CompuServe Messages

Mark, In reference to your scanner questions: I use a flatbed quite often (ScanMaker IIxe) for print illustration and have some hints or tips you might find useful (I hope). Rarely does anyone need a final image at any higher resolution than 400 dpi. This resolution is generally used when the scanned image will be output at a larger size than when origianlly scanned. It's good for slides or images that will be turned into posters. "Most" print images in magazines and books (except for fine art books) are scanned at 300 dpi. The formula used is: twice the halftone dots being used by the printer. So let's say that your image will be printed in a magazine that uses 133 line (dot) halftone screens; then your image should be scanned at (technically) 266 dpi. Most people round the dpi up to 300 just to insure good quality. Using this formula, the printer is getting four pixel dots of color information for every one ink dot that goes on the page. This helps him/her get a really accurate ink dot and cuts down dramatically on the pixelation or stair-stepping that happens in digital images. The reason why a scanner should have the highest dpi possible is because if you want to scan a 2" image and enlarge it to 8", you will need to pack 2400 dots into that 2" scan so that when it gets enlarged to 8", it still has 300 dots per inch. (You would be scanning your original image at 1200dpi.) And when scanning images for 3DS or images that will only exist in a computer, inches no longer factor into the picture and all that matters is the proper resolution to get the detail you require. Do I have you TOTALLY confused? If not, go back and read this again!! All the best, Sean Platter