Off-topic: Converting slides to CD
 

Sorry if this is too far off topic but we have hundreds of slides taken from past Europe trips. They are rather hard to view. Does anyone know if it is possible to convert slides to CD?<BR><BR>Thanks for any information.

I have a HP Photosmart scanner that will scan slides which could then be transferred to CD. You could also have a video made of them--inquire at Walmart, for example, for the video. A camera shop could probably scan to CD.

I bought a scanner that has a slide/negative adapter (light box on the inside of the lid so it shines through the slides onto the scanner platen.) The slides or photo negs go into holders that sit on the flatbed glass. Didn't cost much more than a vanilla scanner and works fine. Then burn the scanned images to a CD like you would any other file. If you scan at a high resolution the results are fine.

If you put some specifics regarding your computer, perhaps you good get some recommondations on models, types of resolution, associated software. It is a very tetious process but once completed you have a handy way to access your pictures and half way to making a website.

Digital,<BR><BR>Actually when I posed the question I was thinking more of whether it was technically possible and who would do it.<BR><BR>I've learned that it is possible and if I buy a scanner I can do it myself. I'm not the most computer saavy person in the world but I might be able to manage it.<BR><BR>My computer is your basic pc with 20 gigs of hard drive with a CD burner. I would assume you can get scanners capable of different resolutions.<BR><BR>What is a good resolution scanner to get which would allow good detail (in case I wanted to print)without taking up too much storage space on a CD? Do you need a special "photo scanner" or will any scanner with the slide adapter mentioned above work?

Most inexpensive flatbed scanners can easily scan at 300 - 600 dpi, with software that can "enhance" this beyond the hardware's abilities. If you're planning to print the slides for display purposes, you'll want to scan them at a high resolution (can be a big TIFF file) so that they can be printed without excessive graininess. But CD-R disks hold 800mb of data or so, so even if your files are huge (say 2mb each) you can still hold 400 pix on a $1 CD. Scrub them off your hard drive once you're finished burning the CD, or else it will hog a lot of disk space. Or you can convert most image files to "jpeg" format (plentiful free software) which saves a lot of disk space, although word has it at some loss of detail (which I've never noticed.) If you're not printing them, or just interested in showing them on a monitor or website, even the 300 dpi is more than you need.<BR><BR>The scanners that are dedicated just for slide or negative reading probably do a better job, but at a high price for a specialized machine. The elcheapo flatbeds (with a scanner attachment) are probably good enough for most applications.

I never thought of this (talk about lack of imagination!). What a great question.

I recently bought an Epson Perfection Photo Scanner 1650 that has a transparency adapter -- about $230 at Costco. I haven't printed anything yet, but the quality I see on the screen looks very good. I'm scanning negatives and saving them to CD.