Genealogy Scanning Software

Getting started with our 5-step process:

• Get organised and Prepare
• Scan
• Ensure Quality
• Add Metadata
• Backup

It depends on what you plan on doing with the scanner.

If you're scanning many photos, we recommend getting a Fujitsu iX500, Epson FF-640 or Epson FF-680W. We've tested these and have scanned 2500 photos per day with them. You can often get the iX500 for a good price on amazon.com or ebay.com and can resell them on eBay when you're done.

If you're scanning many documents, we recommend getting a Fujitsu document scanner, especially the iX500. These are fast, reliable and work very well with VueScan.

If you're scanning 35mm film, we recommend getting a used Nikon film scanner on eBay. These are the best film scanners ever made. They keep going up in value, so you can probably resell them on eBay for more than you paid.

If you need a small, light, portable scanner, we recommend getting a used Canon LiDE scanner on eBay.

If you're scanning film larger than 35mm, we recommend a used Epson Perfection 4870/4990/V700/V800 on eBay.

Wash hands and clean scanner glass. Unplug the power cord. Dust the glass lightly with a lint-free microfiber cloth. To clean smudges, moisten a fresh cloth with a small amount of glass cleaner and wipe the glass. Do not spray cleaner directly on the glass. Do not use cleaners with acetone, ammonia, benzene, or carbon tetrachloride that might damage the glass. Be careful not to push on the glass or cause scratches. Old photos are often dirty. Clean the scanner glass often using a fresh cloth.

Remove staples, paper clips, rubber bands and string from the pictures. If you're working with a photo collection, try to preserve the images' original order and scan them in that order or organise them by date or theme (Birthdays, holidays, pets, sports etc.)

There are three important settings to look for -

• Color: Scan in color—not grayscale—even for black-and-white or sepia images. Although the color options produce larger files, scanning in color gives you more options for improving the images when you edit them.


• Resolution: Choose a high resolution: 300 dots per inch (dpi) is satisfactory for reprinting a picture at the same size as the original, but you might want to print an enlargement later or zoom in to the photo on your computer screen. If your resolution is too low, the image will look blurry and pixelated. For your digital photo archive, you should scan small prints at 1,200 dpi and large prints at 800 dpi. These high-resolution scans take longer and produce larger files, but extra hard disk space is fairly inexpensive these days.


• File format: You can save your scanned photos in an uncompressed file format, such as TIFF, for optimal image quality. The JPG format, used to email photos or post them online, is a less-detailed, compressed format. Because TIFFs retain more detail, they're larger than JPGs and take up more hard disk space. If you scan pictures at a high resolution, you'll notice little difference in quality between TIFF and JPG files, but JPGs do tend to degrade each time you save them. If you want to edit a JPG file, first save it in a TIFF format and keep an unedited copy of the TIFF.

Scanning photos doesn't need to be complicated. With VueScan you can just put a single photo in the upper corner of your scanner, select the photo size so the scanner doesn't have to scan unnecessary space, and press scan (no need to preview). Then just repeat for as many photos as you have.

For faster and easier scanning of multiple pictures on a flatbed:

1. Set 'Input | Media size' to 'Custom' (this will be the maximum)
2. Put pictures on flatbed, against edge to make straight
3. Press 'Enter' key (or click 'Preview' button)
4. Adjust cropping of an image with mouse
5. Press 'Enter' key (or click 'Save' button) to save to file
6. Repeat steps 4-5 for each additional image
7. Go to step 2

After scanning and saving the images, you also can use Picasa (or whatever photo-management software you have) to label and improve them.

Labelling your images with “tags” and captions makes it easy to find the photo you need and quickly identify who's in it.

Once you've digitized your family photos, take the time to back up the files so a computer crash or house fire can't wipe out your scans. Save copies to an online backup service, to an external hard drive (stored in a separate location from your computer) and/or to high-quality recordable DVDs. Share copies with family, too—the more copies out there, the safer your digitized photos.

A VueScan user produced these useful tips:

http://archivehistory.jeksite.com/chapters/appendixb

For further help and information visit here