Paper Photos to PC

[eta34]

I am looking for the best way to transfer my paper photographs to my PC. I assume that using a scanner is the most cost effective way to go. Any better ideas?

Any suggestions on a good scanner? Thanks guys (and girls).

[jarhead995]

I am looking for the best way to transfer my paper photographs to my PC. I assume that using a scanner is the most cost effective way to go. Any better ideas?

Any suggestions on a good scanner? Thanks guys (and girls).

Best scanner would probably be at Kinkos and I can't really think of any other way either...

[DVSmith]

There are services that do this for you. I bought an Epson Perfection V700 Photo Color Scanner that I have been scanning photos, negatives and possitives (color slides) with and I am pretty pleased with the results.

[humgunner]

If you have a digital slr or other high quality digital camera you can simply take a picture of the picture. That's all the scanner does.

[meaty-btz]

If you have a digital slr or other high quality digital camera you can simply take a picture of the picture. That's all the scanner does.

Incorrect.

While both may use CCDs or CMOS for the sensor the function and firmware are vastly different between scanners and DSLRs, taking a photo instead of a scan will not produce usable results unless you have a controlled lighting system and a frame to mount the camera in.

[Farnsworth]

We need to know the photo size as is and desired digital size to tell you how many DPI your scanner will need.

[eta34]

The photos are approximately 3x5. I guess I would want them to be the same.

[Farnsworth]

The photos are approximately 3x5. I guess I would want them to be the same.

So basically you just need a 200-300 DPI scanner.

However you can buy a far nicer scanner for only a little more:

http://www.adorama.com/ICAMP280.html?utm_term=Other&utm_medium=Shopping%20Site&utm_campaign=Other&utm_source=gbase

$50 for that Canon

[j1133s]

The photos are approximately 3x5. I guess I would want them to be the same.

I recently digitized a bunch of photos and negatives (gave up after 300ish). The scanner I bought was an Epson perfection v600. I scaned negatives at highest setting and photos are (if I remember correctly) at 1200 DPI (or was it 2400 DPI). Anything higher than 1200/2400 the image is too large. I.e. for you, you won't need a scanner that does anything higher than that.

The biggest problem was the amount of time it took. Swapping in photos and scanning, etc. individually it is tolerable, but when you have hundreds, it'll take you many, many evenings.

Now I have this large scanner sitting in my office's closet gathering dust. Therefore, I highly recommend you use an outside service unless your photos are of a private nature.

[Flyin Brian]

I recently had to scan some old B&W negatives from the late 50s and early 60s and used www.scancafe.com I am very happy with the results. You mail your photos or whatever media to them, they scan them and post them up on their website in a private area and then send you a link and password. You log in to the site and you can de-select up to 20% of the photos you don't want with no extra charge and then place your order. They check each image and do free color balancing and remove red eyes, etc. and then ship your photos back with a DVD. I just looked on their site and color photos are scanned for $.29 each but if you look around they have coupons available and also if you sign up for their newsletter thing, they will send out a "SALE" announcement about twice a month where they will do 50% off deals.

The reason I used this service is they were the only ones I could find that would scan these types of negatives. They were photos of my Dad when he was 16 through 21 and my Grandparents. I gave the DVD to my Dad for his birthday and most of the photos he had never seen before. Needless to say it was a big hit and he stills talks about it all the time.

[gorn5150]

I have a Canon LiDE 200 scanner. You can get them for about $50 and they do a great job scanning pictures and documents. The thing I like about this scanner is that it works off of the USB port only. No need for wall power. You can take it and a laptop and scan where ever you want to.