Scanning Objects

[G. Couch]

Doug - I remember seeing that site! Poor cats... If I tried that with my cat, I would end up in the hospital with severe lacerations.

Lisa - That makes me feel bad that I can't even remember basic math!

[OhThatGirl2001]

That's OK Greg, my husband who has his Doctorate in electrical engineering was reading over my should and said - Yup, Doug's right. Math was not my best subject.

Lisa

[OhThatGirl2001]

OK Doug,

That's just about the weirdest link I've seen... and I've seen a few weird ones in my time - LOL

Lisa
Meeeowwww

[G. Couch]

Well, I did not manage to get the cat scanned today ...but I did find a interesting feather. I believe it's a hawk feather. Anyway, I figured it would make a good object to scan due to the complexity and detail.

I have to say, I was pretty amazed by the scan! I placed the feather on the glass and put a shallow cardboard box with bright white paper lining the inside. I like the look this gives and I think having some of the scanner light reflect back down helps bring out detail in delicate or translucent objects.

The scan was done at 1200 ppi. This really gives a good idea of just how sharp even a fairly inexpensive flatbed scanner can be.

[jerry]

Wow

That is really amazing. Now I have to start fooling around with scanner boxes. Thanks for the info. Greg.

Jerry

[debelieson]

What a fascinating thread (except for the math parts, of course)! Lots of great information and links. It's got me wondering what objects I can scan, without moving too far from my chair. Thanks.

[G. Couch]

Here is the National Geographic article I mentioned...Moth scans


They used an EverSmart Pro II scanner... a bit more than most of us can afford!

- Greg

[OhThatGirl2001]

You've peeked my interest... I tried scanning a pen do see how well my scanner does with 3-d objects.

Lisa

[OhThatGirl2001]

I guess I'll have to wait until my kitty brings in a feather to see how well it does with that. Did you get a chance to check out the alt.binaries scanners. I found it very useful.

Lisa

[G. Couch]

Lisa - I've been on that newsgroup a few times and found it to very helpful when I was looking to buy my current scanner. I have not been on newsgroups much since finding this site though!

I scanned a few more things today, including a dead cricket , a cool chunk of bark, and a really old key. I'm thinking of devoting a chunk of my web site to a page of scanned objects. I'll post it if I ever get around to making it! (...and if I ever stop making silly album covers )

Scanning objects seems to be a good way to really push your scanner to it's limits. A real object contains far more visual information than even the sharpest transparency. A good example is when I scan an object at 1200 ppi and then again at 2400ppi. When I have done this with slides or negatives, I can only tell a small amount of difference between the two scans. This led me to believe that Epson's claim of 2400ppi optical was a bit exaggerated. However, scanning a real object at the two different resolutions resulted in a tremendous difference!

[Ed_L]

Wow! I haven't seen this thread in a couple of days. You guys have been from rocket science math to scanning dinosaur leg bones! It's all very interesting.

Ed

[G. Couch]

Ed - I'm leaving the math to Lisa and Doug!

I'm not up to dinosaurs yet, but I had fun scanning a cricket...The spiders in the house are quivering in fear!

[G. Couch]

a spider's head...the marks in the picture are millimeters

[OhThatGirl2001]

Kewl. I can see there is no arachniphobia with you! I took a great spider shot close up with my old camera that was kind of freaky looking. You could see the eyes and sack close up.

P.S. Like the new avatar. At least you don't get accused of making a 70's avatar (ha ha BigAl)

Lisa

[OhThatGirl2001]

Here's my little contribution to the spider world