The Right DPI: Why It Matters in Business Document Scanning

The Right DPI: Why It Matters in Business Document Scanning

Scanners may not be as frequently used in offices as printers or desktop computers, but they are very useful for preserving and storing hard copy documents and their contents. When your office receives a document, such as a signed contract from a client, the fine print of an insurance plan, or a purchase receipt (both of which you do not have soft copies of), you may need to scan the documents and keep the digital copies as backup.

You might ask, why not just photocopy them? There are many things to consider here. First, if you need to keep a soft copy instead of another hard copy of the document, you’ll need to have it scanned. Second, if the integrity of the print or the signatures on the paper will be compromised on the copy (if the pen mark is too faint, the writing may not be visible anymore on a photocopy), it will be better to scan it to preserve the entirety of the document. Third, with a soft copy in hand you can always print out precisely similar hard copies of the documents any time you need them. That should cover the convenience of having an instant hard copy from a photocopier.

Take note that two of the reasons above speak of the importance of preserving the integrity of the original documents, that none of them be missing any visible component when reproduced or stored in archives.

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The Benefits of Scanning Slides with a Slide Scanner

Nikon Coolscan 5000

Through the history of photography, slides once played a dominant part in the sharing and storage of photos. In recent years their popularity has declined, but there has been a small and loyal following that has held onto their slides and enjoyed sharing them with family and friends. Sharing these slides is not always easy, and when others are wanting to view and share cherished family memories getting copies of slides is not a simple task for most people.

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How to Profile a Scanner in VueScan

Vuescan

I have written several posts in the past about how I use VueScan to scan in old printed photographs, but never talked about how to profile a scanner in VueScan. While it took some getting used to, I have managed to create a VueScan scanning workflow that works for me. While everyone will have their … Read more

My VueScan Photo Scanning Workflow

VueScan

It has been a while since I have talked about scanning photos to create a digital archive of those photos. As I mentioned in previous posts, I recently purchased a new desktop computer, and have been busy setting it up. I have also installed both the scanner and VueScan on my new desktop, and have enjoyed the increase in performance when archiving my photos.

One thing I have begun to finalize is my workflow for scanning and archiving the photos. After doing some reading online on using VueScan, I have come up with my own workflow. While you can follow my workflow, and change it as you see fit, it is important to remember that a workflow must work for you. The one I outline below works for me.

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Scanning Old Photos? Get VueScan

VueScan

I have been archiving some of the old photos, negatives, and slides that are lying around my house. As with most people, many are located in unlabelled boxes that are not organized in any way. Besides being unorganized, the other issue is that there are no safe copies of the originals, so if I was to lose my house for some reason, such as a fire, then all these memories would be lost.

I decided to scan in as many of these originals as I can, and then back them up as I have done with my digital photos. Unlike digital photos, however, scanning, the photos, slides, and negatives takes more time and effort than simply taking a picture. For the scanning process, I use a tool called VueScan.

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How to Separate Multiple Photos from a Single File in Photoshop

I do quite a bit of scanning whether it be slides, negatives, or printed photographs. For slides and negatives I can easily scan multiple items at one time. Scanner applications are able to save each image to a separate file with slides and negatives.

Scanning multiple photographs is a different story. Many times people would scan multiple photos in at one time and then manually separate them. My scanner software can do that, but with automated settings only. Photoshop includes an automated action that can do this for you after the scan, and straighten your photos automatically.

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48bit Image Colour Issues When Saved as JPEG

When I edit images in Photoshop that are either created in Photoshop, or from a scanner, I usually deal with 48bit images. I like the extra overhead for editing that 48bit images provide. The one problem that I encountered recently was saving the file to a JPEG to be displayed on a Web site. The problem was the colours of the image were off and the image looked dull and had a lack of contrast.

After reviewing my workflow when saving a 48bit to a JPEG to display on the Web I quickly realized my mistake. I explain my mistake in this post and how I corrected it.

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