I've always heard 300dpi as the "magic number" of digital reproduction at an
exhibition design firm I used to work for. A finer resolution certainly
won't hurt, but 300 allows for good reproductions without eating away too
much memory space. The size of the original and final copies should dictate
what resolution you are using, but a good sized original (i.e. anything
larger than a 3x5 photo print) at 300dpi can let you print pretty big
without looking too grainy.

Sorry, I lost the original post so I'm not sure what your particular
situation is. If you're looking to digitize an entire collection for future
use, 300dpi is a safe number. If you just need to do a "one-off" print,
start at 300, make the scan, blow it up on screen and see what it looks
like. If you think it's too grainy then go to 450 or 600 and check it again.
There is a point where the resolution is so fine that increasing the
resolution will make no noticeable change.

Unfortunately, Kathy is correct about ink-jet printers. They have their
places, but good quality image reproduction is not one of them. Make sure
you play with the printer's settings to get the best quality print, or use a
different color profile besides the default/automatic setting. There is a
LOT of trial and error involved, so be prepared to spend a lot of time and
waste a lot of ink and paper before you get a copy you're happy with. Once
you do get that copy, make a log of the printer's settings - you can refer
to it next time you have to do a similar job.

Hope this helps!

George Garner



|-----Original Message-----
|From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
|Behalf Of <Kathy Rapp>
|Sent: Tuesday, September 24, 2002 10:13 AM
|To: [log in to unmask]
|Subject: Re: reproduction quality of digital images - was schedule of
|fees
|
|
|Greetings all,
|
|In a message dated 9/24/02 8:45:24 AM, [log in to unmask] writes:
|
|<< using an inkjet printer.  What dpi isconsidered optimal for
|scanning >>
|
|I use 600 dpi, and this lets me print very good quality pictures.
|
|An inkjet will NOT reproduce as high a quality a print as a
|laser printer
|will. It will also, not reproduce all the colors correctly. I
|am having a
|very hard time getting mine to reproduce a very light shade of
|brown. It ends
|up blueish.
|
|I look forward to hearing what others say.
|
|Kathy.
|OCR Specialist
|Don't retype it, OCR it!
|Taking the printed word and placing it into an editable format.
|http://www.katscan-ocr.com
|
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