I picked up this tip from Conch-L, not long ago.  When the shell is too
thick to close the scanner cover, leave the cover open and cover the shells
and the total scanner surface with an old black T-shirt.

If the shell is dark in color, then use a light-colored shirt.

One of the biggest secrets is having a good scanner.  You can't get a good
scan with a $100 scanner.  My personal preference of the current scanners on
the market is the HP 5200C.  It will scan up to 1200 dpi, which I discovered
is more than my 96MB of Dram can handle.  I scan my shells at 150 dpi and
get excellent results.

Another note: scanners' output is in Bitmap format.  These are very large
files.  A good scan of a shell at 150 dpi can be over 6MB.  In order to
share it on the internet, you have to convert it to JPEG or GIF, and you
lose a lot of quality.

A box is a good idea.  A shoebox is about right for most larger shells.  You
can line the box if you wish.

One problem is getting the shell to hold still in the position you want to
scan.  I've tried various tools.  To get a clean scan, I have found reaching
under the black T-shirt and rotating the shell to the desired place, then
letting the shirt hold it in place works.  I used an adjustable wrench
today, but it doesn't make a pretty picture.

Scanners have an advantage over cameras.  There is no restriction on how
close you can get without losing focus.  I have scanned photos of small
shells that are 90% background.  You can scan the photo and crop it, resize
it, and have it as close-up as you want.  I've maintained a screen saver of
my own shells for several years now.

A good photo enhancer program is another necessity.  I use several.  It
depends on what image I am working on.  At a symposium at COA Convention
1999 on using a digital camera recommended Adobe's latest program.  But I
have some others I prefer. You need a program to balance color, contrast,
and brightness.  I have discovered a MS program associated with Word that
has an automatic balancer and it saves a lot of time.

Since I have plenty disk space, I leave my scan in Bitmap format for my
screen saver, but I reduce the size.  A higher resolution will result in a
very large image.  So you have to resize the image to get it to fit on the
screen.

I can give you more info on printing and other hints, since I do a lot of
graphics, if you want to ask me questions directly at [log in to unmask]

Sylvia S. Edwards
Huntsville, Alabama
[log in to unmask]


----- Original Message -----
From: Thomas E. Eichhorst <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 26, 1999 9:41 PM
Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] Scanning specimens directly


> > Re backgrounds: how about building a large black velvet lined
> > box to fit over your scanner when scanning shells.
> >
> > Regards, Peter
>
> I am sure the black velvet would work and you probably do not have to
build
> anything, just drape it over the shell.
>
> Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico, USA
>