> My question therefore is this:
>is there a recommended level of quality for scanning this kind of image for
>web-site use? Would, for example, 600 dpi be of sufficient quality, or do
>people generally aim for a higher specification?
>
>Apologies if my question displays my appalling ignorance...
>cheers
>john
You're not ignorant at all, and certainly not in any appalling way.
Scanning at 600 dpi has become the standard approach for most projects such
as yours. It'll give you good data capture of the original. When handling
any historical material, it's best to scan it once, and properly, to avoid
having to re-scan (and damage) the documents. So, scan at a high resolution
(like 600 dpi) and scan to a non-proprietary file format, such as TIFF.
The real issue is: what image are you going to put online? A 600 dpi image
is a huge file that will take ages to download. Also, you don't really get
the benefit of all that data, since most computer monitors have a fairly
poor resolution (not above the 75-100 dpi range). Once you have the 600 dpi
master files, you can make low-resolution derivatives from those files, in a
web-ready format such as JPEG, that will load much faster while still
presenting a readable image.
My comments are only the briefest of summaries on this topic -- but I don't
want to weigh down the list. If you'd like clarification on anything I've
said or would like to talk further, please feel free to contact me at the
e-mail listed below.
Best wishes,
Susan
***********************************************
Susan Stekel, M.A., M.S.I.
Library and Archives Specialist
--------------------------------------------------------------
Northern Micrographics Inc.
2004 Kramer St. P.O. Box 2287
La Crosse, WI 54602-2287
(608) 781-0850 ext. 137 (voice)
(608) 781-3883 (fax)
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