Negative Scanning

[Chris Bové]

‘sup.

I edit programs for PBS. Rule of thumb for scanning – both HD and SD:
300dpi is fine for close-ups of people and items.
600dpi is good for photos of WS of whole-bodies because you’ll probably use Stage Tools to zoom-in to faces.
1200dpi for extreme wide shots that you know you’ll need to zoom in to.
1200 dpi for Negatives and slides because you can fit so many of them onto one scan. THEN open each full scan in Photoshop and crop & name each individual photo.

Note — this is very time consuming because of the slow scanning, but with doc work you’ll often not be able to get a second chance to scan things on-location. IF however you have unlimited access and can re-scan at any time, then go ahead and scan EVERYTHING at 150dpi. Offline editing happens in SD, so why waste the time scanning and rendering until you know which images make the cut?

I have to stop using the phrase “rule of thumb”. Its etymology dates back to medieval times where it was legal to beat your wife with a stick that was no thicker than the diameter of your thumb… just baaad connotations there.

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/-o-o-
`(=)`/…Pixel Monkey
`(___)

A picture says 1000 words. Editors give them meaning.

[David Angell]

Thanks Chris. That was really helpul. I was thinking of scanning them huge, like 4000dpi with a Nikon Coolscan but I guess that’s not worth it.

Who knew “rule of thumb” had to do with wife beating? Must have sucked for the lady of the guy with huge thumbs.