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[OM] Re: Scanning 101 question

Subject: [OM] Re: Scanning 101 question
From: Manuel Viet <oly@xxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 11 Aug 2005 03:11:10 +0200
Le jeudi 11 Août 2005 02:19, Andrew Dacey a écrit :
> On 8/10/05, NSURIT@xxxxxxx <NSURIT@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> > I'm making my first attempt at scanning B&W negatives on my Epson 3200
> > scanner and am using the neat little MF film holder recommended by Chris.
> >   When I'm ask how I want them scanned, do I select 48 bit color, 24 bit
> > color, 16 grayscale or 8 grayscale.  Then what format is going to work
> > best, Tiff,  bitmap, JPG or whatever other choices that are offered.

> My technique may be a bit more complicated than what you're looking
> for but I've found it gives good results.
>
> First I scan the neg as a positive in 16-bit grayscale. I use Vuescan
> and have it simply output the raw file with no adjustments at all.

Scanning is like cooking : many different recipes intended to magically 
produce the "best" result, where "best" widely depends on the taster.

So I'll bring my touch of salt and pepper : after much fiddling with my 
antique but still working HP flatbed, I noticed the scanner does not handle 
grayscale scanning properly, because it scans only the "red" layer of the 
picture, then filling up G & B channels with the R value to achieve a grey 
output. This leads to very contrasty images, very dark, too.

So, as a rule of thumb, I now perform scanning at the best resolution, full 
colour, whatever be the source. To go grayscale, in the event of a BW source, 
I use the saturation / hue tool, to set contrast at the desired level (hue is 
zeroed, of course). A bit of sharppening to account for the scanner glass 
loss of resolution, and finally, I set B, W, and G points with the histogram 
to fine-tune, and save the result depending on the intended output.

It's much probable that modern scanners handle better grayscale scanning 
nowdays, but I consistently bring "better" gray with the saturtion / hue tool 
than the firmware algorithm of any device.

[warning : chez.com is annoying like plague. It riddles every site hosted with 
advertizing popups, so better use firefox with proper settings]
For examples : http://www.chez.com/sordm68/Anniversaires/

(note : no artistic value intended, just a summer party with friends ; I 
happen to be img0028 - OM-1, 28/3.5 & 50/1.8, Tri-X, flash, then printed on 
agfa rc 10x15 cm and scanned as above - out of focus pictures to be blamed on 
the exceptional quality of the champagne served that night).
-- 
Manuel Viet

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