There are a lot of things to think about when looking for a scanner and it can be really confusing. I just researched and purchase a scanner for our institutions and it really came down to recommendations. We went with the Epson Perfection 4490 and I've really enjoyed it. It's a great scanner for multiple formats as we are scanning slides, transparencies and photographs. It's actually one of the cheaper scanners in the Epson Perfection line but we really couldn't see much difference in specs between this one and the higher priced models. It comes with Photoshop Elements which is a good basic editing software but we are using Photoshop CS just because we already had it and it allows more flexibility for editing. Another thing which will impact what specs to look for in a scanner is why you are scanning. Are you scanning for preservation or access? As far as what resolution, the best practice seems to be a resolution which will create a scan of 3000-5000 pixels on the longest side for your master file. Basically if you have an 8x10 photograph you would scan it at between 300-500 dpi/ppi, if you had a 4x6 photograph the resolution would be 500-800 dpi/ppi. Then depending on what you are using the scans for (access, thumbnails, reproduction) you can resize the images to a smaller dpi. Some great books I found during my research which have a lot of information about digitization, scanning and scanners are:
Koelling, Jill Marie. Digtial Imaging: A practical approach. New York: AltaMira
Press. 2004.
Sitts, Maxine K. Handbook for digital projects: a management tool for preservation and access.
Larissa Busch
The James W. Washington, Jr. and
Janie Rogella Washington Foundation
Seattle, WA
On 3/22/07, laura abrams <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> We are looking to purchase a new scanner and don't know where to begin.
> With such a large range of products available, I was wondering if anyone can
> let me know some information about what to look for in a scanner? Our main
> use for this will be scanning historic photographs. In your experience, when
> scanning photos what is the best resolution to use?
>
> Thanks for any advice you can offer.
> Laura Abrams
> Cohasset Historical Society
>
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