How to scan railroad stocks and bonds

Scanning and creating good images is easy, once you learn a handful of "tricks." There are several major programs that scan and manipulate images. Each program, of course, works on slightly different principles, and so the tricks vary from program to program.

In general, the better your image processing program, the better the images you will make. That is not to say cheaper programs are not good values. It is just you will need to be a more creative to get the results you want.

Many certificates are too large for typical home-office scanners. If you want images of your larger certificates, just scan them in two (or more) pieces and patch them together with an image processing program. To help you out, I have created a series of downloadable Adobe Acrobat© files you can keep on your computer. Each is tailored for a specific image manipulation program. Each are 12 to 13 pages long. In each I show specific techniques for patching images together.

(If you are using another image program that I have not yet covered, just download one or more of these existing files. While the individual controls will vary from program to program, the general techniques are the same.)

There are excellent third-party books available on the major image manipulation programs such as Adobe Photoshop and Corel PhotoPaint. Depending on where you buy them, most of these books will cost about $40 each. They are well worth the cost. Especially if you intend to sell your certificates on the web. If you cannot afford the books, borrow them from your local library. If you cannot afford a half-decent scanner, find a kid in your neighborhood to help. 

I have also compiled a short list of scanning tips you can download. These are hints that are applicable to every program. They will not tell you how to scan, but will tell you how to make better uses of your scans.

If you don't want to take the time to download, here is a synopsis.

Scanning stocks and bonds for selling on the web.

Collectors send me a hundred or more scanned images of stocks and bonds every month. Many of the images they send come from the web, primarily from private individuals who are trying to sell certificates. 

Regrettably, the majority of their images of stocks and bonds are AWFUL! Unbelievably BAD!

Having seen thousands of bad images, I offer a few suggestions.

If you want someone to buy your certificates, make them look attractive.

	DO NOT use a digital camera. Use a scanner.
	Make the photos rectangular. Digital camera distort images.
	Make them square on the page -- not tilted!
	Brighten images.
	DO NOT use colored backgrounds. Especially not black backgrounds.

Balance image size, file size, and download speed

Most of today's scanners do excellent jobs of scanning stocks and bonds. The tricks is to balance file size with your intended purpose.

If you want to scan your certificates so you can print them on a color inkjet printer, go for about 150 dpi (dots per inch.) This equals about 59 dots per cm.

If you intend to post your images to a web site, aim for about 72 dpi (28 dpc.)

The reason for such poor resolution is file size. Pure and simple. In a world still dominated by dial-up telephone connections, you must do everything you can to keep image files small.

On the web, the math is simple. Simply put, the more dots you save, the bigger your file will be. Doubling your resolution will quadruple your file size. Large files do not matter if you are merely printing copies.

However, if you are saving images for long-term storage, you will need smaller files. I suggest reducing images to no more than 6" (15 cm) along the longest dimension.

For posting images on the web, you will need to be very conservative. Make your files very small. I suggest limiting your images to about 4" (10 cm.) along the longest dimension.

File size depends on these factors:

	dots per inch
	overall image size
	the amount of color information included in each dot
	the type of file format you use

If you are publishing to the web, most people will see your image on computer monitors. Monitors really only use three colors: red, green, and blue. Therefore, scan your images in color in RGB. Each dot will then hold information about how much red, green, or blue color that the monitor needs to display. You can cut down on that information by using "8 bits per channel" RGB as opposed to "16 bits per channel" RGB.

One of the largest factor in determining file size is what file format you decide to use. For web publishing, use either GIF or JPG (JPEG.) When you save to JPG format, you will have several options for the amount of quality you can retain. The more quality you demand, the bigger the file size. I suggest relatively low quality. 

(Most of the images you see in this web site were created in Photoshop©. All were saved as JPGs with a level 3 setting. That means that they were saved as the third from the worst possible.)

Ordinary GIF images are larger than the level 3 JPGs. Experiment.

There is a special type of GIF called "GIF89a." Those kinds of GIF takes up more space, but have the great advantage of loading on screens in progressive resolutions. That means that the first image viewers see is very poor, but it loads immediately. Then the image resolves into better and better quality. While GIP89a files take longer to load than ordinary GIFs and JPGs, it doesn't "seem" like it because viewers have something to watch.

All told, I suggest you limit your image files to less than 100K for posting to the web. That is the absolute maximum! It is even better if you can limit them to 50K

Remember, you will not be able to sell certificates if your viewers click away before seeing what you have to offer.

HP Scanners

Hewlett Packard makes a large line of scanners. Many are priced below $100 and are excellent values. To get better results with this latest generation of HP scanners, review my document, HP Director Scanning Software.