There are three main ways to remake old photos into electronic versions:
First, scan the original film into an electronic version. This method has good imaging quality and can be scanned into files with different high and low pixels as needed. Of course, it's better to have a higher pixel than a lower pixel, but a higher pixel will cost more, take up more space and transmit it slowly on the Internet. As long as there is no special purpose, there is no need to be too high. Generally, the JPEG format is 2M-5M, and 1M-2M is enough. The disadvantage of this method is that it requires professional scanning equipment, and it can only be scanned in the color expansion shop, which is impossible for individuals. If there is no film owner, this method is not needed, and the latter two methods can only be selected.
The second is to scan the original photos with a picture scanner. Now such scanners are more popular, and the grades are also high and low. Try to choose a high-end scanner, the scanning pixels don't need to be too high. 1M-3M is enough. This method is relatively simple for people with scanners.
Third, remake with a digital camera. If you have your own digital camera, this method is your most convenient choice.
How to remake old photos with a digital camera Let me talk about my experience:
1, camera selection: Try to choose a better camera. The better the camera, the better the imaging quality. If there is no choice, you have to use the existing camera.
2. Camera shooting parameter setting: Try to set high pixel and high precision. Set the sensitivity (ISO) as low as possible.
3. Lens: Try to use high-quality fixed-focus lenses. There is no need to use zoom lenses with fixed-focus lenses. 35mm and 50mm fixed-focus lenses are more suitable. If there is no such condition, we will use random shots. Random lenses try to use the standard focal length (I talked about the standard focal length in photography knowledge (4)).
4. Aperture: Try to use the middle aperture, because the middle aperture has the smallest imaging distortion, and it is more appropriate to use F5.6, F8, F 1 1.
5. Light: Don't shoot in the sun, avoid glare, and disable the flash, preferably in a bright place without direct sunlight, such as indoors near the window. You can also be in the light at night. There should not be many light sources. A light source is suitable. Pay attention to avoid reflected light and find the best angle.
6. tripod: try to use a tripod, and you must use a tripod under the light at night.
7, shooting distance: photos fill the viewfinder to the maximum distance is appropriate, can be close.
No matter which method is used, post-production is essential, and no post-production can only be regarded as semi-finished products.
Scanning of old photos
Scanner is a kind of computer peripheral equipment, which is used to collect photos, texts, drawings and even images on negatives and convert them into formats that computers can display, edit and store.
Resolution is the most important technical index of a scanner, which indicates its ability to capture image details, and the unit is pixels per inch (PPI). The higher the scan resolution, the clearer the image. But considering the resolution of printed photos, only 200PPI； is needed; As for displaying photos, Apple's latest iMac all-in-one computer has a diagonal screen of 27 inches and a resolution of 2560× 1.440, which is only about 100PPI, so it can't show a clear image, just takes up more disk space, and it is of no practical value for home users to pursue too high resolution. Therefore, it is necessary to choose a suitable scan resolution.
The author uses Canon CanoScanN 1220U scanner. Although the product is old, it works well. The optical resolution of N 1220U reaches 1200×2400dpi. The maximum scanning format A4 has six color modes, including black and white, grayscale, color photo, color document and enhanced text. Now the scanner can scan negatives and slides directly. The following is my experience in using the scanner.
1, put as many old photos as possible.
Put as many old photos to be scanned as possible on the A4 scanner. In this case, five 5-inch photos are placed horizontally and vertically. Do not overlap. It doesn't matter if the photos are put backwards. We can deal with them later.
2. Choose ps as the processing software.
Press the start button of the scanner and the image processing software will be selected on the computer screen. There are ps and ACDSee on this computer. When ps is selected, ps software will start automatically. At the same time, the CS-U scanner operation screen appears.
3. Select 400 PPI to scan photos.
In the Main menu, the color mode is color (photo). If it is a black-and-white photo, select the gray scale; For color magazines and promotional materials, select color file color (document).
Select 400 dpi (PPI) as the output, and the value range is 75- 1200dpi. Because the image resolution of old photos is not high and the photographic paper is not delicate, it is not necessary to reprint photos with high resolution. It is enough to shoot 400dpi and 400 pixels per inch.
4. Pre-scanning
After pre-scanning, the old photo image is displayed in the scanner operation box, and the result file 45358K:
5. Cut the pre-scanned image before scanning.
For the old photo images displayed after pre-scanning, you can hold down the left mouse button to cut and delete blanks to reduce the size of the scanning result file, which is especially useful when scanning a small number of photos. Screenshot of scanning process, the resulting file is 42282K, which is smaller than 45358K before cutting:
6. Save the result file for multiple cropping.
After scanning, be sure to close the operation screen of CS-U scanner, otherwise the result file cannot be processed in ps. Because many old photos in the result file must be saved first, such as "old photos -0 1".
7. The cutting adopts 6R format with a resolution of 400 PPI.
Open "Old Photo -0 1" and cut out an old photo, the size can be 6R format, the width is 15.2cm(6 inches), the height is 10.2cm(4 inches) and the resolution is 400PPI.
When saving as a new file, take 6 levels of compression. Then open "Old photo -0 1" and cut out another old photo until all five photos are cut out.