posted on October 2, 2000 12:18:08 PM
i am useing adobe photo deluxe to scan my images for ebay. is there anything better out there and does anyone have scanning tips. i do not want to make things look better than what they are but would like the scans to be as true as posible.
my scanner is a hp4200c
posted on October 2, 2000 12:29:53 PMi am useing adobe photo deluxe to scan my images for ebay.
I believe Photo Deluxe is actually image editing software, from which you can initiate a scan. When you do so, your scanner software pops up with a scan preview area, and various settings that may be adjusted. At least, that's how it works for me.
The only tip I can offer (and it's probably not as helpful as you would like) is to just try out the various controls to see what kinds of results you get (taking notes of the settings!), until you get what you're looking for. Practice makes perfect, and all that...
posted on October 2, 2000 01:06:24 PM
I use Adobe, too. One thing you might try is when it asks your scans destination, click "printed", not "web". Much higher resolution on the scan.
posted on October 2, 2000 01:23:13 PM
breinhold -- I've heard that HP makes very good scanners, so you should be off to a good start.
IMHO, a primary thing to figure out is how to produce a file size that is reasonable and will download quickly. When using a scanner, be careful not to set the resolution too high. Some people will say 100 dpi. I don't totally understand the mechanics of this but I never set my scanner software for more than 200 or 300 dpi.
The editing software that comes with the HP may be sufficient for your needs. Whatever software you use, take care to crop the photo to eliminate un-needed background, making the object take most of the space. Anything outside of the for-sale object is a time-waster for the viewer.
When you're done with all the editing and you save the file, check the file size in Windows Explorer. If it's more than 30-60 kb, see if you can reduce it. Check to see what your JPEG compression is. The higher the compression, the smaller the file size, but also the quality of the pic is affected. Try 40% compression and work up and down from there until you find what suits you.
A tip I picked up from a web design book: You can set up your HTML so the text is readable while the pics download, even if the pics are "ahead of" the text. You insert info that tells the page how much space to set aside for the pic. For instance, here's the HTML for one of my pictures in an ad:
When my ad loads, there is a box of the correct size outlined for the picture, and the text is visible immediately to keep the buyer busy while the pic downloads.
Hopefully, the software has a good "sharpen image" feature (this is where my Visioneer falls short)so if the scan is a little out of focus, you can fix it.
Any software you use that has a lot of features is going to involve a serious learning curve, but once you get going on it, you'll be OK. Maybe set aside some time to just play with the different editing features, without being under a listing deadline.
posted on October 2, 2000 01:27:31 PM
Picking web for your destination is the correct choice for pictures you'll be using on auctions. Making the resolution higher won't make your on screen picture look any better, but it will make it larger in file size which will take longer to load on the page.
One thing I have learned when scanning, make any size adjustments after the "preview" scan and before the "final" scan. Resizing after will more than likely give you a fuzzy looking picture. This applies when you need the final picture to be larger than the "real life" size, as for a piece of jewelry. You should have this ability using the "preview" scan window that pops up when you pick "acquire picture" or "acquire scan" in Adobe. Look for an Options button in this first window.
Playing with your scanner, and choosing different settings is the best way to figure out what works the best.
posted on October 2, 2000 01:56:26 PM
I haven't had any problem scanning to printed, and I always resize and crop the heck outta my photos. OTH, I use Andale, which like AW, displays a fixed size photo in the listing. Using the full size photo in your listing may cause slow downloads.
One thing the site explains very well is how to decide what resolution to scan at depending on how you are going to output your scans. Don't expect to absorb the information there in just a few minutes, as the site is very large. But, for a good reference, it's a great site to bookmark.
posted on October 2, 2000 03:38:09 PM
Try scanning at a high resolution and then sizing the picture using pixels instead of inches and reducing the resolution to 72 dpi. Try to keep the pictures 450 pixels high and 350 pixels wide. This should give you a file size of around 30K and the resolution is fine for viewing on screen. Loads quickly looks good.
When taking digital photographs do the same thing. Photgraph at the highest resolution and reduce it when editing.
The question comes when editing. I only use the button on adobe that automatically adjusts the color and then manually adjust the brightness and contrast to match the actual item. A number of my limited (35) feedback states "item exactly as described" so I guess I'm not falsley enhancing the images.
posted on October 2, 2000 09:14:06 PM
don't forget your scanning software setting for 'descreen'. If you scan reproduced materials (like magazine photos, or postcards), you need to select one of the descreen options to prevent interference patters which show up as cross-hatching.
I use Irfanview to take my jpgs and compress them. makes those files SMALL = faster loading and better use of hosting space.
my vista-scan scanner software lets me set it up to scan straight into irfanview - I don't bother with adobe. for many of you, adobe is running vista-scan, and IMHO that is overkill.
1. Do NOT scan to JPG, because the quality declines as you edit and save. Scan to TIFF or something, edit, then save as JPG.
2. Do as much of the work with the scanner control screen as possible. It usually lets you crop, adjust brightness and color balance, and correct "gamma" (a trick that lets you enhance the mid-ranges without losing the shadows).
3. Scan things with similar characteristics: all the light covered books, all the real dark books, etc. so you minimize
4. PLAY WITH THE SETTINGS! Pick opne setting at a time and move it to each end of its range to see what it does.
5. TAKE NOTES! Whether it worked or not, write down the settings and what it did.
I scan at 300 DPI, but reduced % (30-50%) which with MY scanner works nicely on books. The end goal should be something about 300-450 pixels maximum dimension.
Learn to use the enhance filters: "unsharp mask" is the best thing for enhancing crispness of detail, but it works differentley for each photoediting program.
