Scanning Original Photo at a Larger Percentage than 100%

Jim,
It's not quite clear from your question exactly what you are trying to do. I can think of 2 things:

1 - if you scan your image at a higher resolution (say 600dpi vs. 300dpi) then it will appear larger on your computer monitor (because there are more pixels). That's what you would do if you want to have a larger image on screen.

2 - if you just want to enlarge the image for printing, then normally you could use a +Scale function+ when you scan or edit the image. For example, you should be able to do this in Photoshop when you import an image from the scanner; there should be a Scale setting that you can change to 200% or 300% as you are used to doing. Alternatively there is usually a +Target Size+ setting where you can set the exact horizontal & vertical dimensions of your target image. Even after scanning, you can resize the image in Photoshop. One note: if you do intend to enlarge the image, it's best if you scan it at a higher resolution in the first place, say 600dpi if you want to enlarge the image 2x for printing.

I use VueScan for all my scanning, it's a great app, I recommend you look at it. Photoshop Elements and Photoshop also have these functions.

However there is a possibility you have an old(er) HP scanner that is no longer supported - you should check with HP Support to see if they have an updated driver for Snow Leopard.

Please tell us what HP scanner you own. I bought my first (and probably last) HP scanner late last summer before Snow Leopard appeared. I was bummed because the scanner no longer worked under SL. HP does provide drivers for scanners that you can download from their website, depending on your model. My problem was that it took a lot longer for HP to release the drivers than what they promised.

My previous scanners have all been made by Epson. I like their scanner software much more than HP.

So I just now opened my HP scanner software and it appears that there is no obvious way to scan at larger percentages like you want. However, it is easy to make an adjustment for "resolution." In fact, when you scan at a larger percentage all you are doing is increasing the resolution of the scan. Most of this issue depends on what you want to do with your scans. If the image is only going to be seen on a computer monitor, a resolution of 100 dpi will usually work. If you want to print to a inkjet printers, then a resolution of 200 dpi or so will work. But if the photo will be going into a magazine which will be printed on an offset press, then you usually need a resolution of around 300 dpi.

If you scan a 3x5 photo at a resolution of 300 dpi, and then use Preview to increase the size of the photo, then the resolution of 300 dpi will decrease. (That is why on digital cameras you should only use the "optical" zoom and not the "digital" zoom.) Depending on how you plan to use the photo, the lower resolution can be an issue. So if I want to enlarge a photo when I scan it, all I need to do is just scan it at a higher resolution. Then I can use Preview, or better yet Photoshop to change the size of the photo. And on my HP scanner software this is one of the adjustments that can be made easily.

I need to go mow my yard. I am sure you will get more helpful suggestions. But first tell us the model of the scanner.

Arch

That makes no sense. You can only scan something as large as it is, not larger, nor smaller. What you can do is scan at a high resolution and print at a lower resolution, which will result in a larger picture.

Scanner drivers usually do allow for different resolutions. But it is still the same size picture.

The *scan area* is the area within the crop or boundary markers when you scan the image, yes. However, the *scan resolution* determines the pixel dimensions of the image ... and the *scale factor* sets the default dimensions at which the scanned image will print. So, in effect, by setting a scaling factor you are setting the dimensions of the printed image.

The reason for scanning at a higher resolution is so there are enough pixels in the image to compensate for the scaling.

Good quality printing requires about 200-240 dpi (printed dpi, not pixels). If your original image is scanned at 300ppi and printed at 100% the printed image will look good because there are more pixels than the printed dpi. But at 200% scaling the same number of image pixels are spread across 2x the printed dimension, giving you only about 150 dpi which may not look so good. By scanning at 600ppi instead, you double the pixel count and your 200% printed image will effectively be 300dpi, well in the range needed for quality printing.

Jim,

I too noticed that Image Capture and Preview have no way to scale a scanned image. The old HP Scan Pro software that ran on 10.5 had the ability to scan an image coming directly from the scanner.

For example, when scanning at 300 dpi, a 3 inch by 2 inch selection generates a 900 by 600 pixel image scaled at 100%.

But using HP Scan Pro to scale the scan to 200% the same selection generates a scanned image 6 inch by 4 inch (1800 pixels by 1200 pixels).

I hope this scaling function is added to Image Capture and Preview. I too think it is better to scale using the scanner hardware than to enlarge a lower resolution image with software alone.

Dick

Open the scanned item in Preview and change the size there. Works here w/HP PhotoSmart C4680 AIO