Is 1200 DPI TIFF good for archival purposes?

[francis_dantuono]

<p>When I have my photos scanned, the guy who scans/restores them does them usually at 1200 DPI, in the TIFF format. He also saves the original non-restored image as a 1200 DPI JPeg. I am wondering if this is a good format/DPI for archival purposes - where the photos can say be reprinted (or even just viewed) in 50 or so years, or easily changed from one file medium to another without data loss? The way photos of Presidents from as long ago as the Matthew Brady era can be viewed without general loss today.<br /><br />The resolutions for said photos usually end somewhere between 2000 x 2000 up to in some cases 7000 x 10,000 in resolution, depending on the original size of the photograph(s).</p>

[blumesan]

<p>If you are scanning <strong>photos (prints)</strong> that should be adequate for later viewing. For later reprinting, I would certainly prefer to scan the negatives. Where are the negatives?</p>

[john_a._mozzer]

<p >That's exactly the resolution that I use when scanning reflective copy (photographic prints, printed ephemera, etc.) on my Epson flatbed scanner. I like to express that resolution as 1200 pixels per inch at 100 percent, considering possible future print size is not applicable.</p>

[francis_dantuono]

<p>@Mike - The negatives, outside of one silver nitrate negative from 1945, all are lost to history. My family never realized the importance of negatives sadly. <br /><br />Many of the more important photos we likely never had negatives of - these include many 1960s-1970s era Driver License Photos and Work IDs of my grandfather, which are in essence headshots - thumb size. These thumb sized prints were scanned at 2400 and saved as TIFFs.<br>

All other prints - mostly 1930s - 1960s era b/w and color Polaroid prints - were saved at 1200 DPI/TIFF.<br>

What would you suggest to do to create "Museum Quality" scans of prints? I simply want to be able to view them, or be able to reprint them at the same level of quality, in 50 years; and have my descendants be able to reprint these photos at the same quality in centuries to come.<br /><br />Am I on the right track?</p>

[blumesan]

<p>Francis-<br>

Pity about the negatives. I suspect you are not alone in this plight.<br>

As for later viewing the 1200 dpi/tiff scans should be OK. For later making high quality prints, depending on the size of the prints you wish, I would guess that a higher resolution scan may be beneficial.</p>

[Spearhead]

<p>The DPI on the saved jpeg doesn't matter at all. What does matter is how many pixels there are, i.e., pixels x by pixels y. The DPI setting has no effect at all on the saved image. The scan DPI is different and does affect the number of pixels you have. That he is saying it's being saved at 1200 DPI is a little problematic as it indicates he doesn't understand.</p>

[francis_dantuono]

<p>I should be more specific - as per my order, the photos are <em>scanned</em> at 1200 DPI. Larger size prints at 600 to 1200 on case by case basis.<br /> Example - a medium size B/W print from the 1930s was scanned with the following values:</p>

<p>Program: Adobe Photoshop CC 2014<br /> Bit depth 24<br /> Color Representation: Uncalibrated<br /> Resolution Unit: 2<br /> 1200 DPI Horizontal Resolution<br /> 1200 DPI Vertical Resolution<br />Width: 7,361 Pixels<br />Height: 11,150 Pixels<br /> This was saved as uncompressed JPeg, and a restored version was done as a TIFF.<br>

TIFF version has a width of 7384 X 11,105 Pixels.<br>

<br /> <br /> <br /> Smaller photos are scanned at 2400 DPI.</p>

[francis_dantuono]

<p>Another example:<br /><br />1967 Polaroid Land Camera Photo (Color/Restored):<br />Bit depth 24<br />Color Representation: Uncalibrated<br />Resolution Unit: 2<br />1200 DPI Horizontal Resolution<br />1200 DPI Vertical Resolution<br>

Compression: Uncompressed<br />Width: 5063 Pixels<br />Height: 4039 Pixels<br /><br />TIFF format.<br /><br /><br /></p>

[john_a._mozzer]

<p>To me, key thing is whether the scanning at 1200dpi is being done at 100 percent. If so, then it is the same thing as saying the original is being scanned at 1200 pixels per inch. Your pixel dimensions make me suspect you are okay.</p>

[steven_clark]

<p>I've heard a good rule of thumb that even contact prints really only carry about 1200ppi of information. I thought I'd repeat that here.</p>