MF (6x4.5 to 6x12) COLOR image sharing

[jp]

Then in PS I can pay more attention to curves and contrast and finer color balance if I have successfully captured it from the scan.

Now the 21st century thing to do would be to do each of these adjustments to a layer, but I started with Aldus Photostyler for editing scans if that dates me. (Aldus was swallowed by Adobe in 1994) I adjust each color as the scan is rarely accurate with regard to light and dark for each color. I scan B&W film in as color too, since the pyrocat stain is a color unto itself and throws the blue channel off to one side a bit. The right side of the histogram is white, left is black. I like some black or close to black in many photos. I don't often have pure white though; nothing is super bright white in the photo and avoiding clipping the white produces some natural realistic look, particularly as most people's monitors are too bright. If you were printing, you can't print pure white anyways on the inkjet, so keeping it off white is practical. Why does setting the light and dark for each color produce decent color balance? Because white is a even mix of colors and black is an even mix of colors (in pigment, but not in transmittive). That leaves room for error in the middle, but that's super easy to correct with a minor curve adjustment in whatever color is off or using the color balance sliders which I won't demonstrate.

[jp]

Now, I did blue last and the sky was lacking in cyan a little bit and the ground was lacking in red, so I pulled the red curve down in the sky tones and up in the lower tones. Color balance tool can do this too.



Overall it was lacking a little contrast, so I added some with the RGB curve. This is a good time to make any final adjustment to the white/black points with the sliders here.



This is pretty quick work: I probably spend a minute adjusting things in the scan, and 2 minutes in PS. I'm not a high volume shooter. If I were I'd say this was slow and I'd have to give up a little color control to more automated scanning methods.

Oh yeh, do any crops before you start editing curves in PS. Rotate at any time you feel like it. After saving my work, I do a resize and save for web for posting online.

[Jmarmck]

JP, I was wondering, in Epson Scan, when you focus the active area in the histograms (for each color), does it to a histogram stretch and divide that selected area into 256 values? Or does simply keep those existing values and relegate the exterior values to 0 and 255?

[Jim Andrada]

Wildflower by Kirigakuresaizoh, on Flickr

Mamiya 7II, 80mm, Provia 100

[jp]

JP, I was wondering, in Epson Scan, when you focus the active area in the histograms (for each color), does it to a histogram stretch and divide that selected area into 256 values? Or does simply keep those existing values and relegate the exterior values to 0 and 255?

I don't think 0-255 is real; I scan at a higher bit depth and the epson allows me to, so it's more than 8 bits per color. Not sure exactly. I'd suspect it fits the histogram area into whatever value range is used.

[Regular Rod]

Derbyshire Wye - Forget-Me-Nots above Black Barn Weir



HolgAgon (freepdfhosting.com/b316cbe2ff.pdf) Fujichrome Velvia 50

RR

[djdister]

JP,

Thanks for sharing your scanning workflow and including the screen shots - very informative!

Now, I did blue last and the sky was lacking in cyan a little bit and the ground was lacking in red, so I pulled the red curve down in the sky tones and up in the lower tones. Color balance tool can do this too.

Overall it was lacking a little contrast, so I added some with the RGB curve. This is a good time to make any final adjustment to the white/black points with the sliders here.

This is pretty quick work: I probably spend a minute adjusting things in the scan, and 2 minutes in PS. I'm not a high volume shooter. If I were I'd say this was slow and I'd have to give up a little color control to more automated scanning methods.

Oh yeh, do any crops before you start editing curves in PS. Rotate at any time you feel like it. After saving my work, I do a resize and save for web for posting online.

[David Lobato]

Now, I did blue last and the sky was lacking in cyan a little bit and the ground was lacking in red, so I pulled the red curve down in the sky tones and up in the lower tones. Color balance tool can do this too.

Overall it was lacking a little contrast, so I added some with the RGB curve. This is a good time to make any final adjustment to the white/black points with the sliders here.

This is pretty quick work: I probably spend a minute adjusting things in the scan, and 2 minutes in PS. I'm not a high volume shooter. If I were I'd say this was slow and I'd have to give up a little color control to more automated scanning methods.

Oh yeh, do any crops before you start editing curves in PS. Rotate at any time you feel like it. After saving my work, I do a resize and save for web for posting online.

My scanning and PS process is the same as jp's. I scanned and Photoshop'd two 4x5 transparencies yesterday in this very manner on my V700. I can get the original look of the transparency with manual adjustments in the software. With Epson Scan the automatic settings clip tones and colors, and never give me the original colors and never the proper contrast range of the film. It's worth learning how to adjust the manual settings. Photoshop works goes easier too.

[koraks]

Some autumn color shots made in a local park on negative film (Ektar and Agfa Optima 100). Developed at home in what now seems to be slightly degrading chemistry (after many rolls and sheets). Mamiya 645 handheld, 80/2.8 wide open, mostly 1/60s, so not the sharpest pics one could imagine. But still satisfying to have made these quickies. Scanned with a 4990 and the software it came with. Color and contrast to taste with curves and hue/saturation. Yes, I do like candy bar colors, sue me...


Ektar


Agfa Optima


Agfa Optima


Ektar

[alanbutler57]

One of my first twin lens shots, two flashes on a bracket one bounced off the ceiling, I really need to re-scan a bunch of old stuff now that I have a decent scanner. My kids, taken a little over 30 years ago with a Yashica "A".


Then, from about 20 years ago with an Agfa Isolette.

Then, about 13 years ago, Mamiya 645 w. Tiffen Warm/Soft FX II.

Then three years ago, the boy greeting his bride after his last tour (not color, but it's the last medium format I've got of any of the kids). Taken with a Zeiss Ikon and a shaky hand.