Digitizing Tips
Any tips/advice on going about having slides digitized commercially (Snappy Snaps and such places)?
I have just a handful of slides that need to be converted to digital files. Ultimately these files will be used for poster art. Any tips on what I should be asking the shop assistant or what they will be asking me would be very helpful.
I was going to suggest you sending the slides off to Scan Cafe, but since you only have a few, I can understand you wanting to get them done locally. Really, there is not all that much to be asking. The shop may ask you how large you intend to print the resulting scans. This helps them determine what resolution to use in making the initial scans. In other words, they may decide to scan at 2000 DPI rather than 4000 DPI depending on final output size, but they will, (or should), know what resolution in which to scan. So don’t just say you want them for “poster art”. You need to specify an actual size, such as 20 x 30 inches or whatever. Keep in mind, the higher the resolution in which the scan, the higher the cost to you.
I don’t know where you are intending to take the slides. If you are going to a really good high end lab, they may ask if you want DRUM SCANS. These are extremely high quality scans that often cost as much as $50 PER SCAN, again depending on output size. A slightly lower quality scan on a Sigma, or Noritsu, or Nikon scanner will cost much less and likely still give you the quality you want. If all they offer are FLATBED scans like you see in kiosks and such places, I would not even consider using their service.
You may have a choice between JPEG or TIFF files. Tiff is an uncompressed file, but is MUCH MUCH larger than JPEG, and you will likely need to know how to convert to JPEG before having the photos printed. So in most cases, JPEG files will be fine.
Digital ICE is also another option they may offer you. This is a software based scanning program that is used to automatically remove dust and scratches from the slides. In most cases it works very well and saves lots of time in post processing trying to “clean up” the scan. So I would suggest you do get the DIGITAL ICE if offered.
Then depending on the lab, they may offer color correction or saturation enhancement if needed. If it is a good PRO lab, it is again usually best to get this done also.
I am not familiar with the work of Snappy Snaps as I am in the US and I believe Snappy is UK based. They may or may not do a good job on this. If they do not ask you any of the above questions, I would be very suspicious of having the work done there, but again, I cannot make accurate comments on their work.
steve
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