Gadgetory

if you need an edge to finally tackle that photo scanning project you've been putting off this is it today I've got a few tips to help you digitize your photo collection once your scanner is set up launch the software it came with these programs are actually pretty decent and are packed with features specifically designed for scanning photos in this case I'm using an Epson scanner and the Epson scanning utility first change the DPI or the resolution if you're only scanning the photos to archive them digitally and share them on Facebook for example 300 dpi is just fine but if you plan to order enlargements in the future go with 600 dpi scanning will take a little longer but remember you only have to do it once next check to see if your program has an auto crop feature which automatically crops multiple photos from one scan this can literally triple the speed of your project so enable it if it's there and finally the file output settings JPEG is usually the default and it's a great option if you need to save storage space but really you should be using the TIFF file format it's uncompressed which means no quality is lost when the file is saved in this same area you should also be able to adjust the file name this is really important because you want to establish a system at the beginning of your project so decide how you want to organize your photos if it's by date and event choose a file naming system that matches it I'll go with the reverse order date like 2012 1104 then the event name and finally I'll number the photos starting with 1 now that your settings are set the last thing to do is clean your scanner bed to make sure no flecks of dust will be scanned with your photos give it a quick clean and you're ready to go now that we're all set up I can scan a few photos so I'll lay down three at a time and with that Auto crop feature you want to leave a little space between each photo right down on this scanner I'll hit preview I can see the thumbnails for each photo and before I do the final scan I can even rotate them to make sure the orientation is right then right-side up hit scan confirm my settings and now it'll do the final scan and save the photos to my computer this is going to take a while but if you want to scan your photos yourself the time it takes is really the only drawback otherwise you can outsource the project to a company like scan my photos comm which takes care of everything for you if you have any questions or tips of your own hit me up on Twitter and check out how to see Netcom for more tips like this for CNET I'm Sharon Profis