Perfect Size and DPI for scanning analouge pictures

Hey folks,
yet another question.

I have a Epson Perfection V600 Photo.

What is the best Size and DPI to scan color picture from the analouge age?


thanks rene

For scans from the platen two things determine the scan resolution - the density of the scan sites on the scanbar, which is fixed and on a good quality scanner is usually 1200 ppi and the distance the bar moves between scans, which is variable and usually can be set to 150, 300, 600 or 1200 ppi. So if you set 300, for instance, one dimension is scanned at 300 and the other dimension is scanned at 1200 and then resampled to 300 ppi. For general use the scanner software resampling is generally good enough. The resolution you set should be according to the size of the scanned photo and what you want to do with the digital file. If you want another print the same size, scan at 300. If you want a bigger print, set a higher resolution. For scans where I want maximum quality, however, I think I can do better resampling than the scanner software, so I scan at 1200 and then resample it later.

@tzalman, thanks for the fas reply. Well I want them to be secured for future decades. Maybe they might be printed later on but probably they will just be stored on my computer and in my database