The "best" arrangement is to use a "copy stand" -- it usually looks a little like an enlarger. with a mount to hold the camera pointing straight down with the film plane parallel to the base, and two arms sticking out to the sides to hold the lights.
The keys are:
-film/sensor plane parallel to the art work, and as exactly centered as possible.
-two (matched) lights positioned at a 30-45 degree angle to the subject, preferrably with day-light balanced bulbs.
This allows the most even lighting without glare, and the least lens or parallax distortion.
You might want to check with the folks running the Operation Photo Rescue project, as I think they are photographing and not scanning hundreds of damaged photos, and should have a lot of practical experience.
I just had to do something similar. It wasn't photos, but artwork for my daughter's portfolio for a college application.
I used "studio" lights (Sears work lights) through white umbrellas, hung the artwork on a black felt background, made sure that the camera was level on the tripod, used a custom white balance, got my exposure using a grey card, and then bracket the heck out of the stuff. I bracketed all the way from +1 to -1 in 1/3 stop increments. I eventually found that -2/3 worked best, but your results will vary.
ifn the photo is from a printer (as in a digital print that has been printed) then it may show the lines on the photograph depending upon how good quality the printer was.
i took a pic from a print that was of a lesser quality printer and it showed the printing lines even though i could not see them on the picture itself.
ifn the photo is from a printer (as in a digital print that has been printed) then it may show the lines on the photograph depending upon how good quality the printer was.
i took a pic from a print that was of a lesser quality printer and it showed the printing lines even though i could not see them on the picture itself.
just a bit more to think about.
That is a problem called moiré, and is caused by interference patterns in the arrays of sensors in relation to the raterized output; it's probably even worse on scanners.
You can minimize moiré by rotating the object 30 degrees relative to the camera -- you'll have to zoom out to make the image fit at an angle.
The good news is that if this is a visible problem, it probably means that your focus and resolution are extremely good!
