Scanning and printing from paper copy prints

[blades]

<p>Hi guys,<br>

I have a number of prints, standard size (small) that a friend gave me, he no longer has the files and i would just love to get some larger sizes taken off. I was wondering if they are not of good enough quality to be enlarged as they are, is it possible to scan them at a higher quality dpi etc and then get copies enlarged.<br>

Hope this is not to much of a dumb question, i still stuggle with what files can be enlarged etc</p>

[Ed_Ingold]

<p>Prints contain no more than 300 ppi of information. You can scan them at 600 ppi just to be safe, without creating an over-bloated file. However, you suffer a great loss of quality if you attempt to enlarge them, regardless of the scanning (or resampled) resolution. Whether you attempt to do so largely depends on the contents and, perhaps, sentimental value.</p>

[blades]

<p>I was hoping that wouldnt be the case but i thought as much thanks for the response Edward</p>

[stsva]

<p>I've had reasonably good success in scanning old prints, processing them in Photoshop Elements, and doing moderate enlargements. A lot depends on the quality and size of the print compared to what you want to do with them. Here's a before/after comparison.</p>

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[stsva]

<p>The "Before" was an old 110 film print, probably about 2X3. Here's a smaller version of the "After," processed to produce a 4X6 image.</p>

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[stsva]

<p>Note that the "before" is not really as sharp as it appears in my first post above; reducing the image from the original 12MB TIF scanned image to a 700 pixel-wide image for posting here makes it look a lot sharper than it really was.</p>

[pbalko]

<p>Agree with Sam. I routinely scan smaller prints, process in PSE and print to 4x6 or even 5x7. The old folks in the family seem satisfied. Don't set your expectations too high.</p>

[stsva]

<p>Here's another before/after. This was scanned from an old B&W print, probably about 3X3 or so. The after is processed to make a 5X7 print at about 300 dpi.</p><div></div>

[stsva]

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[blades]

<p>Many thanks Sam, great examples too, ill get onto it this weekend</p>