Scanned Text Quality

woolbrig wrote on 9/21/2008, 7:07 PM

I have a wedding invitation that I scanned in and I'm trying to scroll it. However, the quality I see when I preview (Best Full) ist not the same as the actual rendered version. Any suggestions on how I can improve the quality of the rendered version?

Thanks,
Joe

Comments

farss wrote on 9/21/2008, 7:30 PM

Try adding a small amount of the Gaussian Blur FX in the vertical direction.

Bob.

baysidebas wrote on 9/21/2008, 7:43 PM

You weren't able to find the matching font used on the invitation?

musicvid10 wrote on 9/21/2008, 7:50 PM

**You weren't able to find the matching font used on the invitation?**

Yeah, using a text generator or scrolling credits in Vegas is much better than trying to pan / crop a scanned image. Been there, done that.

woolbrig wrote on 9/22/2008, 5:22 AM

I can't match the font. It has a custom monogram.

I've seen other examples of this that look really good. Not sure what they were done in, but what I've done doesn't look nearly as good.

I tried scanning the image at different resolutions (72,150,300,600) but with the same results. I'm dropping the image (png) on an HDV timeline, and the final render is to a SD DVD.

If I did the scroll in AE and imported it to Vegas would that help?

JJKizak wrote on 9/22/2008, 5:30 AM

Try not scanning it but use your video camera then capture it.
JJK

farss wrote on 9/22/2008, 6:21 AM

In exactly what way does it not look so good?
I've done thousands of images from scanned film, DSCs and many from scanned prints and obtained stunning results (even if I do say so myself) working completely in Vegas.
There's potentially many issues that could be bringing you unstuck but without a sample image or specifics we're all groping around in the dark.
One not uncommon problem with printed images can be the half toning used in the printing process. When the image is printed this way it's made of zillions of tiny dots rather than solid colors. This can cause aliasing problems with the scanner or with the processing in Vegas. If your scanning software has a Descreen Printed Images kind of option you could try that although I've not struck this problem with printed cards, mostly I've seen it in color images in magazines and the like.
Then again some types of paper can have a weave in it that again can cause problems with aliasing. If you've got PS the smart blur FX can wrangle some of these issues for you.
One way you can avoid these issues to some extent is as JJ said, use a video camera. The optical filter will prevent most of the nasties getting to the imager however if you want to scroll or pan the image ideally you'd need a motor driven rig to do a smooth camera move.

Bob.

woolbrig wrote on 9/22/2008, 4:04 PM

I pulled the image into AE and within 10 minutes had a scrolling version created that looks perfect when I place it on the vegas time line and render.

Thanks for the input.