I have been scanning all of the old family photos to make a history for my family.. Some of these are rather faded snapshots that include sky.. The sky portion is not coming through on the scan.. It seems to be cutting the photo in half.. Does anyone have an idea on how to get the whole picture to scan.. I am using a HP psc 1210v all in one..

Are you using the scanner's stand-alone program or are you using the scanner through Photoshop or some other program? I don't recommend using the standalone. Instead use a photo/paint program.They usually give a preview with a changeable scan area.

It would be easier to tell what you are talking about if you post an example.

Ok, I will post one tomorrow. The photos were taken in December, 1946.. They are honeymoon pictures so I really would like to save them.. I do not have photoshop.. I work with Mocrosoft PictureIt 9 pro and Photofilter most of the time.. I do have the Gimp, Irfanview and Neat Image.. I am still learning how to use the last three.. Thank you..

I would say the sky is too light and the scanner is cutting it out the same way it would cut off white paper if you were scanning something that only took up half a page, for example. You should be able to "force" it to scan the whole thing in the settings; otherwise just put something behind it like a black piece of paper to form a border around the photo, then the scanner should scan the whole thing.

Thnanks Sam, I will give the black paper a try.. I should have thought of that.. I tried changing the settings but nothing seemed to make a difference.. I really appreciate the help.. I posted an image showing the problem this morning.. I think you are right about it not recognizing the sky, as part of the photo..

Thanks Sam, a little black paper and double faced tape and were scanning well.. I would still lke to kow how to adjust the settings to make it scan without the paper.. Guess I will have to call HP..

I recall I used to have that problem once and I was able to select the area to scan using a selection box in the scan preview. Depends on what the software is like though I guess. I don't think you should have to tape the black paper to the photo either, just lay it on top. Obviously you can crop it out after the scan.

I really appreciate all the help.. I got 83 of them scanned today.. We decided to go ahead with the black paper so they can go in an album.. Worked out very well.. I have been make the keeper of he family history..

I bought microsoft digital library, on some of my old pictures I use the clone to restore the sky.

I use kodak digital roc for fixing scans, it's a pro program but automatic.It is about 45 US dollars. It will bring the photo back to almost like the day it was taken. The only software to use is photoshop elements. About 60 US dollars. Do not scan above optical res. scan at 1000 dpi. I do this stuff as a job. Also the quality of scanner is most important. A cheap scanner will not work. The above programs do not do justice to your work.The all in ones are not for the work you are doing. I would get an Epson or Canon flatbed scanner for doing keepsake photos.