***************
SCANNING BASICS
***************

I receive so many photos from people to use on the Voices of Christ website - whether they are scanned book covers or headshots. Unfortunately,many of the photos are scanned incorrectly. This file is intended to help eleviate those problems. It's not a detailed guide ... but it provides the basics and should produce a usable photo.


**************************
TYPES OF DOCUMENTS TO SCAN
**************************
WHEN SCANNING PHOTOS, please keep in mind that photos printed professionally on photo paper like KodaK, FuJi Film, or other photo papers are best. For examples, shots taken at Sears, JcPenny's or even Walmart. In many cases, the actual book cover may be scanned in directly also.

DO NOT SCAN PHOTOS from photo copies, newspapers or even printed magazines, or photos printed on regular ink jet paper ... they seldom come through properly. Leave these jobs to the experts. In fact, many photos printed in this way are not very clear, and you can actually see the print pattern on the photo. (Do this ONLY if you are advanced at scanning.)

IF THE ORIGINAL PHOTO IS BLURRY, scratched up, or you are too tiny to recognize in the photo, then don't scan it. It will look just as bad scanned as it does in plain site.

****************
SOME QUICK TIPS
****************
The scanning process is subject to the type of scanning software on your computer, which varies. So the tips below are based on elements that are consistent between applications. It's not intended to be a step by step process.

FIRST THINGS FIRST:

1. Read the sections above.
2. Make sure you are using a flatbed scanner, and that it is operating properly.


NEXT STEPS WHEN SCANNING FOR THE WEB:
 
1. Set the scanning software to 72 or 96 dpi (DPI stands for Dots per inch. The greater the number, the higher quality the  
   picture. For web purposes, this setting is standard. Setting your resolution up to 150 dpi is also okay. Size can be  
   edited later in an image editing program.)
2. The resolution setting (DPI) will affect how large the image appears on the web.
3. Place the photo in the correct position on the scanner. Please make sure the picture is aligned correctly - 
   preferably horizonal or vertical.
4. Select scan to scan the photo.
5. Using the crop option, select the region you want to save.
6. Now, save the photo as a .gif/GIF or as a .jpg/JPEG. (Web accepted formats.)


PLEASE NOTE THAT MOST SCANNING PROGRAMS WILL WALK YOU THROUGH THE PROCESS. However, you may need to adjust the dpi to an appropriate level.