Idiot in need of help scanning prints!

Let me preface this by saying that my comprehension level is only slightly above that of a Neanderthal when it comes to computer usage. I feel stupid because I asked this question a couple weeks ago and was able to do it and now for some reason even after rereading the suggestions of others I find myself with a case of "brainlock." Basically I can't post my print scans without shrinking them down to almost thumbnail sizes. I set my scanner at grayscale and 100 dpi and put the dimensions at 400 pixels high by around 550 wide and its rejected because of excessive filesize. I posted scans before with these dimensions so I am at a loss as to why they are rejected. Obviously its something I'm doing wrong but I can't figure out what. Being in my 20's you would think I should understand this stuff by default but I obviously missed the boat somewhere!

Check out this article: http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/em.htm

Daniel Lawton said:

its something I'm doing wrong but I can't figure out what. Being in my 20's you would think I should understand this stuff by default but I obviously missed the boat somewhere!

Click to expand...

Nahhhh, I don't think age has anything to do with it. I think it is because you are from Jersey (just kidding, I'm originally from Brooklyn).

Anyway, let the scanner do its thing. Then open up the image in something that you can resize it. Then scale it down to 500 pixels or 550 pixels wide (if vertical, make sure it is 500 or 550 pixels height).

Or get that 13 year old neighbor do it

Yeah that is a good article and everything worked fine when I followed it the first time but now for some reason I'm having problems. I must have changed some setting on my scanner and not realized it.

Make sure the file type is JPEG or JPG. Set the quality to something in the middle, assuming you scanner supports this (it should). Then before uploading look at the file size and make sure it is smaller than the APUG limit.

Use your save for web option to save just the image information. Your scanner is obviously putting a lot of other non essential info with the image.

In addition to the dimensions (max 650 pixels) there is also the issue of the actual size of the picture file in bytes - maximum 150k bytes per image. I suspect that is the issue now.

You need to save the file as a JPEG file (.jpg) format. Having done that, if the file is still over 150kB, you need to increase the compression level. JPEG files are compressed and the amount of compression is adjustable. The higher the compression, the smaller the file and the lower the quality.

Exactly how you increase the compression depends on the software you are using. Microsoft Photo Editor for example allows you to change the compression, they call it "jpeg quality factor", when you save an image by clicking on the [More] button on the Save File dialog box. MS Paint however does not have the ability to change the compression at all.

Hope that makes sense.... Bob.

I would change the compression only as a last resort. Overly compressed images have some very strange artifacts show up in them that are very distracting and mostly ugly. The pixel dimensions stated in the gallery can be done with minimal compression and get the right file size if the jpeg is pure image without a lot of other junk tossed in by the software you are using.

-I've found this site helpful for me.


http://www.scantips.com/