Abstract: The purpose of this investigation was to determine if a relationship exists between quantitative measures of digital retinal image quality such as contrast and spatial resolution, and perceptual preferences of human graders. Ad hoc digitization of retinal 35mm color slides will be less than optimal due to the unusual light scattering properties of the retina. Quantitative and qualitative measures of contrast and entropy were calculated for two test images. Resolution was determined by the scanning procedure. A pairwise comparison technique was adopted for measuring the medical technician's visual preference, and the results analyzed using a formal, quantitative methodology. Results showed that measures such as entropy and contrast did generally correlate with perceived image quality. A single, universally applicable set of scanning parameters was not found that would consistently produce the most preferred image for all image quality criteria.