Photo Scanning Checklist

Use a microfiber cloth and glass cleaner. Even small dust particles will appear in your scan.

Use a soft brush or compressed air. Never use liquids on the photo surface.

Oils from fingers can damage old photos. Consider wearing cotton gloves.

Place under heavy books for a few hours. Don't force severely curled photos.

For small photos or those you want to enlarge, use 600 DPI. Higher = better for AI colorization.

Even for B&W photos, color mode captures more tonal information for better colorization results.

TIFF preserves all quality. JPEG compression loses detail. PNG is a good compromise.

Turn off auto-color, auto-contrast, and sharpening. These can interfere with AI processing.

Check alignment and settings before the final high-resolution scan.

Use the scanner edge as a guide. Crooked scans may need rotation that reduces quality.

For thick or mounted photos, don't force the lid. Use a dark cloth to block light instead.

Scan slightly beyond photo edges. You can crop later, but you can't add what wasn't scanned.

Look for dust spots, scratches, or blurriness that might affect colorization.

Keep the original scan before any editing. Store in multiple locations.

Include date, subject, and location if known. Example: '1952_grandma_wedding_chicago.tiff'

Store in acid-free sleeves or albums, away from light, heat, and humidity.