Scanning and then adjusting for B/W

[JerryCantrell]

Ok, probably a repetitive question but I want to know how what to do with my picture once it's scanned to make it look crisp in black and white format. I scanned a drawing at 600 dpi and saved it as a jpeg. The problem is I was messing around with it in Paint ( i have photoshop too but I was just bored and wanted to mess with it quickly) and noticed that the blacks aren't a complete, same shade black due to the inking and that the white isn't a pure white due to pencil smudges, etc. So how do I filter the image so that it's really black and really white only?

Also, what image size do you save pictures at? My pictures are huge, like 4000 x 2000 or whatever pixels, which kills my computer, I shrink it down a lot but what is the standard for scanning?

Also, do all of you use 600 dpi scanning for b/w pictures off the bristol board or is a lesser resolution ok?

Thanks a lot for the help, if there's a link to all this just point me there.

[KainWynd]

Apparently 600dpi is supposed to be a good quality for a scanned image, I think, but I"m not entirely sure. The scanner I have can only go as high as 300 dpi, though, but my pics come out looking okie dokie most of the time...

;dvl;

[Robin Riggs]

Scroll down about 15 or so threads to one called "best way to save inks in digital form".

[Baloodoo Bill]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JerryCantrell
I scanned a drawing at 600 dpi and saved it as a jpeg...[/QUOTE

Oh, the HUMANITY!

Never save your art as a JPEG!

JPEGs are a lossy format. Not an acronym like SCSI or TWAIN(*), it just means that every time you save, you lose information. Much like a Xerox of a Xerox of a Xerox. JPEGs are fine for posting to the web but, save your "REAL" files as TIFF.

(*)TWAIN = Technology Without An Interesting Name