OT: Posting pic's help, scanning and adobe photoshop Options

[Mark Henry]

I have a flat bed scanner and adobe photoshop (I also have lview).

My first jpg attempt was OK, but the quality was a bit low. I'm still on learning curve. I have just basic computer skills, you know I'm just above 'puter idiot.

Any tips? shortcuts?

How large (K) of a pic can you post?

Thanks for any help, Mark. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wavey.gif)

[double-a]

i didn't expect that my first post would be related to photoshop, but since i'm a graphic/web designer for over 10 years now, i ought to respond i guess. and i've been using photoshop for nigh onto a decade.

remember that jpeg compression is 'lossy' which means it pulls out information in order to compress the image size. if you scan and save as a .tif or .eps, you'll preserve all the information. if size is an issue, jpeg is a great compression format, you just have to be careful. when you're saving as a jpeg in photoshop, bump the jpeg settings up as high as they'll go.

sometimes if i need a really large image (to post on a bbs for instance), i'll pull the jpeg settings down to level 5 or 6. this enables you to get away with large pixels, and smaller file sizes.

but always save the original in an uncompressed format!

just my two cents.

[Rockaria]

Hello Mark,

First off, What scanner do you own? and what version of Photoshop?

If you have Yahoo Chat, I can quickly walk you through it.

Good sized Internet pic should be around 72dpi 450X350pixels. Photoshop is the software to use, even if its the LE version. Use JPEG for all internet graphics as the quality can get no better on the internet with anything else and the file will be less than 100K and usually around 30-50K.

Let me know,

[Charles Deutsch]

I'm not sure why you would even need Photoshop to scan an image and then save it as a jpeg. I have an HP scanner and I just scan the image (at 300 dpi) and when it's done scanning, HP's software prompts me for the file type that I want to save the image as, I choose .jpg and save it to a folder on my hard drive. Then, I open it with IrfanView and resize it to 800 x 600 pixels and then crop it. Easy as pi.

[Mark Henry]

Photoshop 4.0 and a ScanMagic 600 USB (A4).
I'm scanning 5X7 prints.

Sorry no chat, my dial-up and typing skills are so slow that it would drive you nuts anyways.

My latest try.

[Mark Henry]

Thats a lot better, can I get it sharper?

How does one look up the file size of the finished pic?

I'm importing the pic, blowing it up, saving as a .jpg and then reducing the size.

Is this the right way?

[Rockaria]

Photoshop 4.0 and a ScanMagic 600 USB (A4).
I'm scanning 5X7 prints.

Sorry no chat, my dial-up and typing skills are so slow that it would drive you nuts anyways.

My latest try.

Hello Mark,

Great. That is a good scanner and decent version of Photoshop. Your scan looks just fine. A little Dark but I bet the original was dark as well. The scanner should have a lighten setting. And Photoshop Has a brightness setting and a slew of other setting you can play with to adjust it. You can also ajust the image size under the "Image" - "Image Size" Menu. Here you can see and reset the overall size and resolution of the image.

But like I said. The image you posted looks like a great scan.

Good luck,

[Rockaria]

Thats a lot better, can I get it sharper?

Photoshop has a sharpness feature -

top menu - "Filter" - "Sharpen" - "Sharpen"

Try it once and see if you like the results.

[Mark Henry]

Cool! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

I'll give a try, thanks.

[d914]

I am in no way a graphic designer by I have used cut and paste to gid rid of alot of backgound to literally cut the picture down to size. Has worked well so far.

No photo shop just some shareware

[Rockaria]

Photoshop has a cool Crop feature. There is a crop tool on the main tool bar. It looks like two V's Having sex on their side. (For the lack of a better explanation.) This tool allows you to select the area you want to keep and deletes the rest, reducing the phisical size of your scan.

Cool!