BugwoodIDS:Scanning slides

Scanning slides

Acquiring the images that you will be adding to the system is the first step. It is important to get the highest quality and highest resolution image that you can. It is very easy to scale down a picture later; it is nearly impossible to upscale a picture significantly without distortion or a reduction in quality.

For the scanning of slides, we find that a resolution of 2,400 Pixels Per Inch (PPI) is high enough to get a high-resolution image (6 megapixel or 3000x2000 pixels) without capturing the grain of the film or other artifacts that can occur in the scanning process. Saving the original scan in a loss-less file format, such as a TIFF, will allow you to edit the image minimal risk of distortion due to compression during saving.

The time involved in setting up the equipment and specimens needed for the images is significant. Do not waste your effort by taking small, low quality images.