How to Scan Large Pictures

Set up the scanner with a clear work area around it. You will want to be sure that when you lay your over-sized photograph on top of the scanner, any part of the photo that hangs off the edges will not get bent or otherwise damaged. The National Archives of Australia (reference 1) indicates that excess handling of old photographs should be avoided, but making a single pass scan of an original is a "fairly safe procedure."

Lay your photograph on the scanner and make a mental note of the areas of the image that will not be scanned. Scan the image using at least 400 ppi to give yourself digital room to work later. Scan Cafe (reference 2) offers several tips on scanning settings to achieve best results.

Scan different sections of the image in an overlapping pattern so that all parts of the image have been scanned. Give yourself details inside the edges of each scan so that you can align the images properly in the following stages. In a photo that only slightly exceeds the scanning surface, you would need at least six scans to get the entire image with sufficient overlap.

Open the first scanned image with your photo editing software and adjust the canvas size. The method for doing this will differ depending on the software you're using, but you will want to create a work space that is somewhat larger than the finished size of the photograph. If your original image was 18 inches by 24 inches, for example, you will want to create a space that is larger, perhaps 20 inches by 28 inches.

Copy the next scanned image into a new layer on this canvas. Adjust the opacity level of the second image/layer to between 50 percent and 75 percent. This will enable you to "see through" the second image in order to precisely align the second image on top of the first one. Once you have the images aligned, return the layer opacity back to 100 percent and merge the two layers. Repeat this process to incorporate each scan.

Adjust or repair the fully reconstructed image using the same techniques you would use when restoring or touching up any other image. Remove red eye, scratches, adjust color balance or fix anything else that needs work. At this point, decide if you wish to save your image in a digital archive and/or want to prepare it for printing. Shutterbug (reference 3) points out that exporting for printing will require at least a 300 resolution for a quality print.