Scanning Old Photos

[whitenemesis]

I wish to digitise approx 3-400 old family photos. Both B&W (from the early 1900s) and right through to colour of the 60s and 70s

Which scanner would be best? Which software for retouching/cleaning up images? I would want to do true image (warts and all) and then enhance a copy.

I have some negatives as well, from the later photos. would a neg scanner be advised? Any suggestions?

 

[verysideways]

Might be easier just to pay a pro to do all this - though i don't actually know how much that would cost.
Have you considered that already? Neg scanners aren't cheap are they?

 

[bolide]

Nikon used to make a superb slide scanner (£700-odd) that would remove dust & scratches on slides / negs. It worked brilliantly

Any flatbed scanner will work for photos. Just make sure the bed is clean before scanning!

I've just upgraded to Photoshop Elements 8 and it is superb for general image work

Nick Froome

 

[whitenemesis]

I am thinking about having it done professionally but how do they go about naming files? And do they simply apply a standard enhancement routine?

Neg scanners range from £60 to £600...

These photos are very precious to us, can I trust them to some prof outfit?

 

[verysideways]

I think i'd be tempted to do the photos myself then, a flatbed scanner for not much money can scan to seriously silly DPI, but perhaps get the negs done by a prof outfit.
Are you ever likely to use a neg scanner again?

 

[whitenemesis]

No, I doubt I would need the neg scanner again.

Just checked some prof outfit, £15 to scan 200 photos. Now that doesn't sound like a bespoke, considered service. I could not hand over these photos, how many people have pictures of their great great grandparents? Far too precious.

 

[renault12ts]

I did this about 7 years ago. It is brilliant being able to see any photo any time.

I used a Canon neg scanner which I bought off Ebay cheaply. I am aware of a photo scanner being plugged on QVC which produced excellent results by scanning the actual photo. This would work very well where you don't have the negs.

Here you go: http://www.qvcuk.com/ukqic/qvcapp.aspx/app.detail/params.item.562525

 

[whitenemesis]

Thanks renault12ts, that sounds like it might be better than a standard scanner?

The link gives "Service unavailable" at the moment..

Edit - service resumed The scanner looks ok but many of the photos I have are on very thick paper/card and are strange sizes. Perhaps this wouldn't cope too well with these?

 

[Roger Jones]

Perhaps something like this would do the job for you:

Epson Perfection® 4490 Film Scanner (35 mm), Flatbed Scanner - Read reviews, compare prices and buy Epson Scanners online at DealTime UK

Photoshop Elements is the obvious image-editing software. For scanning software better than that supplied with the scanner, I would recommend:

SilverFast: Scanner Software, Printer Software and Software for Digital Camera and Imaging :: LaserSoft Imaging

I do a lot of scanning for business purposes and have been more than satisfied with my Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED film scanner working with Silverfast. I did some test scans and found that the result with my desktop Nikon was better than that from the repro departments at two of my usual commercial printers. With the upsurge of digital cameras, Nikon have now stopped producing them. That may mean that second-hand prices stiffen with no other source of supply or that they will soften because users find them increasingly redundant and will want shot of them.

 

[andy_k]

Any decent desktop scanner will give good results off the photos. Scan them at the highest resolution and then do any colour correction/repairs on a copy of the original scan.

A lot of scanners can deal with negatives as well.

Rather annoyingly, we binned an Epson Scanner (with a slide attachment) a few days ago after it had spent the last six months (since we upgraded) on the floor in the corner of our lounge. We couldn't get rid of it, Freecycle, eBay, local charity shops etc - be warned, whatever you buy (uless it's got a built in printer and fax) will be about as easy as the plague to give away when you have decided it's just not worth the desk space any longer

 

[crockers]

What software are you planning to use to "clean" the photos up?

 

[whitenemesis]

What software are you planning to use to "clean" the photos up?

I have Corel's PSP pro sumthing installed and have used it to tart up holiday snaps. Would this be the program of choice? Or should I be looking for something else?

 

[crockers]

You have PM

 

[Steve_B]

As far as the software goes, thought I'd add a few examples of what's possible with Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2. The scanner isn't anything fancy, a Canon LIDE60, but it's never let me down. My philosophy always tends to be to try and use equipment from manufacturers who have proven expertise in their chosen area, i.e., I wouldn't buy an HP pc but I would buy a printer from them. Similarly, Canon do seem to have a good reputation with regards to imaging hence my choice of scanner.

Faded photo of my grandmother taken, probably, sometime in the 60's

Pretty much a one touch correction with Corel (Fade Correction)

I got quite involved with bringing old photos back to life, much to the delight of my family, which led me to dabble with colour tinting.

My Great Grandfather at the ripe old age of 99

With a bit of a tint

Those lazy summer days in Cornwall, back in the sixties. Me and Ma

....with a tint

It's pretty easy to do and if anyone wants detailed instructions then feel free to pm me and I'll happily send them over.

Steve

 

[blondebier]

It's pretty easy to do and if anyone wants detailed instructions then feel free to pm me and I'll happily send them over.

They look great Steve. Post away!

 

[GrahamC230K]

What great results. Thanks for sharing.

 

[whitenemesis]

Excellent results Steve! Shows me what should be possible

 

[Steve_B]

Excellent results Steve! Shows me what should be possible

You're welcome.

For anyone else interested in having a play then you can download a trial version of Corel here

Photo Editing Software ? Corel PaintShop Photo Pro X3

The tinting process can be done following these instructions. (My apologies to the forgotten author for not being able to give the credit for these instructions.....it was a long time ago and taken from a very random www)

The underpainting technique is very simple!
1. Open a greyscale image, promote the background to a layer by right-clicking the Background button in the Layer Palette.
2. Add a new raster layer. (Right-click the original layer's layer button and then choose New Raster Layer, or click the Create Layer button on the upper left of the Layer palette.)
3. Drag the bottom layer button to be on top (making the newly added layer the bottom layer).
4. Change the layer Blend Mode for the original image layer (which is now on top) from Normal to Luminance. The Luminance blend mode specifies that this layer contributes only its luminance values to the lower layers. This allows us to add the color to the layer below.
5. Make the lower layer the active layer, then start painting your chosen color with the Paint Brush or Airbrush. As you do this, you still see the upper layer (the image), but you are painting on the layer below. The color of the image changes magically as you paint.
Underpainting does not affect dark parts of the image very well. If your image has dark parts that don't color well with underpainting, copy the dark part, make a new image from the copy, colorize the part as required, then copy the colorized part in the new image, and paste it back into place in the original as a new layer with a normal layer blend mode. If you retained the selection outline in the original image you can use it as a guide to put the colorized part exactly back to where it came from.

 

[Steve_B]

Edited to add that, due to having way too much time on my hands , if you just want the odd photo 'unfaded' and can't be bothered to go through the Corel process, then send it to me via email and I'll be happy to send it back with the process completed. Happy to post the result up on here as well if you want.

Steve

 

[crockers]

Brilliant pictures Steve.