Copying old B and W photos

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andy b
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Copying old B and W photos

Post by andy b »

I have a photo ( pre 1930s ) of my dad which I need a couple of high quality copies, I’m guessing I could scan on a home computer scanner and print on photo paper which I’ve haven’t done for ten years or would it be better quality wise to get it done professionally , I only have a HP home printer/scanner ?
anyone have any experience thanks
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Re: Copying old B and W photos

Post by davelumb »

The scanner should do a decent job assuming you aren't going to be enlarging the pictures a great deal. The printer might do a decent enough job. A professional service might clean up the image and adjust the tones to make it better. That can be done at home if you have the software and time.
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Re: Copying old B and W photos

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davelumb wrote: Sat Jan 06 2024 13:38 -
The scanner should do a decent job assuming you aren't going to be enlarging the pictures a great deal. The printer might do a decent enough job. A professional service might clean up the image and adjust the tones to make it better. That can be done at home if you have the software and time.
Cheers Dave
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Re: Copying old B and W photos

Post by davelumb »

andy b wrote: Sat Jan 06 2024 17:56 -
davelumb wrote: Sat Jan 06 2024 13:38 -
The scanner should do a decent job assuming you aren't going to be enlarging the pictures a great deal. The printer might do a decent enough job. A professional service might clean up the image and adjust the tones to make it better. That can be done at home if you have the software and time.
Cheers Dave
A scan of an old photo from my printer/scanner.
1.jpg
A few tonal adjustments and a couple of spots removed (not very well!).
2.jpg
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andy b
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Re: Copying old B and W photos

Post by andy b »

davelumb wrote: Sat Jan 06 2024 19:50 -
andy b wrote: Sat Jan 06 2024 17:56 -
davelumb wrote: Sat Jan 06 2024 13:38 -
The scanner should do a decent job assuming you aren't going to be enlarging the pictures a great deal. The printer might do a decent enough job. A professional service might clean up the image and adjust the tones to make it better. That can be done at home if you have the software and time.
Cheers Dave
A scan of an old photo from my printer/scanner.

1.jpg

A few tonal adjustments and a couple of spots removed (not very well!).

2.jpg
I’ll give mine a go and see what I can do , not looking for a professional job cheers
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Re: Copying old B and W photos

Post by davelumb »

andy b wrote: Sat Jan 06 2024 19:55 -
davelumb wrote: Sat Jan 06 2024 19:50 -
andy b wrote: Sat Jan 06 2024 17:56 -
davelumb wrote: Sat Jan 06 2024 13:38 -
The scanner should do a decent job assuming you aren't going to be enlarging the pictures a great deal. The printer might do a decent enough job. A professional service might clean up the image and adjust the tones to make it better. That can be done at home if you have the software and time.
Cheers Dave
A scan of an old photo from my printer/scanner.

1.jpg

A few tonal adjustments and a couple of spots removed (not very well!).

2.jpg
I’ll give mine a go and see what I can do , not looking for a professional job cheers
:thumbs:
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Re: Copying old B and W photos

Post by lakefisher »

Andy - If you are in need of photo editing software, give "Faststone image viewer" a try. Its free and quite intuitive to use - There's even a tool that you can use to "paint out" spots.
HTH ....... Tony
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Re: Copying old B and W photos

Post by andy b »

lakefisher wrote: Sun Jan 07 2024 14:02 -
Andy - If you are in need of photo editing software, give "Faststone image viewer" a try. Its free and quite intuitive to use - There's even a tool that you can use to "paint out" spots.
HTH ....... Tony
Cheers Tony will do
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Re: Copying old B and W photos

Post by lakefisher »

:thumbs:
Cheers Andy - did it work sufficiently well for you

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Re: Copying old B and W photos

Post by Andrew »

When your scanning set the DPI as high as it will go it will give you the highest detailed scan you'll get which will be useful when coming to get them printed somewhere but beware it will create a big file the higher the settings that might be too big to upload online or email. Create a few scans like 150 dpi, 300, 600 and you'll see the difference.
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