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Having just completed a new b/w web site I am now wondering if there isn't a FAQ out there somewhere that I should have read first. What I have learned so far is: Yes a high quality image editor like PhotoShop is important. The scanner at 75 dpi doesn't seemn to matter much - I have gotten good scans with a $39 special.

There must be something to the idea of b/w pictures looking best scanned in color but then what kind of post-scan tweaks must be done to hold down file size? Also what about gif v. jpeg ? When I refresh my site I hope to work a lot smarter.

-- Anonymous, February 20, 1997

Answers

Aln: First of all, start by saving your scans as a TIFF while you work on them in Photoshop. There's a good reason for this but it's long winded--just trust me on this. After you get the image the way you want it and want to put it on your web page, make a copy of it, save it as a JPEG (somewhat better than a GIF--again, trust me), reduce the image size to about 2"X3" (thereabouts--just DON'T send an 8X10 sized image, it'll take too long to download) horizontal or vertical, reduce the gray levels as much as possible without deteriorating the tonal values, and copy to your page. By following these steps, you should be able to get your file size down to where it does'nt bore the tears out of anyone trying to downbload it.

-- Anonymous, April 15, 1997

I've used a number of scanners and to tell you the truth on the web it really makes no difference. Eveything on the web should be reduced down to 72dpi or less. I personally tyr to get the full JPG's down to 30k. I can't say it happens as often as I'd like but I get close. I save all my images as TIFF's (better quality) then use photoshop to reduce them down to 6x4 @ 72dpi. This provides a good viewing size, while keeping it at a resonable byte size.

Check out http://crick.com/alex and see for yourself.

-- Anonymous, September 26, 1997


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