I am scanning photographic images of art works for a museum. When I began the process, I wasn't real sure what the images would be used for, but I knew one version would be archived, another version would reside on a database, and that version would probably someday end up on a website. A year later, I find that an important person in my museum wants to print these images on his new HP color printer. His images were predictably awful. I've tried printing them on my Epson Stylus 3000 with dismal results. I've tried converting them to CMYK images failing again miserably. I've tried re-scanning the images in CMYK. Alas, no improvement. I've read through the archives here and elsewhere to find that my pc skills are floundering in a mac dominated field. Is there affordable color correction software for the pc anywhere? I gather these images via a PowerLook III scanner and have calibrated my monitor to my scanner via Photoshop 5's calibration tool. What more should I consider?

-- Ruth Power (ArgusUsers@aol.com), June 04, 2000

Answers

Go to praxisoft.com and get WIZIWYG. If you create profiles for your Powerlook III and Epson 3000, you'll be way closer to what you need. If you set your monitor color temp to 6500 and adjust the contrast and brightness according to WIZIWYG that will get you closer as well. I've never seen a scanner that couldn't benefit greatly from a WIZIWYG profiling. It will save you tons of time, and the Epson 3000 canned ICC profiles are too generic as well. I would create the profiles (Mac or PC both need profiles) using WIZIWYG, scan RGB into photoshop, apply the profiles using the "profile to profile" conversion, and print them using the custom profiles and I think you'll find your much closer to a great result. I get perfect scanner to screen to printer matches on the 1520 and 1270 (on a Wintel box) so its all in the setup. The Mac, unless you profile your devices, will have the same problem. Also setup Photoshop to "Adobe RGB" under RGB setup, as it defaults to the hideous SRGB colorspace which will never give you what you want, and "display using monitor compensation" MUST be checked as well or your hard work is in vein. Good luck

-- Cris Daniels (danfla@gte.net), June 05, 2000.

Ruth, First a few questions. How are you scanning? Are you running Photoshop and, if so, what version? I'm not familiar with the HP printers, but the output to the Epson should always be RBG. The Epson software will make the conversions to CMYK. I work across platforms and really prefer working on the PC. I find it to be more stable, and I find color management to be virtually identical with the MAC. The advantages of the MAC over the PC are rapidly disappearing. I have four MACs and four PCs and I find myself working more and more on the PC platform. Run Adobe Gamma if you are using Photoshop version 5.0 or newer. I use BruceRGB as my color space, but I don't have the phosphor settings handy right now, but when you get the monitor calibrated properly so that it looks good to you then it is time to work on the printer profiles, and this can become tedious, but it will pay off in the long run. I run an Epson printer and have lately been experimenting with watercolor and charcoal paper and I like the results tremendously, but it took some time to get my printer profiles close, and even now they need some fine tweaking. Spend some time on the Adobe User-to-User forums and ask questions there. You will learn a tremendous amount.

Fred Imaging Services NASA Marshall Space Flight Center fred.deaton@msfc.nasa.gov

-- fred (fdeaton@hiwaay.net), June 05, 2000.

Fred,

Generally I'm scanning 4x5" color transparency (when I can, otherwise 4x5" b&w negatives, then in descending order, 8x10" prints, although I have upon ocassion scanned 35 mm slides and negatives). I scan them in at an initial resolution of 800 dpi in RGB color via MagicScan on a Umax PowerLook 3 scanner. Our printer is an Epson Stylus 3000 I inherited, so while I do have the manual (not much help), I can't vouch for the authenticity of its current settings. I scan to our a drive on our network (Windows 95). I rotate (as needed) and scan the image in Photoshop. When I know ahead of time it needs it (usually old age pinking, yellowing, etc) I make color adjustments via Photoshop. As I don't have the original artwork in front of me, I try not to make any other adjustments to our archival version and note on our collections management database those adjustments that have been made, flagging the image for re-scanning when a better photographic image comes along.

I did run the PhotoShop 5 (5.2) calibration tool (over a year ago, I think). Is that the Adobe Gamma you're speaking of?

I'm very curious to learn what settings you used. Our Epson is a Color Stylus 3000. Is that the same one you use?

Do you have a recommended Adobe User-toUser forum?

Thanks for any help you can offer,

Ruth

-- Ruth Power (ArgusUsers@aol.com), June 05, 2000.

Fundamental question: You are using special paper in the Epson 3000, aren't you? Copier paper won't do any scan or printer justice.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), June 08, 2000.