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  • Scanner advice

    Sorry,
    this might be a bit off topic. I need to buy a scanner to put some photos into premiere to I can do a video show.

    What is a good scanner? Right now, I'm considering over 2 Hewlett Packard scanners. One is the 3300 Cxi and the other is 4200 Cxi. I don't know which one to get. I might need it for printing later too so the resolution might be a important. the 3300 scans at 600dpi and the 4200 scans at 600 X 1200 dpi. Any suggestions on either of the two? Thanks in advance.

  • #2
    Hi!

    I think my maths are OK but consider this. Uncompressed bitmap of a 5" x 4" photo at 600 dpi and 8 bit colour = 5 * 600 * 4 * 600 = 7 Mb approx. At 64 bit colour = 56 Mb approx. At 600 * 1200 = 112 Mb approx. IMHO, you will rarely use > 300 dpi unless the originals are very small and you need to enlarge them. To import a 5" x 4" photo into video, you will gain almost nothing at a resolution greater than about 100 dpi. If you are printing, the file sizes depend on the size of image, but 600 dpi at 1:1 is usually more than adequate, for most purposes. The best inkjets print at 1440 x 1440 dpi (photo quality), if this is what you mean by printing. You can obtain this by reducing a 600 * 600 scan to just under half size in a photoediting app (I like Corel PhotoPaint). If you mean offset printing on paper, 600 x 600 is usually adequate for making the 4 half-tone screens, using a suitable software. Personally, I see little advantage in having an asymmetric scan. Nor do I consider software interpolation to apparently increase the scan resolution a real advantage, more a gimmick.

    You may also consider Epson as a potential supplier: they make excellent and very durable flat-bed scanners. I've been using one (GT-9000) regularly for about 6 years: nothing ever gone wrong and it still works like the day I bought it.

    ------------------
    Brian (the terrible)

    Brian (the devil incarnate)

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    • #3
      A true truism:

      You can never go wrong with an HP scanner.

      If you can get a good deal on one that can do at least 600 dpi optical resolution, nail it. If you can get one with 1200 dpi optical, so much the better.

      The key: most scanners list their resolution as "300x600" or "600x1200" or some such. Use the FIRST number to select your scanner. This is the optical resolution.

      The second number is frequently misleading as in some specs it's not an optical resolution but the highest software interpolated resolution supported. Big difference.

      You'll hardly ever use the highest resolution settings of your scanner because of the huge file sizes it produces, but the ability to do them usually indicates the lower resolution scans will be that much better.

      Dr. Mordrid

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      • #4
        I'm going for a new scanner myself. My research points to the Epson Perfection 636U. You can read the comparison review on the ZD Net site and see what you think. I will let you know about performance is I get it soon. Any interest in a 2 year old Mustek 800. It works great, but takes up a lot of desk space?

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        • #5

          I thought the 2nd number in the scanner reolution is the number of "stops" the stepper motor makes along the Y axis over an inch, which would make it non-interploated.

          -A
          Anthony
          • Slot 1 Celeron 400, Asus P2B, 256MB PC-100
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