No, we don’t do photobooks - at the moment. But wait ...
Earlier today I met a company that produces photobooks, and I was blown away. They’re a gem of a team, a fantastic blend of traditional book publishing, craftsmanship and decades of attention to the detail of making high quality books.
Yet here they are grabbing new technology in the shape of top quality digital image printing and combining it with their book building tools. It’s a fantastic combination and the books are superb.
I’d love to be able to offer our clients - and those for our free photo scanning service - the opportunity to get their scans made into top quality photobooks. So watch this space.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Alternatives to Scanning
Had a call from a potential client asking for advice - she had some precious photos that a relative wanted to take overseas. Naturally she was reluctant to let them go, but couldn’t afford the cost of Royal Mail Special Delivery both ways and scanning. What could be the alternative?
We came up with a couple of ideas. First take the photos to a local photocopier and use that to make copies. It’s quick, low cost and if the copier is decent the reproduction should be passable. Obviously this doesn’t deliver digital images it would produce a copy of the images which could be taken abroad safely.
The second option would be to use a digital camera to take a photo of each page of the album. A decent camera will focus quite close so you will get a photo of a photo. The key to getting a reasonable result is having a good camera and getting the lighting right. This cold winter light should give a decent result.
We came up with a couple of ideas. First take the photos to a local photocopier and use that to make copies. It’s quick, low cost and if the copier is decent the reproduction should be passable. Obviously this doesn’t deliver digital images it would produce a copy of the images which could be taken abroad safely.
The second option would be to use a digital camera to take a photo of each page of the album. A decent camera will focus quite close so you will get a photo of a photo. The key to getting a reasonable result is having a good camera and getting the lighting right. This cold winter light should give a decent result.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Nikon Woe Gone
The Nikon medium format scanner arrived, and has gone.
It was dead on arrival. That’s the risk you take with secondhand equipment but luckily the vendor was one of the decent people on eBay and we were able to resolve the issue very quickly. But that’s not what I wanted to say. While it was here I contacted a Nikon authorised repair shop and asked for a ballpark figure for fixing it - this is the story.
The unit powered on and went through its POST (power on self test). Green slow flashing lights to begin then a short series of rapid green flashes before returning to solid green. I have been told by the Nikon repair man that any pulse of rapid green flashing during POST indicates a fault. Flashing at the end indicates logic board issues.
My computers could tell a Nikon Coolscan 8000 was attached but nothing could be done to bring it to life.
The Coolscan 8000 has a main computer board holding its logic and that was most likely the cause of the failure. To replace that would cost some £350, plus, £100 labour plus shipping / transport there and back. Oh, and don’t forget VAT now back up to 17.5%. So the repair bill could easily be over £500. That’s not far short of what these units sell for on eBay anyway. Compare that with the cost of a comparable top-flight Epson and draw your own conclusion, I did.
It was dead on arrival. That’s the risk you take with secondhand equipment but luckily the vendor was one of the decent people on eBay and we were able to resolve the issue very quickly. But that’s not what I wanted to say. While it was here I contacted a Nikon authorised repair shop and asked for a ballpark figure for fixing it - this is the story.
The unit powered on and went through its POST (power on self test). Green slow flashing lights to begin then a short series of rapid green flashes before returning to solid green. I have been told by the Nikon repair man that any pulse of rapid green flashing during POST indicates a fault. Flashing at the end indicates logic board issues.
My computers could tell a Nikon Coolscan 8000 was attached but nothing could be done to bring it to life.
The Coolscan 8000 has a main computer board holding its logic and that was most likely the cause of the failure. To replace that would cost some £350, plus, £100 labour plus shipping / transport there and back. Oh, and don’t forget VAT now back up to 17.5%. So the repair bill could easily be over £500. That’s not far short of what these units sell for on eBay anyway. Compare that with the cost of a comparable top-flight Epson and draw your own conclusion, I did.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Nikon Coolscan Medium Format Scanner
We’ve just taken delivery of a new Nikon scanner, the big brother of the Coolscans we have used for the last couple of years to scan 35mm slides and negatives.
Medium format scanning has proved to be a steady source of business for us, and as so many professional photographers used this type of material we need to deliver top quality scans. Thankfully the Epson has done that, but the price is time. Of course a medium format scan into a tiff file results in a big file, and that takes a long time. Getting three or four scans out in an afternoon isn’t unusual, particularly when we use Digital ICE.
A couple of weeks ago we were approached by a pro photographer wanting a substantial archive of M/F slides and negatives scanned. It would be a great project, but at Epson speed it would take a very long time. So that’s why we’ve decided to invest in the new scanner. I’m hoping we’ll be able to offer a better service to our M/F clients.
Medium format scanning has proved to be a steady source of business for us, and as so many professional photographers used this type of material we need to deliver top quality scans. Thankfully the Epson has done that, but the price is time. Of course a medium format scan into a tiff file results in a big file, and that takes a long time. Getting three or four scans out in an afternoon isn’t unusual, particularly when we use Digital ICE.
