Five tips to prepare your photo. And 5 tips to get the best scan from the method you choose.
Preparing your photo for scanning:
- Take your photo out of its photo album or remove it from behind glass to remove reflection UNLESS the photo is stuck to the glass.
- If the photo is stuck to glass, scan with the glass. It is easier to remove glare than reconstruct the photo where it is torn when you remove the glass.
- Remove any dust particles from the image. Wiping the photo with a dust-free lens cloth works well.
- Don’t use a paper towel or tissue because they can leave more particles on your photo.
- Never use water or a cleaning solvent.
Home scanning tips:
- Set scan to 24bit RGB color, even if the photo is black and white
- Turn off all auto-correct options and filters
- Be sure to scan at 600 DPI
- Preview your scan and crop to remove any unwanted background
- Save the file as a TIFF to avoid any image comprehension
Retail Photo Kiosk scanning tips:
- Scan prints up to 8×10 size (you can go slightly larger at Walgreens).
- File output is a jpeg at 300 DPI.
- Preview your image before finalizing the scan and crop to remove unwanted background.
- The auto-correct features and filters may be turned on; use the editing mode to double check that all filters are turned off.
- The kiosk workflow assumes that you are ordering prints; be sure to order a USB, CD, or DVD to get a copy of the scan file.
10 best scanning tips for Mobile:
- Place your photo on a flat surface with a contrasting, even-colored background.
- Position your camera directly over the photos. Don’t tilt your phone while scanning.
- Get the smartphone lens close enough to the image with as little margin as possible – but you should still be able to see all four corners.
- Take the photo in a well-lit space. Natural morning light from a nearby window works best. Avoid direct sunlight as it can change the look and color of your photographs.
- Do not use a flash.
Specialty Photo Retailer scanning tips:
- Scan film, slides, and prints of any size.
- Identify your intended use of the image so that photo retailer can determine the file size you need
- Identify the media where you would like the image file saved: USB, CD, cloud drive