Bouler added these comments in the current discussion du jour
....

Not at all a criticism, but with all the work that goes into
a quality scan, why are you limiting the size to just 1024 x
768? Or, do you save to a much larger size and reduce your
pictures for posting?

When I started I was on dial-up and downloading large pictures
costed lots of money.
I thinlk 1024x768 is a good size, why should I scan them
larger? My first scans were made with a small handscanner,
only black and white but monitors become larger, computers
faster etc.

Well, one reason is if you ever intend to print them large, say
to 8.5" x 11" or whatever that is in metric. Another is to
"overscan" by scanning at about 3X the DPI you think you want
then resizing them down. This tends to crush out some of the
noise. But, like I said, my question wasn't a criticism, you scan
and digital to what fits your needs. My monitor is 1280 x 960 and
someday I'd like to go to 1600 x 1200, so that's another reason
why I like big pictures.

Also, what graphics program(s) do you use? How do you control
the noise that results from scanning a book or calendar photo
that is printed with the half-tone printing process where the
scanner picks up the half-tone dots as random noise? Noise
and detail/sharpness are mutually exclusive so reducing noise
often reduces detail/sharpness.

A lot of questions, I use PSP 9 just like you and use the same
tools you mention down here.
Important is a good scanner of course, I just bought a new
one, the Canon Canoscan 88800F, before I had an older version
of the canoscan that can scan negatives and slides too.
The new scannner has so much options, I have to learn a lot
about it. I even bougt a 20 inch TFT monitor, before I had a
15 inch TFT.

My scanner is an aging MicroTek Scanmaker 4 legal size (8.5" x
14"). I find the longer size invaluable for big books and
calendars, it often eliminates the need for stitching. If I had
my druthers, I'd own a MicroTek B-size, 11" x 17", which is large
enough to do most pictures in one piece.

Glad to hear you use PSP 9. This way, if we decide to compare
notes, we're talking the same language!

I use PSP 9 for all my work even though it is getting long in
the tooth. It has an outstanding tool called DCNR (Digital
Camera Noise Reduction) that can also be used effectively for
scans and also includes a better sharpen function than the
standard unsharp mask.

I think we do a lot alike.
When the scan looks good to me I will post them.

Well, what I've seen here looks damn good to me! Thanks again for
the reposts.

--
HP, aka Jerry

"Gentleman, you can't fight in here, this the War Room!" - the
President, from the movie 'Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to
Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb'