Originally posted by jab119:
I would scan them in at around 300 DPI (1200 dpi will give you a 15 mb file or greater) this is an easy sie to work with and they scan in pretty quick. |
If you are trying to restore old archival photos, I highly recommend scanning them at the highest native resolution your scanner has (1200 dpi) and spend the time to work on the big file (actually, on a copy).
Every time I've worked on a lower-res version so it would be faster, I've later regretted not having the larger file to print, and been stuck having to do all the work over again. You might want to make a real low-res copy to try out tone/contrast adjustments and such, but for the retouching, I'd use the big file.
Another reason to edit the biggest possible file is that every element is then made up of more pixels, so you should have more detail to work with from the start. Try making the same scan at 300 dpi and at 72 dpi and look at them each at 100% magnification and compare!
I usually clone/paint the repairs onto one or more new layers, leaving the original data untouched. I've got one modified photo which ended up with about 18 pixel and adjustment layers, and is about 5 times the size of the final flattened (uncompressed) image. Save often.
If you don't have one, I can't recommend highly enough getting a tablet/stylus combo for this type of work -- even the smallest/cheapest one from Wacom (should be under $100) will make a huge difference in both the quality and efficiency of this task. |
