What Resolution Should You Scan Photos At?
A better question might be "what are you doing with the scanned images once they are digital?"
When digitising old photographs, scanning resolution matters. The right resolution determines how much detail is captured and how useful the digital file will be in the future.
300 DPI vs 600 DPI vs Higher Resolution
📷 300 DPI — Good for Basic Viewing
300 DPI is generally suitable when you want a digital copy primarily for:
- Viewing on phones and computers
- Sharing on social media
- Basic digital archiving
- Making small prints
It creates a good-quality digital copy without making the file unnecessarily large.
📸 600 DPI — Our Preferred Choice
At ScanMemories, we scan photographs at 600 DPI.
Why?
Because your original photographs may never be available to scan again. Capturing more detail today gives you greater flexibility in the future.
A 600 DPI scan is particularly useful for:
- High-quality digital archives
- Reprinting photographs
- Cropping photographs
- Creating photo books
- Enlarging selected areas
- Future restoration or enhancement
- Preserving fine details in older photographs
For us, digitisation is not simply about making a photo viewable on a phone. It is about creating a valuable digital master that can serve you for years to come.
🔍 What About 1200 DPI or Higher?
Higher resolutions can be useful in specialised situations, particularly for:
- Small photographs
- Very detailed originals
- Images that will need significant enlargement
However, higher DPI also means much larger files and longer processing and storage requirements.
For standard family photographs, going beyond 600 DPI isn't automatically better. The quality of the original photograph and the scanning equipment also matter.
Why We Scan Photos at 600 DPI
Because You Only Get One Chance to Preserve the Original.
Your photographs are irreplaceable. Once the original has been digitised, you want the digital version to retain as much useful detail as reasonably possible.
We chose 600 DPI as our standard for photographs because it provides a strong balance between:
Image Detail + Future Flexibility + File Size + Storage
We believe your digital copy should be more than just a convenient backup. It should be a high-quality digital preservation of your original memory.
Hope that helps for now but, please remember...if you are unsure or worried about this or anything else related to your photos or order, please just get in touch and speak to a member of the team.
