where do I get information on the best way to scan old black and white photos and digitalize them?

Question

I'm trying to scan old black and white family photos that date back to the beginning of the last century. I have a Canonscan LIDE 500 F scanner that I don't really care for and I have Photoshop--the full-blown version-- but I don't think I'm computer literate enough to get the pictures properly touched up. I guess what I'm looking for is the best scanner that will be easy to understand. And is there a scanner whose software could do what I am having problems doing with PhotoShop? In other words, I'm probably taking on a job that I don't have the technical knowledge to do, but I want to do it myself.

Answer 1

You know I had my heart set on getting a Nikon Coolscan for years, but finally went a step 'lower' to a flat bed scanner that scans various sizes of film negatives, slides, photos, etc. The scanner is the Epson Perfection 4990 Photo, and comes bundled with Silverfast SE scanning software. One of the features you definately want is something called Digital Ice, this feature is nice to have because it automatically fixes defects, but it significantly lengthens scanning time, and it does not work with prints, Kodachrome slides or conventional black and white negatives. *

For color corection software on scanning prints you should look at Kodak Digital ROC... whitch is available as a Photoshop plug in for around $50.*

* Both reference an article in Maximum PC magazine February 2006 "Restore and Preserve Your Photos" by Tom Halfhill.

I know none of this had addressed scanning Black and White but in that article, the author used tools in Photoshop to get very good results with his black and white photos.

I would do some searching on scanning old black and white photographs. If cant find any good comprehensive guides send me a private message.

Good luck.

Answer 2

first, it's not your scanner that causing the difficulty, it's your lack of knowledge of how to use the scanner and the software properly.

Check these links for some info