Scanning the neg's- re: my "Need help with my wedding pics" thread

[pentaxpirate]

Just out of curiosity, I scanned my negatives tonight to have a play around with in photoshop ( I'm using an Epson Perfection 1260 scanner, with it's bundled Negative Scanner attachments)

I scanned them at 1200 DPI with a target size of 6 x 4 inches.........I ended up with a file size of 97.5 mb.

But the default size is the same size as the neg (1.9 x 1.24 inches) giving me a file size of 9.74 mb.

If i want to scan these at their highest quality for re-printing later..............Am i better off scanning them at their original negative size? or my target size (6X4 Inches?
And at what DPI......... 1200 OR 2400 DPI??

Incidentally- the scans of the neg's seem to look a better than the prints, Making me think that the processing of the pics could be the problem.

Thanks in advance
PP

[another view]

97mb is a big file even for medium format! For printing, a resolution of 300dpi is fine, maybe a little less. If you scan at 2400dpi, then you should get about an 8x12 at 300dpi. This is because 35mm film is about 1" wide and 1.5" long (1" x 2400px = 2400 pixels, divided by 300dpi = 8" high, etc.).

For posting here or anything else on the web (including email), the size in inches is irrelevant - that only applies to prints. From that high resolution scan, make a copy that's 600x400 and post those here.

I read your other post but didn't have a chance to reply until now - basically, I'd go to a good professional lab for better prints. The difference could be night and day. 800 speed film isn't necessarily a bad thing, but print quality can be very different from lab to lab.