Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

How to sharpen images ?

I have 40 3x5" pictures of a trip to Tokyo in 1978. I have scanned them into iPhoto and edited them for color, etc. & for sharpness. They are all about 100kb in size after edit. I used Image Tool to increase to size to about 200KB. I want to construct a video slideshow of them using Aperture 3.5.


Is there a way in Aperture or elsewhere that these jpg pics can be sharped for appearance on display of the slideshow on iTunes and HDTV or Apple TV?

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9), 8GB SDRAM; 750GB HD

Posted on Nov 7, 2013 7:50 AM

Reply
Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Nov 7, 2013 8:07 AM

For your slideshow the pixelsize of the images is more important than the filesize.


Waht resolution does your slideshow need, and how many pixels (width and height) do your scanned photos have? If Image Tool scaled the size of the images to twice or four times as many pixels, it will be hard to make the photos appear sharp. But try Aperture's Edge Sharpening adjustment and add plenty of "Definition" from the Enhance" brick.


The best approach would have been to scan the orignal prints with the desired pixel size right from the beginning. This way, you would have used the original resolution of the photo optimally.


-- Léonie

12 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Nov 7, 2013 8:07 AM in response to pwwwayne

For your slideshow the pixelsize of the images is more important than the filesize.


Waht resolution does your slideshow need, and how many pixels (width and height) do your scanned photos have? If Image Tool scaled the size of the images to twice or four times as many pixels, it will be hard to make the photos appear sharp. But try Aperture's Edge Sharpening adjustment and add plenty of "Definition" from the Enhance" brick.


The best approach would have been to scan the orignal prints with the desired pixel size right from the beginning. This way, you would have used the original resolution of the photo optimally.


-- Léonie

Nov 7, 2013 9:21 AM in response to pwwwayne

"100 kB" is way too small, even without knowing the pixel dimensions. You will need to rescan them at the maximum scanner resolution and save in in uncompressed format like tiff.


I don't know what you mean by "scanned into iPhoto", but you might also try Vuescan to get the most out of your photos.


Scanning old photographs is a GIGO operation. You need to get as much detail out of the scan as possible.


And I think Leonie is wrong, scan at at least *twice* (if not more) the resolution of the slideshow requirements.

Nov 7, 2013 10:18 AM in response to léonie

Oh, oh! EXPOSED! I am budding amateur novice not yet out of kindergarten!


For example, original jpg = 315x236 @ 75 pixels/inch

Image Tool scale x 3 = 945x708 @ 75pixels/inch

(I think IT offers option to specify pixels; never used.)


So that means it will be hard to make the photos sharp, but I can try Edge sharpening and enhance definition in Aperture. Right?


I do not know how to determine what pixelsize resolution my slideshows need!

(I've been making them by the seat of my pants/eyeballs!).


Can you help/teach me here? I make the slide shows in Aperture and export them from Aperture to iTunes and with some option that Aperture offers for Apple TV, iPad, HD 1080p or 720p. Then use Toast to burn DVD.


I used Image Capture to scan the prints into MBP and I only used whatever "default" setting the application chose. (I think that app offers some pixel option; never used.)


"This way, you/I would have used the original resolution of the photo optimally."


TIA for any consideration! pwwwayne

Nov 7, 2013 12:07 PM in response to pwwwayne

Minimum for a video output would be 72 pixels per inch, so you should have scanned (at 2 x) at least 432 x 720. But there is very little data to work with here. I would have scanned at 200 (600 x 1000) to 300 (900 x 1500) dpi. I am guessing your scanning software was set for scanning 8x10 documents, and defaulted to low resolution to keep the file sizes small.


The first rule in image processing kindergarten is that it is much better to throw away data than it is to invent it. When you asked Image Tool to tripple the size it had to fill in the gaps with data averaged from the smaller size, which is practically the definition of blurring.


Edge sharpening will not help since you averaged away all the edge contrast. You really need to scan at a higher resolution.

Nov 7, 2013 1:28 PM in response to léonie

I hope I follow you both here:


I still have the original prints. So I can use Image Capture to re-scan the prints into Mac, setting the Resolution of the scan at 300 dpi and size set at actual size of the prints(?) 3x5 inches. See what I get and then decide if I use Image Tool at all, depending on result . . . ? That will be my next step, i.e., start over with fresh scan by Image Capture into MBP . . . Right?


TIA

Nov 7, 2013 1:47 PM in response to pwwwayne

I still have the original prints. So I can use Image Capture to re-scan the prints into Mac, setting the Resolution of the scan at 300 dpi and size set at actual size of the prints(?) 3x5 inches.

Yes, scan again. 300 dpi should suffice for a slideshow. If you want to use the picures for other purposes, like a screensaver on a large display, you might want an even higher resolution.


Keith suggested VuScan as a good software for scanning. Did your scanner come with software? If your scanner has specific software, look, if there is a mode that is specific for the type of photos that you want to scan. Your scanner specific software will probably give the best results, othwerwise use Inmage Capture, set to atleast 300 dpi.

Nov 7, 2013 2:20 PM in response to léonie

Just remember that scanning at high resolutions (greater than 300 dpi) will also increase the amount of dust and scratches that appear in the scanned image. Be sure to keep the scanner bed (the glass you lay the prints on) very clean and carefully wipe the surface of the prints to keep them as dust-free as possible. They may look clean to your eyes, but the scanner will pick up everything. Unless your scanner has software controls for removing dust and scratches, you'll need to take care of this yourself. And cleaning up a dirty scan with Aperture's tools is a pain in the neck, so do yourself a favor and get it right before you scan.


I like to scan old photos at very high resolutions so I'll never have to scan them again. I will usually set the scanner to 1000 dpi (slightly lower for large prints like 5"x7"), 16 bit TIFF files. Yes, the files are HUGE, but those files are also future-proof in that I'll never need to scan again for any reason. If the old physical photos are ever damaged, you won't have to worry about scanning them again in the future.

Nov 8, 2013 6:34 AM in response to Keith Barkley

I re-scanned at 300 dpi 8.8 x 12.5 cm size. They look good! I didn't see the post about dust/cleaning until later but I lucked out in the scans look clean.


The scanner is CanoScan LiDE 700F purchased several years ago. I thought it had its own software then but some how things defaulted to Image Capture.


I will need to do some editing in iPhoto or Photoshop and then import to Aperture for the slideshow prep.


You all have been SO helpful! May I ask another question: I am not familiar with TIFF and have always used jpg/jpeg. (I used jpeg for these prints.) What is comparison/advantage between TIFF and jpg?


(I told you I'm still in kindergarten here, but you all are making me feel like I'm graduating to 1st grade!)

Nov 8, 2013 6:48 AM in response to pwwwayne

JPEG at the highest quality/lowest comprssion setting is a very good format for saving final images, but it is and will always be a "lossy" format, meaning it slightly degrades the image quality as it compresses the file. It does this by comparing adjacent pixels and groups of pixels and if they are close to being the same color, the format saves both pixels as the same color to save space. You can see this degradation when you look at low quality JPEGs that have been saved and resaved several times, as each time the file is saved anew the compression goes one step further toward making every pixel the same color (this is known as compression artifacts). JPEG also does not support more than 8 bits per color channel (something probably outside the realm of this discussion).


TIFF is a non-lossy format and it will not degrade the image. Unfortunately, this means the file is very large. A 24 megapixel digital camera original saved as a 16-bit RGB TIFF can occupy over 100MB of disk space. (This is why I have a 2TB external hard drive just for my photos.)


So, TIFF is a great format for original scans (think of them as Master copies), while JPEG is great for final export and sharing.

How to sharpen images ?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.