Stephen,

As long as the photo prints are letter size (8.5x11") or less, there is really not all that much or that great a range of image information to warrant using using a scanner more than a very few hundred dollars. With a mid-priced Epson scanner and Lasersoft SilverFast SE software you can scan and adjust in the preview scan to get as fine an image as possible in a digital file. Possible more important and the greater value is the skill that comes with practice scanning in terms of the quality of the images you will be able to save and archive.

Gonna try to put a photo in here of my great grandparents. I took it on film from another photo in a very old photo album of my uncles. Don't know the date of the origional photo but don't think it was digital, I'm 60yr old! Forgot, I took out the scratches with a photo program I got for $20.

Well I can't do it. Keeps telling me it has to bo 400,000 bytes or less. Haven't got a clue what that is!

I scaned it into my computer with a $89 HP scanner. Nobodt told me I needed a better one.

Hi Don,

Both David Brooks and I are quite a bit older than you, so if we can do it, so can you.

Somewhere in your imaging program (please let us know what it is) there should be a method to reduce the size of your image for web use.

In many programs, the dialog would be under:

Image> Resize or Image> Size.

The image should be resized downwards to something

like 800 pixels wide by 600 pixels high.But first, you

should make a copy of your original so you don't destroy your original by accident.

Or, your program may have an action/dialog to resize the

image automatically--but again--do this on a copy.

In any rate, let us know what program you are using and we can be more specific as to how you can do this.

I just purchased the Epson 10000XL scanner to scan oversize prints and etchings. It has a scanning bed of 12.2" x 17.2" and I can scan between 9 and 12 4x6 prints at one time. Then using Photoshop's File>Automate>Crop and Straighten tool, it will straighten and crop each picture maintaining the resolution I scanned at. An easy way to run through tons of family pictures. Epson Scan does an excellent job of giving you correct color in the raw scan. No need for an additional $500 software package.