The object of scanning miniatures is to show them off on the web! At least for this articles purposes. You want your images to show the details clearly, at least I do. So in general terms this is what needs to be done:
First off, I scan my miniatures directly on
the scanner bed. I use a HP Scanjet 4100C (I think, it belongs to my father). My default
settings are 150 dpi resolution and I change that to 300 dpi. The Higher the setting the
clearer the picture (also the file gets really large). I also set the size of the scan to
200% of original image. I end up with an initial scan of 9-14mb. Then I crop the image so
that the picture is only a little larger than the miniature, this reduces the file size to
1-4mb.
The reason for all of this so far is that with a
"large" and "detailed" image to start with. Any adjustments like
converting it to a jpeg (compressed image) and resizing the image to 800x600 pixel sized
image will keep the image really clear and sharp because you already started with a lot of
detail. Also, the details are as clear and visible as reasonably possible.
After the image is scanned, I save it as a bit map (1-4mb) this
is my original so that if I really screw something up I have a copy of the original scan
to go back to.
Next I convert/"save as" the bit map to a jpeg. This is
done in MS Paint right after I saved it as a bitmap. Then I use the MS Image Composer that
comes with MS Front Page. Any good imaging program is supposed to be able to do most of
the image adjustments you'll want to do to make the jpeg look as much like the actual
miniature paint job as possible.
Using MS Image Composer, I adjust the picture for sharpness and
adjust the colors to look as much like the actual paint job as possible, then I save that
as my "very large" picture. Next I resize it to around 800x600 pixels and
re-sharpen if necessary and save it as my "normal" size picture, this is the
size of the average "large" picture on the internet. Then I resize again to
around 100x100 pixels to make my thumbnail pics.
That pretty much sums up what I do with what I have. My goal is
provide as clear and detailed an image of my work as possible. I don't want the picture to
look better (which would be misleading) so I try to get as close to the real thing as
possible. Also I use such large images because you can see the detail as if seen through a
magnifying glass.
Oh yeah, in my picture galleries, my thumbnails are listed with 2 options to view. The smaller ones are the average pixel size variety. The larger file size are my really large images that show all the details very clearly (or as clearly as I could make them).
And thanks to Tim for the following tip: > 2.After this I crop the image and save it as a jpeg.
> 3.Then I manipulate the image to correct the color and sharpness so that it
> looks as good as the original but not better. I save this image too.You are probably better off doing all of the adjustments to color and sharpness before converting to jpeg, since the are more pixels to work with before jpegging to 72 dpi. After jpegging ony a little bit of shapening wil be needed.
Tim --
Tim DuPertuis: ARMORCAST and INQUISITOR
PO Box 14485, Santa Rosa, CA 95402-6485
(707) 576-1619 voice/fax E-mail: timdp@armorcast.com
Armorcast Web Site: http://www.armorcast.com
Inquisitor Web Site: http://www.armorcast.com/inquisitor/index.html
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Other references for
scanning
or taking pictures of your miniatures:
Successful Scanning
By Jon Pepper,
http://www.zdnet.com/filters/printerfriendly/0,6061,2396603-77,00.html
