Scan photos for archiving

Once your pictures are scanned and saved on your computer, you can print and share them instantly via e-mail.

You probably have boxes full of printed photos. And there are many reasons to scan those photos and store them as digital files.

First, you'll create a backup copy of all those cherished prints. And, once you have created digital copies of your photos, they'll be available for you to print, use, and share any time you'd like.

In Windows Live Photo Gallery software, choose Fix red-eye from the editing menu.

It's easy to improve and enhance any photo through simple editing techniques like red-eye removal, cropping, and color adjustment. This is particularly important if you are archiving older photos that have become damaged over the years.

Option 1: Enhance photos and restore faded, tattered pictures using the HP Solution Center software on a photo scanner like the HP Scanjet G4010 Photo Scanner. The software can:

• Adjust brightness
• Remove dust and scratches
• Adjust color
• Rotate images
• Crop and resize
• Sharpen

Option 2: Use free Windows Live Photo Gallery software, which can help you prepare your photos for storage by removing red-eye and adjusting color, lighting, and more.

Use your scanner software to set the resolution to at least 300ppi.

Once you have high-resolution files, printing larger photos at home is a snap.

Resolution is important because it affects the quality of your images. It's measured in ppi (pixels per inch). The more pixels per inch, the clearer the image will look up-close.

• Choosing a higher resolution is particularly important when you're creating a photo archive. High-quality images do take up more space, but they will give you more options down the road.
• Scan photos at (at least) 300ppi to create a high-resolution master. This will give you the flexibility to use the image in different ways later.
• If you plan to enlarge the photos you're scanning, choose a higher resolution. Get guidelines for enlarging photo prints through high-resolution scanning.

Save time by scanning multiple photos at once with the HP Photosmart G4010 Photo Scanner

The HP Scanjet G4050 Photo Scanner has a front-panel shortcut button dedicated to scanning negatives.

Use these photo scanning tips to help you successfully create a scanned archive of your photos.

• Make the process go faster by scanning in batches. Many scanners, like the HP Photosmart G4010 Photo Scanner, let you scan up to four 4" x 6" photographs at a time. That will make quick work of those boxes of photos in the back of your closet.
• If you are scanning a lot of photos at once, take advantage of scanning shortcuts on your HP scanner. With scanning shortcuts, you can access your preferred resolution, file format, and other settings with the touch of a button, so you will save yourself steps along the way.
• If you have negatives and slides to scan, look for a scanner with the capability to scan several at once. The HP Scanjet G4050 Photo Scanner can handle 16 35mm slides or 30 negative frames at a time.

An external drive such as the HP 640GB Pocket Media External Hard Drive is a convenient, portable storage option.

• Choose the TIFF format for archiving photos. Unlike JPEGs, TIFFs can be edited and resaved without compression loss, which means the image quality stays high.
• If you don't have enough space on your computer to save TIFF files, you may want to archive your photos to DVD or a personal media drive.

Learn more about file formats and resolution in this introduction to scanning.