Convert into digital format

I have lots of pictures in prints (hard copy format). Which is the best
way to convert them into digital format so i can view them on the
comp/CD or upload them on the website (apart from a scanner)?

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have lots of pictures in prints (hard copy format). Which is the best
way to convert them into digital format so i can view them on the
comp/CD or upload them on the website (apart from a scanner)?


Hi

Don't quite know what you want us to suggest.

Your prints need to be scanned or photographed.

You could do it with a Digital Camera, but a Scanner is designed
specifically for that job.

Roy G

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have lots of pictures in prints (hard copy format). Which is the best
way to convert them into digital format so i can view them on the
comp/CD or upload them on the website (apart from a scanner)?


Virtually any decent flatbed scanner will do fine--even a $50.00 one.

You will need a photo editing program to tweak the images on your computer
after you've scanned them (to correct for
brightness/contrast/sharpness/color balance etc. For a novice, Corel Paint
Shop Pro Photo XI has advantages, because it has several "One Button"
adjustments that you can use in the beginning that do not require you to be
an expert at photo editing. It also has a full suite of professional tools
that you can use later as your skill increase. It also has an excellent
Learning Center that guides you step by step, and it ships with 2 hours of
video tutorials that show you many techniques right on your computer screen.

I've used that application for years, and it does more than I would ever
need. Best part is that it is designed from the ground up for someone like
yourself, who wants professional results and doesn't know where to start.
In that sense, it beats PhotoShop hands down. You can download a 30-day
trial version from www.corel.com. If you choose to buy it, be sure to order
the CD, not the download version, as the CD ships with a printed manual and
the two-hours of video tutorials. Corel is offering free shipping through
September 30, so the CD version won't cost you any more than the download
version. (What I did was order the FREE download upgrade, so I could use it
right away, and I also ordered the CD version with the manual and tutorials,
which arrived in a few days--long before the expiration of the 30-day trial
period.)

Finally, you'll need a printer if you want to print copies of your
newly-enhanced photos. There are numerous advantages to uploading them to
Kodak Gallery and letting them print them (on real photo paper, using real
photo dyes--not inkjet) and sending them to you. They arrive in 3 days,
they cost $.15 each for 4 x 6, and you don't have to buy expensive ink
cartridges. Their only disadvantage is that you don't get the print
immediately, as you would if you printed it yourself. The main advantage is
that you get "real" photographs--the kind that everyone used to get.

That covers it--your scanner, your editing software and your printing. The
scanner and the software can be gotten for under $150 for both. The
printing costs nothing up front. You only pay for prints that you have
made.

Finally, there is an excellent site that explains everything you need to
know about how to scan photos. Bookmark the site and go there often:

www.scantips.com

"jeremy" wrote in message
news:CdaRg.430$KK.422@trnddc08...

wrote in message
oups.com...
I have lots of pictures in prints (hard copy format). Which is the
best
way to convert them into digital format so i can view them on the
comp/CD or upload them on the website (apart from a scanner)?


Virtually any decent flatbed scanner will do fine--even a $50.00
one.



snip useful but Off-Point material


Finally, there is an excellent site that explains everything you
need to know about how to scan photos. Bookmark the site and go
there often:

www.scantips.com



If you are bound and determined to use "apart from a scanner" you're
probably implying less-than-stringent reproduction requirements.

If you have a digital camera and decent weather, put a table in the
sun and snap away. The results will not match anything near some
folks' wants, but the content will for the most part be visible on a
monitor and useful to those who are interested.

Of course there are upgrades to every element of that process: better
equipment, better lighting, better technique, post-processing. If you
are going to get into all that, you might as well beg, borrow or steal
a scanner. Even courser, you might pay someone to do the scanning and
'burning' for you; that way you'll be saved the drudgery. It
eventually _is_ drudgery, one way or another: you pay to avoid it,
either in money or in time.

--
Frank ess

wrote:
I have lots of pictures in prints (hard copy format). Which is the best
way to convert them into digital format so i can view them on the
comp/CD or upload them on the website (apart from a scanner)?

There are service bureaus, even places like Ritz stores, that will do
this service and provide you a CD. However, if you have many to do,
you will spend more than the price of a scanner to get it done. If you
do not want to spend the time scanning, these places will do it, but
you will pay the price.

Thanks