Photo -> Digital?

greenspurs

Hi all...

Anyone have any suggestions on how to transfer a photo from 2003 to digital?

We have the photo -So maybe scan it and then improve the dark areas etc?

We also have it on a pdf - but when you zoom in the pixels make the pic blurry.

I think scanning the pic is the best way, But is there any other way?

Gregor Samsa

Scanning the photo is the simplest way. If you don’t have access to a scanner (many inkjet printers have them built in), you could bring it to a photo printing place and get them to scan it. Their scanners will likely be better quality too.

Another option is to take a photo of it with a digital camera. But to get a decent digital copy that way, you’d need to have a high-resolution camera, close focusing lens, a tripod and be able to light it in such a way that you don’t get reflections on the photo. If it was just a snapshot, you could do it with your phone.

For the very best quality digital copy, you’d want to be getting the negative scanned (or photographed with a macro lens and a backlight) rather than the printed photo.

greenspurs

Thanks for that...

I think scanning would be the way to go. 👍️

biketard

Make sure you pay attention to the scanner settings before you scan it. You may not be set up currently to scan at high resolution. I'd personally just set it on the highest resolution it will let you. You can always descrease the resolution of the image later, but you can never increase it once it's scanned. A high resolution scan will take longer to scan in, so you'll probably want to set it back to its normal resolution for scanning normal documents, etc., later.

Hope that made sense!

Kurooi

Also to add to that, once you have a digital copy you can upscale it or even use AI models to add some extra detail.

The results can be quite impressive

cnocbui

If you have the negative, scanning/digitising that will deliver the highest quality.

greenspurs

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120240708#Comment_120240708

Unfortunately we dont have the negative - the photo is from 20yrs ago.

retoos

You can try some possible ways:

You can send your photo to a photo scanning service to convert it into a digital format.

You can use a photo scanner and editing software to scan your photo. You can also buy a speciality photo scanner for higher quality.

You can use a multifunction printer with a scanner function to scan your photo.

greenspurs

Thanks for all the help guys.