Do you enlarge image from scanner or software?

stman

Just wondering how some people scan their coins. I can't seem to enlarge from the scanner. Have to do it in the software. So I have to use higher resolution to make it decent. Is this how most people do it? Thanks for any comments!!!

Stman

clw54

300 dpi will give you a pretty big image. You don't need much larger than that, unless you're trying to show an overdate, diagnostic, or something that requires a closeup.

RotatedRainbows

I always scan using a high resolution (1200 - 2400 true optical resolution) and then reduce the picture down to the size I want. Doing it this way always gives me a crisper clearer true color image, never scan using a higher resolution then the scanner was designed to use.

ClarkOfKent

I agree with RotatedRainbows... always scan at a high resolution and then reduce. If you do it the other way around, you're just making the image bigger... which means it's gonna get blurrier. You can't add detail where it never existed in the first place. I've noticed a lot of eBay auctions like that. The have a place to click to see an enlargement, and it's the same image... just bigger and fuzzier.

Clark

Edited to add:
I usually scan at 600dpi, and end up reducing to 20 to 33% to get it to a good posting size. When I save as a .JPG file, I usually select a compression quality of 8 (on a scale of 12). This keeps the quality decent and the file size manageable.

stman

Thanks for the help, but I'm a little confused. When I scanned in at 600 it was too high. The software default is 150. It scans in for a preview at 150. I could change it. So I change it to 300 it rescans it again at the 300. And seems to work good. I tried scanning at 600 but way to crisp.

So are you saying to scan at 600 and accept it than change it?

Thanks for the help.

Stman

ClarkOfKent

stman,

The reason I scan at 600dpi is so that I have a permanent hi-res copy of my coin. But, as you have found, it's way too large to post. The dpi comes into play if you intend to print it out... the photo software will take this into account and print it at it's original size. In that case, the higher the res the better.

However, regardless of how many dpi the image is in your photo software, in low-end software, such as Paint.. and also in your web browser, it will be displayed at either 72 or 75 dpi. So, to display a scan in a post at the original size you'd have to reduce it to 75dpi. You lose a lot of detail, just because the dots on your computer monitor are a lot larger than what your eye can discern. I would recommend a minimum of 150dpi to really show the details of your coin on your monitor.

Hope this helps.... I've got a few margaritas in me.

Clark

Dog97

This was 100 dpi sized at 300% straight from the scanner without using editing software:

coppercoins

In using scanners/digital cameras for the purpose of imaging coins for the internet and for printing, it is overkill to use any higher DPI than the max resolution of your printer, which would be noted in the specs of the printer...most are 300DPI max. I use 300DPI in doing the work that I do, and it comes out fine. Anything higher than this would simply waste disk space, and when you do thousands of images per year, this can add up fast.

stman

Hey dog97, that coin you posted the hair over the ear is flat.

Stman

sagsmi

Your monitor won't display anything more than 72dpi - the image will just be twice the size at 150dpi.

Dog97

stman it's just a junky ole coin I had laying around the house. What do you expect for a 62?