High-end Scanning: right sizes and resolutions
One of the most common problems in professional digitization is that many people do not know how to request the service properly. In many cases, companies also do not explain clearly how it works, because they offer digitization with non-professional equipment that does not allow control over all the technical aspects needed to achieve a high-level result. For that reason, they often provide only the maximum PPI value as a reference, and the client ends up settling for that information.
With this simplification of the parameters, the most important part of professional digitization gets lost. The first thing the person requesting the service must understand is the final size needed. And this is exactly where many people, without a deep understanding of the subject, accept incomplete or unprofessional answers.
In prepress, the fundamental rule is that digitization is defined and priced based on the size required by the client (width x height) and the PPI at which it must be produced. PPI (pixels per inch) is part of the formula, and that formula must be adapted to the printing system the file is intended for.
When a client brings files digitized by other companies at 600 or 1200 PPI and claims that this is more than enough, they often do not take into account that those values were applied to the original size of the transparency, for example, 35 mm, which is approximately 2 x 3 cm. So the real question is: what is the final size of that image at that resolution?
For example:
2 x 3 in at 600 PPI is approximately equivalent to a 6.8 MB image.
At 300 PPI, that image would reach 4 x 6 in.
At 400 PPI, it would reach 3 x 4.5 in.
2 x 3 in at 1200 PPI is approximately equivalent to a 24.7 MB image.
At 300 PPI, that image would reach 8 x 12 in.
At 400 PPI, it would reach 6 x 9 in.
We use this basic conversion for illustrating size limitations. And size matters. In fine art print projects, the amount of information needed for printing is essential. For example, if a 40 x 60 in. print is requested, the digitization should be done at the required size and resolution for that printing output. At that level of demand, the file can reach an approximate size of 1.07 GB.
In High-End Scanning, the real value lies not only in achieving a high PPI, but also in understanding the relationships among size, resolution, and the final printing output. Defining these parameters correctly from the beginning makes it possible to achieve more efficient files, more precise results, and faithful reproduction based on the demands of each project.
