Project Summary & Suggestions

We've discussed the basic needs of this project to Preserve Your Family Photos, the hardware and software needed to get the job done, and you have a lot of choices among the items listed, and there are a lot more out there than what was covered here.

We have looked at some ideas of what to do with you pictures once you have scanned them. That is the organization of the folder structure where you will store the files, and some file naming conventions that will help you identify the content of your files. We've talked about ways to display the pictures and some methods of distribution. We've even discussed a way to organize your printed picture collection that is to be scanned if they are simply stored unorganized in a box.

Scanning

The pages on scanning tell you how to get the most out of your scanner and save your self a lot of time by making many of the necessary adjustments before scanning your pictures. Although these pages detail the Canon ScanGear driver, the basics apply to those from other manufacturers as well.

Editing

The page on Image Editing took us through the editing process as experienced in Corel's PaintShop Pro X6. We cropped our target picture out of an image containing two pictures. We straightened the picture, then recropped to trim the edges. We corrected a color cast and tweaked the contrast, saving the image in TIFF format under names that included a numerical suffix that was incremented with each save. Then we made a reduced size image and saved that as a JEPG file for inclusion on a page in this project.

Printing

Almost nothing has been said about printing your pictures. And printed pictures are a traditional way of distributing pictures. In general, inkjet printers do a better job with pictures than laser printers. Printers what do well with text cannot be counted on to print photographs as well as they do the words. Epson has spent years researching photo printing, they have developed inks that do not fade for a very long time. They have inks specifically colored for printing portraits. And their printers generally can handle a wider variety of papers than most other printers. One caveat, however, is that Epson printers, like all inkjets, need to be used regularly as their print heads are apt to clog from disuse. The paper you print your pictures on will often have more effect on the quality of the resulting print than the actual printer!

Photo Papers

If you are printing your pictures on an Epson printer, you will have a large of variety of papers available to you made by that company for their printers. Also look for paper beyond your local office supply store. If you are going to print a lot of pictures, find a supplier who can provide quality papers at reasonable prices. The difference in the appearance of a picture printed on quality paper can be astonishing. Red River Paper in Dallas handles a variety of papers for inkjet printers. They have a light-weight glossy paper that I have found to give both economical and pleasing results.