Scanning Workflow - What to save on disk?

[steve_ege]

I have the Nikon 5000 ED, and it does a fantastic job. But to do every frame at 4,000 lines resolution

takes forever, and I am asking myself, with the negatives, why am I scanning whole rolls at that level of

resolution.

 

My question is what pattern do others follow, as to scaning and using digital images for storage. I am

beginning to think that the best approach is to scan entire rolls at low resolution, say 1 MB a file, with no

processing. Then review those images, and if any seem worth keeping, scan those few keepers at high

resolution. I can save all images to disk, as it is easier to view images from a CD than from the actual

negatives themselves. The negatives remain my primary source for the image, not the digital image.

 

Is this the approach that most use? Or is there an advantage to full scanning of all images, say older color

chromes that are starting to lose color, in which case, a full scan is made?

 

Steve

[harryo]

I get a set of proof prints when I get the film developed. I only scan in hi-res the negatives which I will be printing to a larger size...others just left as negatives.

[mendel_leisk]

Steve, I'm currently scanning close to 2000 slides, at 5400 dpi. 16 bit rgb files, once the black edges are cropped, are a bit over 200 megs each. They are family pictures, taken from the mid-70's till around the turn of the century. These initial files are gamma 1.0 with unadjusted histograms. Roughly akin to to a dslr raw file.

 

I initially did some downsampling to save space, but finally, I restarted from the beginning, electing to save all images at full resolution. The only slides I reject are those which are totally fuzzy and obscure disasters, which I chuck. That's maybe one slide every three or four rolls.

 

I've got a couple of internal drives dedicated to scans and digital camera raw files. The scanning project is by far the space hog. The scan files go on one drive, and I regularly mirror the content to the second drive.

 

When free space falls below 17% (Window's limit for defrag). I do a DVD burning project, making two, slow-speed, verified copies, one for use, one for safekeeping. I get *20* files on each DVD. I've done this twice so far, and have exactly 50 disks (times two), containing 1000 files.

 

At the completion of the burn project, I delete all the burned files from the drive, and carry on. One time already, I've restored the lot when I had a change of heart about finished files adjustment. No problems so far.

 

I keep 2 log files (simple text format), one a simple index of what's been burnt to each disk, and one for scanning settings and adjustment made when producing finished jpegs from the raw scan files. I also create a contact sheet jpeg, one per roll.

 

I figure any handwringing over file size is going to seem piddly, a few years down the road, with advances in storage capacity, and I would likely be kicking myself for not using my scanner's full potential.

[robert_martin5]

I batch scan everything at a lower resolution (35mm 2400x3600 pixels, medium format 2400 x 3000 pixels), which is adejuate for a high quality 8x12 for 35mm and 8x10 for medium format. I output 16 bit TIFF files with Adobe RGB profile. After I complete adjustments with Photoshop CS2, I change to 8 bits and save as a TIFF file in Adobe RGB for masters. If I identify an image I want to print larger, I will rescan it at maximum resolution, Adobe RGB profile, 16 bit TIFF file - I don't have very many of these since most of these are family snapshots.

[ronald_moravec1]

I batch scan on my Epson just as I would make a contact sheet using the provided strip holders. Do it at a reasonable resolution and scan the promising ones on a 35mm film scanner. The other option is making the lowest rez file the scanner is capable of making and use 72 DPI and scan every one. Or maybe buy a cd at time of processing or 3x5 prints.

 

If you have a digi cam and create max size files because you do not know the final print size, you just need to find a way to store all those giant files and back up(S). In a few years, you will have a mess on your hands. You will most likely need to move them all to external hard drives and/or cd`s and resize copies to very small size on your computer or another backup device.

 

I vote for film.

[bloosqr]

I have the same scanner and a mirrored 400 gigs of space for just this.. I am saving in 16

bit / 4000 dpi zip compressed tiff which comes to 100 megs a file (which isn't that much

space in the grand scheme of things ), by the time I run out of space the terabyte drives

will be $200 (because scanning is so slow haha :))

 

That said I dont know about you but only 1 in 4 (if that) are worth saving, so I thumbnail/

preview and decide if I want it or not (not necessarily because its pretty, but because it

means something to me ) .. but most of my photos are terrible and blurry and boring :)

 

the other thing you can do is, if you keep your negatives in a negative binder, is dual scan,

batch scan the whole book at low resolution (i.e. 1200 dpi), label the files w/ the binder

section #, page # scan # i.e.

 

germany2001-1-3.jpg

 

since you have the "binder" around, if you ever need the high resolution print, it takes 30

seconds to grab it off the negative .. and more than likely the low resolution scan is much

better for monitor viewing anyway.. (and making a dvd for your relatives etc)

 

you can do this in addition to having the "high resolution" scan of the ones you like..

 

incidentally i do the #ing/binder trick but only for the 100 meg scans .. the ones i dont

like i just thow away ..