Getting Lots of Green in Scans

[Ari]

Hi,
I have an Epson 4990, I'm scanning C-41, processed at home with Tetenal kit.
My usual m.o. is to preview scan on Epson Scan, open Histogram, set the Outputs to 0 and 255, and set the Inputs generally to to where the curve falls.
When I adjust input, I set the white level first, and if I go too far, I notice that things get green.

Uncorrected scan:




If I don't go too far, I still end up with a greenish cast to the photo, and I have to correct this in PS, adding magenta in highlights and midtones.

Corrected scan:



My colour correcting abilities are poor, so even after adding magenta, it either still looks green to me, or I'm not sure.

Is it my scanner? processing?

Any thoughts & suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

[Pete B]

Is this a new problem you're experiencing i.e. were you not experiencing problems previously? The uncorrected scan has clipped rgb channels so you won't be able to balance things very well. Have you tried this?. Scan as a positive with "No Color Correction" selected.

I've found a new way of scanning with Epson scan so if it seems to be working I'll post a different workflow next week.

Pete

[Pete B]

I've found a new way of scanning with Epson scan so if it seems to be working I'll post a different workflow next week.

Pete

This is typical of what I seem to be getting with my new workflow and I suspect I'm not going to be able to improve on it. I've a test film coming back next week and I'll see how the results are with that. If you don't hear from me you'll know it was rubbish!:

Attachment 62135

[Ari]

The problem is not new, but the severity of the problem is new.
I've been getting greener scans lately, even before I started processing my own C-41.
Thanks, Pete, I'll try your suggestion.

[tom thomas]

Ari, scanner bulb going bad?? Similar to a fluorescent bulb getting weak. It will give off a greenish light.

Try a scan with no negative or image, just the white background. See if it is green? Try a black piece of paper too. Check for pure black, versus licorice green color.

Tom

[Ari]

Tom, thanks for the tip; I'll give it a go.
Meantime, I tried Pete's step-by-step guide to scanner happiness, and it did come out closer to what I saw.
This was done quickly, no fine-tuning.
Thanks, Pete.

[Ari]

Ari, scanner bulb going bad?? Similar to a fluorescent bulb getting weak. It will give off a greenish light.

Try a scan with no negative or image, just the white background. See if it is green? Try a black piece of paper too. Check for pure black, versus licorice green color.

Tom

Happy to report there is no green cast to a scan of nothing.
Well, I've learned how to better fix the problem, but I still don't know why I'm getting so much green.
Thanks for the help, keep it coming if you have something to add.

[Pete B]

I tried Pete's step-by-step guide to scanner happiness, and it did come out closer to what I saw.
This was done quickly, no fine-tuning.
Thanks, Pete.

No worries. There's surprisingly little stuff on the net about scanning. Watch this space though, I think I've worked out something much much quicker and more reliable with Epson scan.
Pete

[Peter De Smidt]

There do seem to be some processing issues, with some patchiness and a varying magenta cast. I would get a known good negative and go from there.

[polyglot]

It looks to me as if your black point (i.e. film-base subtraction) is incorrect - note how the hue error differs between shadows and highlights. I don't know how one adjusts that in Epson Scan though as I use Vuescan.