35mm colour slides

[Aud]

I have scanned a 35mm colour slide at 300 ppi onto my computer in the hope of turning it into a picture I can then print. When I bring it up in Elements it is all quite big pixels.What am I doing wrong?

[Juergen D]

If you want to use the scan for a 4 x 6 print, you would have to go to at least 1200 PPI when scanning.

Juergen

[ljameso1]

For larger prints scan in at maximum your scanner will allow because it comes in at the actual size of the slide and will be enlarged quite a bit.

[CASparky]

I have scanned a 35mm colour slide at 300 ppi onto my computer in the hope of turning it into a picture I can then print. When I bring it up in Elements it is all quite big pixels.What am I doing wrong?

I would ask are you using a (flat bed) scanner that has a slide attachment, or just trying to scan the slide laying right on the scanner glass?

A number of years ago I purchased a higher priced flatbed scanner with a slide attachment for scanning slides. After many hours of non-success, I purchased a slide reader (as the pros use), and it returns SUPER results!!
(I went from maybe a resolution of 600 to a resolution of 4800!! Absolutely no comparison!!)
Yes they are more expense, however I have several thousand slides to process. One hidden advantage - the F/B scanner held four slides, however one needed to crop and scan one at a time (and no correction software), conservatively time wise 60 seconds per slide, plus loading four slides after each batch. The Reader does a slide every 40 seconds, and the correction software is SUPER!!
If you are serious about scanning slides Google 'Slide Readers'.
Lou

[kimmer]

I googled for Slide Readers and got everything from a battery operated, hand held gadget that I used in the 60s to view one slide at a time to meg $$ medical slide readers.

Could you please tell me the name of yours, that way I will know when I am on the right track?

Thanks,
Kimmer

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

I have scanned a 35mm colour slide at 300 ppi onto my computer in the hope of turning it into a picture I can then print. When I bring it up in Elements it is all quite big pixels.What am I doing wrong?
Hi Sparky,

You have a number of ways to go in this area. First, and the best way is to get a "film scanner," the device that was called a slide reader in another post. I have a Nikon Coolscan 4000 ED and it works great. See the Nikon page: http://www.nikonusa.com/template.php?cat=1&grp=98 for their current models. This is the most expensive route.

Next, you could buy a flatbed scanner with a slide copying feature. I would avoid the ones where you lay the slides on the glass in favor of the ones where you insert the slide into a separate slot on the side of the machine.

Finally, you can get a slide holder for a DSLR camera. It goes over the front of a lens and allows you a fairly good reproduction. B&H has one for $89.95.

Cheers,

Bob

[NickLewis]

I have scanned a 35mm colour slide at 300 ppi onto my computer in the hope of turning it into a picture I can then print. When I bring it up in Elements it is all quite big pixels.What am I doing wrong?Hi Aud,

The reason this didn't work is that you didn't scan at a high enough resolution. 300ppi is the resolution you require to print reasonable looking printed output, not what you need to scan in.

When you view a 35mm slide on screen, you're probably viewing it at something like 100 ppi on a modern monitor. If you've blown it up to perhaps 12" across the long edge as seen on screen, that direction needs to contain 12"x100 ppi = 1200 pixels. Your 35mm slide is 1.5" across the long edge, so if you scanned it at 300 ppi, that corresponds to 450 pixels, not much more than a third of what you need for viewing at that size. So you need to scan at a higher resolution. You don't say what you're using, but I imagine it can go quite a lot higher than 300ppi. You need about 900 ppi for on screen viewing.

If you want to print out, then you need about 300ppi in the printed output. So, if you want to print a 6x4, you need 6"x300ppi, or 1800 pixels. As the slide is still 1.5", you need to scan at 1800/1.5=1200 poi, which is what Juergen mentioned. If you want to enlarge bigger, you need more pixels still.

There's quite a lot of good stuff about scanning and the resolutions you need to use on this site: http://www.scantips.com/

Nick

[CASparky]

Hello Kimmer,
I ended up purchasing a Nikon COOLSCAN V ED.
It does not have the magazine feature, however with old slides, I deem that a plus (regardless of the cost difference). (My slides date back to the '40's.)
I would suggest you visit the NiKon website and compare features of the current models. If I recall, there are a few other brands, however I also found there are large variations in spec numbers. Research, research, research!
If you would like, PM me and we can email questions/comments?

Hello Bob,
Possibly you misunderstood my post, as I had gone from an 'slide adapter equipped flatbed scanner' to a (Nikon) Slide Reader.
Would you mind a PM with my email address for a discussion on your location?

Thanks Guys! Cheers, Lou

[Aud]

Hello everyone, My scanner is an Epson Perfection 2580 Photo and I have found that the resolution goes up to 12800. I didnt dare use that so I settled for 3200 and 4800. Both pictures have turned out very well. I only want to do a few slides so that will do me without buying more gear. Thankyou for your help. Aud

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

Hello Bob,
Possibly you misunderstood my post, as I had gone from an 'slide adapter equipped flatbed scanner' to a (Nikon) Slide Reader.
Would you mind a PM with my email address for a discussion on your location?

Thanks Guys! Cheers, Lou

Hi Lou,

Feel free to send a PM, but consider asking in open forum. You never know when others might want to know the same thing, but did not think to ask. In addition to PM I post my e.mail address at the bottom of every posting. Yes, I get a lot of junk, but my "bit trash bin" is huge and it is easy to haul out the garbage:).

Cheers,

Bob

[CASparky]

Hello everyone, My scanner is an Epson Perfection 2580 Photo and I have found that the resolution goes up to 12800. I didnt dare use that so I settled for 3200 and 4800. Both pictures have turned out very well. I only want to do a few slides so that will do me without buying more gear. Thankyou for your help. Aud

Hello Aud...

Glad to hear you did a little digging, and had success also!
I was not nearly as fortunate on the HP Scanjet I have. For being a 'flatbed slide scanner', it leaves loads of maybes, most of which just are not there.
One mode is fair in doing images, the OCR mode works best, otherwise it's 'not as promised'!
Cheers, Lou

[Aud]

Hello Lou, Whilst I was successful in the end it was only with help from the village and poking about myself. There was nothing in the way of help re scanning slides etc from the literature which came with the scanner.Epson must think beginners don't buy scanners. Aud.