Scanning Help

[msgtdavid]

Hi

Some or most of my scans do not look good.

So I need some scanning help.

I have the Epson Perfection V39.

When using the Professional, the setting available are as follows:

DPI  300,    400,   600,   800,   1200,    2400,    3200,    4800,    7200,    9600 which one should I select?

Formats:  Bitmap,    JPEG,    Multi-TIFF,   PDF,    Print Image Matching (JPEG),   TIFF, which should I select?

Compression level 1 - 100, which should I use?

What other selections should I use to get the best images of stamps.

I was working on a posting for Provisional Future Delivery Revenue Stamps, but the scan images look real bad.

Any help would be appreciated! 

[greenwave4u]

Hi, I use a Canoscan 9000F with Vuescan as my software. For almost all my stamp scanning I use 1200dpi and save as a Tiff with 64 bit RGBI. I then edit the tiff scan in Photoshop LE and save as either high res jpg, medium or low res jpg. Most images of single stamps are saved as 1200 to 800 pixels wide for most stamps. The attached penny black is 996 by 1182 pixels and file size is 314kb. Still manages to show the horizontal guide line at the bottom. I show the Gambia ones to give an idea of the contrasting colours.

[daveroo]

Selecting scanning parameters mostly depends on your intended end use.

I scan for selling purposes.

Therefore I use 600 dpi and JPEG format

And even then I often have to resize the image to fit a screen page.

Compression level I don't know anything about.

[msgtdavid]

Hi

Thanks for the two members who responded!

I did not state what I was looking for, I will try again.

Need help scanning stamps with my Epson Perfection V39 scanner, does any other member have this scanner, and if so what selections do you use to scan stamps for this site?  

[airbornestamps]

David,
I have an Epson WF-260, but I'm sure that the settings are very similar.. I scan my stamps at 1200 DPI, saved as a JPEG.  I highlight the preview to the area I want to scan, determine what file I want to save it to and the name, then scan away.  If you think of your scanner as a camera taking pictures then think of the image processing program as the lab developing the film.  I use a free program called IrfanView ( https://www.irfanview.com/ )  which can do all kinds of wonderful things to the scanned image.  

[airbornestamps]

Here is that group of stamps..

[sheryll*net]

airbornestamps - I have a V30 Perfection scanner as does my husband. I at the moment use his computer and I can't for  the life of me get the Professional screen  you show and that I have on my computer to show on his. Where is the software that has those parameters available?

Msgt_david - it is possible that you have unwanted settings on, such as descreen,  which would make a blurry scan. When I had access to the above set of parameters I used to set  the top setting to Med (was it sharpen?) and further down I selected remove dust.

Sheryll

[sheryll*net]

Msgt_David - If you look at the first screenshot by airbornestamps, you will see a list of parameters you can fiddle with.  The top one is Unsharp Mask and I think I had that set to Med. The next one down is Descreen which you need to turn off when scanning stamps. That could be the cause of your problem.

If you can find out the parameters that airbornestamps used, you will get beautiful scans, judging by the scan provided in the last image.

Sheryll

[msgtdavid]

Hi

To airbornestamps, thanks for your help, have been working late last night using your screen shots!

To sheryll*net, thanks for your help, will take your advice!

Interesting personal note, Sheryll you spell your name with two "LL"'s, my daughter's name is Cheryll also with two "LL"s, you two are the only two I've ever encountered with two "LL" spelling!

[msgtdavid]

Hi

Under Image Format in your suggested selection:

Type  JPEG (I agree)

Details Image Quality (84)?  As I understand it (correct me if I'm wrong), would (1) be the better choice, what am I missing?

[malolo]

I have an Epson 3490 Photo, which appears to have very similar software as illustrated above. I use a Mac.

I scan covers at 150 pdi, and stamps at 600dpi as seen below.

I use GraphicConverter to process my images, I fine crop and adjust as necessasry. I believe the [84] is the jpg compression, if so, [100] would be best quality. I find that adjusting to [90] reduces the file size more than half with no observable reduction in quality. This adjustment is done during the "save" process, when I name the file. This combined file is 520k.

Special consideration to anyone who knows why I bought this tatty, discolored cover.

[malolo]

Then again one must use the camera icon when posting images here for best results. Using the "choose file" uploads an image that doesn't enlarge when clicked on, which I always forget using this Board!

[billsey]

Something to do with those empty circles at the bottom of the cancels Roger? Are they supposed to have the Swiss Cross inside them?

I typically scan at 600DPI or 1200DPI when I need to see, or show, detail. I scan at 300DPI for web display, that tend to look like this:

You will notice that it's quite tough to see the laid lines in the paper...

[malolo]

Bill, too much experience with Swiss cancels. LOL Yes, the cross fell out of three cancelers and each had a various time of use without the cross. Not truly valuable, but one must be aware to find them. Schaffhausen and Altdorf were two of the post offices.