Add colors to Your Dream.....

In order to scan in photographs to your computer via Photoshop you must first have your scanner hooked up, drivers and software installed. I use the CanoScan N1220U which I bought several years ago which still works nice.

I also have installed ScanGear from Canon which is available for free download from the Canon website.
Go to File: Import and then choose the scanner that you have installed.

With scanner software installed, you will now see this program show up in it’s dialog box to let you control the scanning process.

You can choose the resolution that you want to scan in at. All scanners and software should give you this option (unless it was made in Tajikistan). Scanners will also have different levels of resolution which they can have for their maximum. You most likely won’t need to use the max unless you are making really big enlargements. I recommend scanning in at 300 dpi (resolution) if you know you won’t be making enlargements. You are scanning in your photographs or prints in this case. This is different than uploading your digital photos. The advantage of scanning in photos (prints) allows you to have more control over the resolution and lets you choose a much higher resolution than most digital cameras support (unless you have a high-end digital SLR.

If you know you’re only going to use the file for web and computer use instead of making prints, then you can go ahead and scan in at 75 or 72 resolution. You can always go down in size and resolution from the Image Size in the Image menu and Save copies. Because of this I recommend scanning in at something you know you’ll be comfortable with (ie. 300 dpi for print use) and then you can always Save for Web (@ 72 dpi) to have two versions. If you’re working on a poster ad campaign you’ll want to use high resolutions with lots of RAM and a fast processor/s. To start the scan, press SCAN.

 

Let the scanner do it’s job (sometimes you’ll have to recalibrate it so it doesn’t get whiny) and then you’ll find your newly scanned in images in a new document in Photoshop hot off the press.

They’ll often be at weird angles. Choose the rectangular marquee tool, click and drag a selection around one of the scanned in images on the document.

Now go to Image: Transform: Rotate 180. I use the shortcut of “E, A, 1” for the upside down move.

Once you’ve transformed the new image to it’s right standard of presentation (you may have to use the other commands), then go to Edit: Cut.

Now choose File: New. When you do this, a new document will be created with those exact dimensions and the actual ‘cut’ stored in memory.

Now go to edit: paste (ctrl v) and paste your image onto it’s very own document.

Now you can continue to make basic image adjustments. You may have to use the crop tool to get rid of any extra border around the edges (a.k.a. paper clippings...don’t you love digital?). Click here for the crop tool tutorial.

You could also do any other basic image enhancements if you want to right now (such as Levels, color balance, or run a prerecorded action) or you can fix it up later. Photoshop CS has a new feature of Crop and Straighten Photos. This is an even faster way and it just automates this whole process even if you put your photos in the scanner crooked. This tutorial is in the CS Bonus Features cd that comes with the Basic Photoshop training.

Anyways, once you have done any basic image enhancement but have a photo onto it’s own document then you can save it (a good idea..). Go to File: Save As and give it a name.

I’ll usually save as a .psd.

This way I can output a copy as .jpeg later. .PSD’s don’t compress files like the .jpeg’s do so I recommend using .psd’s for your originals (.BMP’s just take up too much space). Make sure you save it in a folder where you want it.

If you save a file as a jpeg or save a copy as a jpeg you get the compression options. It’s ok to use these if you’re using for computer use and web because it gives you a smaller file size. The higher the quality setting equals the higher the file size. 7 is a good average size.

I recommend saving for web off of the high quality .psd. This will save a copy at the compression ratio you want which you can use for the web.  Choose Save for Web. The dialog box will come up where you can choose your settings.

You can view different compression qualities in realtime with the 2-up 4-up, original and optimized viewing options.

You can also choose basic compression settings such as ‘medium’ or raise the quality up and down numerically with the slider and get a real-time preview of how the image will look in the view windows.

Note that it always displays the file's new size when you fool around with the compression settings.

Pretty much save everything as a .jpeg unless you’re using vector graphics then you could save as GIF.

Now just choose where you want to save your optimized/compressed jpeg file at. You can save it in the same folder if you want even with the same name as the .psd.

If you still have other images on the scanned in document. Make a selection of another one and do the transformations you need to in order to get it standing upright. Here I’m doing rotate 90 degrees counterclockwise.

These basic techniques should also work with lesser image editing programs (but I wouldn’t know because I’m not concerned with them ;). Do your edit: copy file: new and edit: paste (I recommend learning the shortcuts listed next to each menu item).

Crop it some more if you need to

and do any basic image adjustments.

Now just Save it.

When you are done getting rid of the scanned in document images and putting them on their owned, saved documents you can go to File: Close.

This will ask you if you want to save the current document that you have open on top (that you’re working on). If you haven’t saved it yet and press NO you will lose it as if it never existed.