How To Scan Pictures For Use In Video

Scanning photographs or printed material for use in video is not difficult, but it does require a certain procedure to look good & be aspect correct, because scanners work with square pixels & most non linear editing video systems use rectangle aspect pixels (i.e. 720X486). So here's how I scan pictures for use in video.

PROPER EXPOSURE SCAN SETTINGS: Obviously you should learn how to properly use the gamut, gamma, color, & other exposure controls inside your scanning program. If your picture isn't quite right, sometimes these exposure settings can be tweaked up in Photoshop without rescanning your picture if levels haven't been clipped.

4:3 RATIO SCAN & SCALE: Set the section of the picture you want to scan to a ratio of 4 units wide by 3 units tall (that's the ratio of a TV tube). In some scanning programs you can lock this ratio so it stays the same as you increase or decrease the size of the box. Now move that 4:3 box around the picture until you've got the section you want to scan. Make sure the pixel size (resolution) of your scan is at least 720X540 if possible, or preferably a lot higher (like roughly 1200X900). Save the scanned picture in any uncompressed format such as BMP or TGA. In Photoshop, load the scanned picture & menu under Image/Image size, untick constrain proportions, type in pixel dimensions of a width of 720 & a height of 486 if that is what your NLE system uses (don't bother with the print size area). Now click OK to scale the picture & save it as a BMP or TGA for use on your timeline.

LEGAL COLORS FOR VIDEO: In North American NTSC broadcasts colors aren't allowed to be 100% saturated. Photoshop has a filter to make pictures legal for broadcast (found under Filter/Video/NTSC Colors). Although this filter isn't perfect, it will do the job in most cases by reducing only those colors which are oversaturated. For more specific information on legal/illegal colors read the scopes article.

SAFE PICTURE & TITLE AREA: Remember that safe picture area for video is 5% inside each edge, meaning that most televisions will cut off a bit from each edge, so make sure your picture includes a bit extra to accommodate for this. Safe title area for video is 10% inside each edge of the picture area you choose, which means that if there is text in the picture or you're adding text later, it shouldn't come any closer than 10% from each edge of the picture.

SCANNING PRINTED PAGES: If you're scanning from a halftone printed photograph like a book or magazine (as opposed to a continuous tone photograph), a much higher original scan resolution (maybe 2400X1800 pixels) will allow Photoshop to minimize the herringbone dot interference as it scales the picture down.

By Doug Hembruff.
First written May 27/2001, last updated March 25/2004.