October 2002 — Special Feature
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Educator's Review: Pacific Image Electronics' PrimeFilm 1800AFL
10 Scanning Tips
- Take sharp pictures. The better your picture, the better your scan.
- Make sure you have enough light, because bright images scan better.
- Don't get too close to your subject. Give yourself space for cropping later.
- Use negative film since it is more forgiving of mistakes and the scanner can scan the entire roll at once, while slides must be scanned individually.
- Tell your processor not to cut the negatives into strips, so the scanner can process the entire roll at once.
- Blow the dust off the film before scanning - clean film scans better.
- Reset your settings when you switch film batches.
- Experiment with the scanner controls. Many images can be improved and you cannot hurt the image by experimenting.
- Give the scanned file a meaningful name so you can find it later.
- Save your scans in JPG format so that you can preview them with your Internet browser.
Tip: Photo CDs
If you only occasionally need electronic images, there is a better and cheaper way to get them than a scanner or a digital camera. When you have your film developed, just ask for a photo CD. The CD will have low-resolution JPG files that are perfect for e-mailing as well as posting to the Web. It will also have high-resolution JPG files that are of higher quality than those produced by most digital cameras.
