Slide scanning software

[protege]

With my dad's pending departure (the bastard left my mom back in March), my mom thought that something should be done with the million or so slides that were shot over the past 40 years. Many of these are of my brothers and I when we were children. She would like to keep copies, since she's not sure what he might do with them. Anyway, the scanning program I have (Paperport) doesn't seem to offer slide-scanning ability. I can scan them, sure. But, the resulting images are too small and too grainy to blow up. Does anyone have any recommendations? I have an Epson Workforce WF-3620 scanner.

[EricKei]

I use a device I picked up from the dollar store for this, actually I have a box full of 126 slides and 35mm negatives from 40+ years ago -- family stuff that I've only recently started working on. Innovative Technology Film & Slide Converter (it, and similar devices, are around $25-60 online). It's basically a light bulb under a clear platform that you place the slides (or 35mm negs) on, which then projects it onto a sensor; it hooks to the computer via USB. If you have a ton to scan in, it could be worth it to just use one of those. It's not the fastest method in the world, but the images have been coming out clear for me so far (at least, as clear as 60's-era amateur photos could reasonably be expected to turn out).

If you wanna use your own scanner, maybe see if placing a sheet of bright white paper behind the slide would help?? I think Photoshop is TWAIN-compliant (unsure) if you have it, and may allow for higher scan resolutions. The issue being, does your *scanner* support a higher res, assuming that would help??

[Chromatix]

Some scanners have specific support for scanning slides and negatives, which generally means an extra-fine resolution mode and a uniform backlight over a small part of the bed. Generally there'll be a plastic adapter which you use to firmly locate the slide.

If your scanner doesn't have this specific support, I would recommend getting one that does - or even a dedicated "slide scanner". For what sounds like a large and important job, I think that may be worthwhile.

[Dreamstalker]

I second the portable slide scanners (most of them can also do negatives). We got ours from Brookstone, but a lot of "gadget" stores (or maybe photo supply places) should have them.

[protege]

Best Buy had a slide/negative scanner for about $115 the last time I was down there. The reviews seem pretty good, so I have a feeling what I'll be getting

[Ironclad Alibi]

Here is a do-it-yourself device that will let you you scan slides on a normal flat bed scanner. I had a commercial version that worked very well.