Of scanning and Photoshop

[PerPlunk]

Hi, I am having problems in scanning 6x4,5cm film. The following is taken on Fuji Velvia 50 and was scanned on a Nikon Coolscan 8000ED. Unfourtuntaly the film looks quite a bit better then the scan, and I have been unble to make it look as good using Photoshop's manual level adjustment, brightness/contrast, and some of the other basic tools. (For reference I mainly used the manual level adjustment using the Threshold function to find the white and dark points).

The film version just looks a lot more alive. The colors are not as dull. The red rocks are brighter, the sky is brighter, the greens are bright green, and the highlights on the tree are brighter...

What I'm not sure is where the problem lies. Is it my scanning technique, or is it just some adjustments that need to be made with photoshop? These are the scanning settings that I am using:

- Digital Ice is on, Roc and Gem are off.
- 8 Bit color depth.
- 2x pass.
- Superfine (One pass per color) is off.

I've tried playing with the scanning settings, so I am thinking that it is just something I need to be doing in photoshop. Thanks for any feedback.

[gahspidy]

I scan as well, but I scan color negative film on a minolta dimage dual scan lll. . . not nearly as high resolutiion as you can get from your scans. I can only offer that you scan at the highest settings use 48bit color depth color space adobe 1998 and finally. . .images on your monitor will not look as fine and bold as they will on a good print. Scan at best quality and see what you think of it as a top quality print ( be it an ultrachrome Giclee print or a lightjet)

[mtbbrian]

You might consider posting this in the Digital Imaging forum, you'll probably get more responses over there.
I can have this thread moved there if you'd prefer.
Thanks!
Brian

[PerPlunk]

Ah, excellent suggestion. After I posted it I realized there was probably a more appropriate area for this. If you have the time to move it I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

[Trevor Ash]

Hi PerPlunk,

I can tell you for sure that the problem you're experiencing is completely normal when sacnning slides. The reason is doesn't look as "vivid" is simply the way our eyes see things. A computer monitor is NO substitute for a lightbox. Additionally, there's just no way that a scan can capture the vivid luminescence that is provided by a lightbox.

So don't ever expect the scan to look as good as the slide.

Now, that doesn't mean all is lost. You can make up for a lot of the deficiencies in photoshop or other image editing applications. It just takes a little practice and experience to get good results. Velvia is all about purity of color (saturation). The quickest way to begin emulating the lost colors of velvia after the scan is to increase saturation. Unfortunately, that's when you also start losing subtle but important details because the colors start blowing out or aren't printable/viewable on whatever the output device or medium is.

Now, there's probably some "tricks" out there that give good results on most photographs. Hopefully people that know the tricks will share them but can share advice to help you get the best scan possible.

1. Make sure that the scan is exposed properly!!!!!!!!!!! Don't assume that it's better to fix a dark scan in photoshop. GET THE SCAN RIGHT. I cannot stress this enough. I honestly think this is the most common mistake people make with their scans. You have very nice scanning hardware that is capable of capturing a LOT of detail in both the shadows and highlights. Take advantage of this by scanning every single scan carefully. If you're using Nikon Scan software for the scanning then there are a lot of controls for adjusting the final exposure. The "auto" options don't usually cut it.
2. Always scan in the highest color depth possible.
3. Always scan at an appropriately large resolution (usually the larger the better)
4. Nail the exposure when the photo is first taken. Or bracket and scan the best exposure.
5. Ensure that you're scanning using appropriate profiles and color management settings and that your monitor is properly calibrated and profiled.
6. Adobe RGB allows for more saturated colors that sRGB. You may want to adjust your workflow as needed (if needed) to take advantage of that.
7. Learn to use the curves tool. Don't be scared of it It really only takes a few days of adjusting REAL photos to begin to get the hang of it.

All that said, just don't expect the scanner to get you perfect results that match velvia, ever. Focus on getting the highest quality scan per image and refine your post scanning skills. After that everything else will come quickly.