Scanning resolution?

ok ive just managed to 'loan' the family airloom photographs!! about 400 in all,(going back to my great great grandparents) and I have the task of scanning them and putting them on dvd...and probably printing some of the better ones.
What i need to know is what is the best resolution for scanning them? my scanner can go up to 9600 dpi. is it best to scan that hi (as some will need pp) or is it best to scan, at say 300 for the photo printouts?(i believe its okay to show them at less than 300dpi on dvds...help needed

thanks phil

300 dpi is fine for Photoshopping, but if the photos are not that large in size, you could scan at 600 dpi. The size of the scan files will grow, of course, and by more than double (if you scan an 8x10 photo at 600 dpi it may be a 100+MB file). Save them as Photoshop documents to work with them, not jpg files. Four hundred photos will take quite some time just to do the scans...I don't envy the task!

thanks nick..im sorta looking forward and not at the same time..luckyly ive got a fortnight off

I would recommend scanning at 600DPI as a minimum. That will provide you with images that could be further cropped and still be printed with good resolution.

Even 300 dpi is overkill, unless the original is very small and/or you need to do some serious cropping. I rarely find any advantage to going higher than 150 dpi; with my "classic" H-P flatbed I can enlarge/crop with the scanner, so there's usually no need to generate huge files with high dpi settings.

Have a read through this web site - all you need to know about scanning (just make sure you have 2hrs set aside!!!)

http://www.scantips.co​m/

In a nut shell you don't get much detail when you scan at 600dpi rather than 300dpi. So stick to 300dpi. If you looking to reprint or edit the pictures then maybe scan at 600dpi (but still there is not going to be any more detail!!!)

Just keep in mind this all applies to colour images only - B&W and negatives are a different story altogether.

thanks andy so whats the story with b/w 60% are b/w..help

Did you manage to have a read of the web site?

This is a direct extract

“B&W prints have only one emulsion layer, and might sometimes yield more detail when scanned above 300 dpi. That is nothing that I care to debate, but in particular, old historic B&W prints were often contact prints from large negatives (no enlargement at all), which may yield more detail when scanned up at 400 dpi or more, assuming size is needed.”

Hope it helps – I don’t envy your job – I have a load of prints and negatives I keep putting off – just can’t get the inspiration going

andy thanks a million for that info..well started yesterday did the 1st hundred..then nightmare..comp crashed b4 saving (what a waste of a day) well learned to save after each 10 scans (only prob it starts at 0001 again.so have to rename the files as i go!!!! this fortnight is going to go by sooooooo quick.

I have worked on this same task (I say worked on not completed)...I began scanning at 300dpi....then I came asross some photos my dad took on the island of Iwo Shima where the Japaneese contingent for the surrender of WWII landed before proceeding to I beleive the USS Missouri for final proceedings....These were tiny photos , like 2"X3"...I wanted to blow them up and tried them at 5X7 or close to that. The photos didnt look to good, so I just tried for the heck of it at 600 dpi...I could not beleive the difference...all the experessions of misery , discontent and resentment were visable and obvious on their faces.... Now I figure if I'm going to take the time to save these, then I don't want to loose any details for future generations...I tried higher res, but found that the grain size of the photos kicked in at about 600 with no noticable improvement above that...so now I try and stay at 600, unless the photos are lousy anyway , then I drop back to 300 to save time....good luck!

thanks peachman ill bear that in mind for the smaller pics..gonna start again tommorow

I would say it depends on what you want to do with the images. If its for 6x4 printing 300 is fine but if you need larger 600 is probably a better choice.

Make some tests and See what fits your needs.

600 dpi at 8bit TIFF.

I define required resolution by target print size. 100% image @ 300dpi target printing is more than sufficient IMO.