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Best Method for Scanning Old Family Photos for Archiving and Printing?

Hi. I need to scan and then print some old photographs for a family member. What’s the best software on my MacBook Pro to accomplish this. Will ImageCapture suffice and how easy is it to use a scanner and print using this? Or is there an alternative available via the app store? Also, what resolution settings should I use to scan as I want to keep the quality of the reprints as close to original as possible. My scanner/printer is a Canon MP 270 all-in-one.
Thanks in advance.
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Fin Maciver

Comments: 2 Responses to “Best Method for Scanning Old Family Photos for Archiving and Printing?”

    12 years ago

    Yes, I would say that Image Capture is your tool. See this recent episode: http://macmost.com/using-image-capture-with-scanners.html
    However, if your scanner came with some Mac software, give it a try to. See which you like better.
    As for settings, take one photo and scan it in in multiple ways. See what you like. 300dpi is good quality, but 600dpi is better, obviously. But the files would be much larger. So all of the settings are trade-offs. You have to experiment and try them to see what works best for you.

    Michael Wheless
    12 years ago

    I used the Canon software provided with my scanner and it did an excellent job. I played around with resolution choices and got it as good as I could. However, one feature I was surprised to learn was I could scan multiple copies at once and the software would end up making each photo a separate image. Saved a lot of time.

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