nikon coolscan 2000

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Is the Nikon Super Coolscan 2000 able to scan a slide at 200 DPI at 23"x34.5" and produce a high quality image?

-- Joseph Way (jway@strongtie.com), April 12, 2000

Answers

Do a search on this site re: scanning and other issues. Generally when you scan a slide you scan it at the maximum resolution that a scanner can produce. in the case of a coolscan the resolution on film is somewhere around 2600dpi. If printed at 200dpi, the print width will be somwhere around 13". A 24 inch wide print will be somewhere at 120dpi resolution.

-- Jonathan Ratzlaff (jonathanr@clrtech.bc.ca), April 12, 2000.

I scanned some 35mm slides on a Tango drum scanner at 5000 dpi last weekend. I just opened one of the files and played with the Image Size command in Photoshop. At 200 dpi the file is exactly 23x34.5. Sorry, but you're not going to get there with a Nikon Coolscan. If you need your image that large check out West Coast Imaging for a drum scan.

Be aware that even with a drum scan a 35mm original is going to show grain at that reproduction size. But at least you'll have the best possible scan to start with. I'd also suggest you let WCI do the printing prep work for you as your question shows you don't have the experience to do this yourself. Don't take it personally, but you don't scan a slide at 200 dpi for enlargement. As indicated aboe, you have to scan at a much higher resolution then resize in PhotoShop.

-- Darron Spohn (dspohn@photobitstream.com), April 14, 2000.


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