Considerations When Creating Digital Slides

If you have a box of old slides sitting in your house somewhere, or if you are a professional photographer who is wondering what the best storage method for your slides may be, you need to consider converting those 35mm slides into digital slides. Digital slides are created by scanning your slide film using a high resolution scanner designed specifically for slides and converting the image into a usable digital file. If this sounds interesting to you, be sure to keep these considerations in mind.

Why Convert

Why should you convert your slides to digital slides? First, doing so gives you an easy and affordable way to get prints made from your slides. Instead of searching for a company that prints from slides, you can simply upload your images from your CD to your favorite photo printing service and get prints made. Reprints and enlargements are a snap with this option.

You can also use the digital files to make a slide show or video to put on DVD and easily share with others. This is a great way to relive some old family memories. Some services can even make the DVD for you when you order the scanning service.

Formats Available

In reality, you can have your slides scanned into any image format you choose. However, most services offer JPEG, TIFF, and GIF as standard scanning options. JPEG is usually the recommended format, as it is compatible with just about any program or website where you would like to display your images. If you need one of the other formats, shop for a company that offers them.

Resolution Options

You will also need to choose a resolution when having your slides scanned. If you are interested in getting prints or small enlargements of your images, something around 2400 dpi (dots per inch) would be a nice option. Scans with a higher resolution are necessary if you anticipate making large enlargements, such as poster size prints. Smaller resolutions will work if all you need to do is display the image on your screen. For archiving purposes, use the 2400 dpi or something a little higher, just in case you want to make prints at some point.

Poor Original Quality

If your slides are under or over exposed, scratched, or faded, scanning them might help a little, but this problem will be reflected in your scanned image. Some scanning services offer a slight restoration service. They will use their scanning software to try to restore the image. However, some things will not be able to be fixed, and you cannot expect miracles. If your original image is of poor quality, the resulting scan will look very similar.

Scanning your slides ensures that the images they contain will be preserved for future generations. Digital slides make sharing the images much simpler, as almost everyone has access to a computer or DVD player now. Whether you are dealing with personal images or professional ones, have those slides scanned so that you can preserve them and protect them from damage and fading.