The resolution setting in your scanning software,
measured in dpi (dots per inch), controls the amount of detail
captured in your scans. Increasing the resolution raises the amount
of detail captured but comes with the following disadvantages:
- Larger file sizes
- It takes longer to scan your originals, send/receive your scans
by email or fax, and to print your scans
- The image may become too large to fit on your display or print
on paper
If you plan to enlarge a scanned image so you can print it at a
larger size, you may need to increase the resolution from the
default resolution set by the software. Follow these guidelines to
determine the resolution setting you need:
- You will scan
the image at its original size but enlarge it later in an
image-editing program.
Increase the resolution setting in your scanning software.
Increase the resolution by the same amount you will increase the
image size to retain a high image quality. For example, if the
resolution is 300 dpi (dots per inch) and you will double the image
size later, change the resolution setting to 600 dpi.
- You will scan
the image at 100% or smaller size.
Select the resolution setting based on how you will
use the scanned image:
- Email/view on
a computer screen/post on the web: 96 to 200 dpi
- Print/fax/convert
to editable text (OCR)/create searchable PDF: 200 to 300 dpi
- You will scan a long original.
Scan paper up to 72 inches (1828.8 mm) in length with a maximum
resolution of 300 dpi or less.