Scan print or negs?

[Jazzy]

Hi,

I usually scan prints because I don't have a scanner, so I use the scanners at my school.
When I scan the pictures I experience that they loose sharpness and details. I have seen some scans on flickr, which really look nice, but I can't get those results. Is it because I don't use software sharpness?

Here is some details:

4x6 print
Black&White
Flatbed scanner at 600 dpi, 48 bit color
Adjust contrast and level in software
Compress to jpeg


I was thinking scanning negs would get better results, but I never tried it.

What do you do? Scan print or negs?


-Jiazi

 

[iml]

I scan negs. Either way you need to apply a bit of unsharp masking, how much depends.

Ian

 

[ruediger]

I second Ian, whatever you scan, you will have to do a bit of sharpening. Also if you down sample for the internet, the last step should be an USM step.

I scan the prints, because the prints is what I am after and I do not want to spend too much time adjusting the negative scans to match the look of the print. I scan of the print usually only requires a little contrast adjustment and you are there. However, I you print bigger than the scanner can handle and if your prints are usually straight prints from the negative, scanning the negative might be not too much time. But in the case of toned prints or even lith prints, starting from a negative scan might be a bit complicated, if possible at all.

ciao
-- Ruediger

 

[Bike Tourist]

Let's see . . .

6" long dimension x 600 dpi = 3600 pixels

1½" long dimension x 4000dpi (Nikon scanner) = 6000 pixels

Plus the printing/enlarging process onto paper has degraded the image to start with. I'd put my money on the scanned film image.