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Many times when you scan images into a PC the files can get
quite large (as you well found out). The next time you scan (I don't
know what software you are using or if you even have the ability to
manipulate these scanned images) make sure you check things such as
resolution and color versus b&w. You'll be surprised at the
differences in your files sizes if you use lower scanning resolutions
and b&w.
Also, if you have access to an application called Adobe
Photoshop it will allow you to change the color (usually RGB) scans
from full to something called indexed color. This one switch has
sometimes halved my image file sizes.
I think the one thing to remember is that just because an
image looks good on screen, it doesn't mean that it will look good on
paper. I don't know my numbers here, but a screen can only output 72
dpi where a standard office laser printer can output in upwards of 600
dpi. If you play around further with scanning, you'll find little
things like these that can save you and your hard drive space.
