoshop 5.0 or a lower version.
1. I open Graphic Converter and then open my Cranberry Bog folder which is on my desktop.
2. I open my first scan, which since they are listed alphabetically, is boghop1. It looks great! It's a nice overview shot and I really don't want to crop it, but my size is huge‹1237 x1753 (pixels). I really need to do some editing hereŠ my page is only 600 pixels wide.

a) I go to the menu bar at the top of my screen and from this choose the "Picture" option. From picture I scroll down to the SIZE option and then scroll to the SCALE option.
b) This brings up the SCALE menu
c) I want to check the option "Proportional" to keep my scaling in proportion and not distort the image.
d) I scale and resize the picture 75% and check the new size. The picture really looks nice and I can see a lot of detail, but its still way too big for my page. I scale it at 75% again, and then again. I'm now down to a size of 392x555 and this will fit on my page. It will still be a large picture but I don't want to lose the all over effect and I'm afraid I will if I go smaller. I want the students to be able to see different things in the picture and if I go much smaller I will lose details.
1. I go to file to save boghop1 as a JPG When the save menu comes up, I choose the OPTIONS option.
2. I chose the option "Calculate File Size" File size is extremely important because it determines:

a) How much memory my file will use, and
b) How long it will take my file to download on a web page!! Remember no one wants to wait too long for a web page to download!
1. My New Size is 17.5 KB, which is acceptable. I would like to make the size smaller though if possible. I go to the Quality bar at the top of the menu and I see that I am saving this at normal qualtiy. I will try to adjust the quality so that I have the smallest sized file with the best possible clarity. I move the bar to 38%, watching my image for clarity and see that now I'm down to a size of 13.0 KB -- If you're waiting with a class of 30 students, these 4.5 KBs could be really important.
2. I now choose the options "JPG 6.0" and "Progressive" (The Progessive option is what downloads images "a little at a time" so your students don't have to stare at a blank screen and wait. It also cuts down on the size. My final size is 8.4 KB which will really load in quickly!
The drop shadow is done in Adobe Photoshop 5.0!