A couple of weeks ago we were approached by a pro photographer wanting a substantial archive of M/F slides and negatives scanned. It would be a great project, but at Epson speed it would take a very long time. So that’s why we’ve decided to invest in the new scanner. I’m hoping we’ll be able to offer a better service to our M/F clients.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Google Wave
Some months ago I applied for a Google Wave account. I had read an article saying Google had created something which was intended to be what email ought to be if it were invented today (not some decades ago when I joined the computer industry). So that’s to be Google Wave - email for 2010.
Well, today my invite came through. I feel like the owner of the first phone must have felt. It’s great technology but I’ve got nobody to call. So instead I’ve been looking at the various tutorials Google have put on Youtube. I’m in part excited and confused. There’s been only one element I’ve completely understood - photo sharing.
For the vast majority of clients for whom we scan photos returning their images by post or courier is fine, but for some it’s urgent. For many our service is the first step on the way to doing something creative with their scans. In many cases that’s an online photo album.
For over a year we’ve been using drop.io - yes that’s actually a web address. There you can quickly create a website onto which you can upload a whole range of things, photos, text etc etc. We’ve used this with great success when people have wanted scans back quickly. What’s more, it is free.
Lately, and mainly in connection with our free photo scanning offering, I’ve looked into more powerful photo sharing functions. I looked at the sites offered by Kodak, Nikon, Flickr and others such as SmugMugs. For the mix of features 1Scan clients will need we decided to go with Zenfolio.
Back to Google Wave. One of the most impressive elements of their demos is the ability to share images in real time. As with any demo, it demonstrates well; how it goes in practice I don’t know. But I’m keen to try. So if you’re a Google Wave-r add me in - jeff.underwood@googlewave.com
Let’s Wave.
Well, today my invite came through. I feel like the owner of the first phone must have felt. It’s great technology but I’ve got nobody to call. So instead I’ve been looking at the various tutorials Google have put on Youtube. I’m in part excited and confused. There’s been only one element I’ve completely understood - photo sharing.
For the vast majority of clients for whom we scan photos returning their images by post or courier is fine, but for some it’s urgent. For many our service is the first step on the way to doing something creative with their scans. In many cases that’s an online photo album.
For over a year we’ve been using drop.io - yes that’s actually a web address. There you can quickly create a website onto which you can upload a whole range of things, photos, text etc etc. We’ve used this with great success when people have wanted scans back quickly. What’s more, it is free.
Lately, and mainly in connection with our free photo scanning offering, I’ve looked into more powerful photo sharing functions. I looked at the sites offered by Kodak, Nikon, Flickr and others such as SmugMugs. For the mix of features 1Scan clients will need we decided to go with Zenfolio.
Back to Google Wave. One of the most impressive elements of their demos is the ability to share images in real time. As with any demo, it demonstrates well; how it goes in practice I don’t know. But I’m keen to try. So if you’re a Google Wave-r add me in - jeff.underwood@googlewave.com
Let’s Wave.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Zenfolio
For the last few weeks we've been working on a major enhancement of our services, and central to that is an online photo storage service called Zenfolio.
What we're planning is to deliver scanned images not just via CD or DVD as we do now but to put clients scans onto a secure website. This will deliver a longterm backup of your photo scans should the CD be lost or damaged, it will quickly and simply allow friends and relatives to view an online photo album containing those scanned photos.
Additionally this will facilitate easy access to a range of gifts customised with your photos - gifts such as mousemats, T-shirts, jigsaw puzzles. And there's also a wide range of standard prints, enlargements and canvas prints.
More soon.
What we're planning is to deliver scanned images not just via CD or DVD as we do now but to put clients scans onto a secure website. This will deliver a longterm backup of your photo scans should the CD be lost or damaged, it will quickly and simply allow friends and relatives to view an online photo album containing those scanned photos.
Additionally this will facilitate easy access to a range of gifts customised with your photos - gifts such as mousemats, T-shirts, jigsaw puzzles. And there's also a wide range of standard prints, enlargements and canvas prints.
More soon.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Resolution for Photobooks
Earlier today we were asked what is the best resolution for a client wanting photos scanned for an online book printing service called Blurb.
Having checked their website they recommend a resolution up to 300 dpi. Our standard resolution is 600 dpi - what should we do?
Actually I think the service would be more than able to print from our 600 dpi scans, but the easier solution is to scan at 300 dpi. Problem solved. So, if you are using an external service and want 300 rather than 600 dpi, just let us know.
Having checked their website they recommend a resolution up to 300 dpi. Our standard resolution is 600 dpi - what should we do?
Actually I think the service would be more than able to print from our 600 dpi scans, but the easier solution is to scan at 300 dpi. Problem solved. So, if you are using an external service and want 300 rather than 600 dpi, just let us know.
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