Photo slides transfer to DVD

[cyber-junkie]

Not sure where this goes so...

My family has some old but in good shape slides that quite a few would like put on a dvd and copies for the family.

Might like to get it set up with music and the pics changing every so often, a couple people thought that would be good and others did not, so that's not necessary, just want to be able to transfer them right now.

How do I get this done and what will it take?

Thanks

[*Bix*]

Either way, you need a slide scanner.

If you just want them to be able to see the photos, they can look at them on their computers or on DVD players that can view JPEGs (lots can).

If you want to make a slideshow with music, you need to do it in editing software.

[admin]

Same as what Bix said, but the longer version...

You need three main ingredients:

1. Cleaning supplies. Get a safe photo solution and slide-friendly cloth to clean the slides if they are dirty in any way. A scanner magnifies impurities at least 100-fold or more.

2. A good slide scanner. Those $100 or under jobs won't cut it -- they'll just give you a lousy blurry/off-color image. Good example of what not to buy is the VuPoint, PanDigital or FlashPoint slide and film scanner found at places like Geeks ($30), Walmart ($79) and Adorama ($59). I have a professional Minolta USB slide scanner for sale for $200 if you're interested. Or I can help you look for something else, either way. Give budget of at least $100 or more. (Remember, you can re-sell it when you're done with the project!) Most acceptable scanners start at $200, and the better ones are in the $500+ range.

3. Slideshow software (or a slideshow creation method). Several programs have already been review here. For reviews on DVD slideshow software, see http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/show...views-290.html -- and those are still accurate findings as of December (re-reviewed everything). Some good related reading here, too: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/show...w-111-282.html

Outsourcing the scanning to a company is another idea. (We scan slides, FYI.)

If you're not wanting to make a slideshow DVD -- just wishing to place images on a data disc -- then remember to keep high resolution for at least a 4x6 or larger print. Forget all the "megapixels" BS, anything at ~3MP or above is going to be fine, if you're determined on counting the MP's.