Vuescan and ColorManagement [Again !]

[spf.ma]

Hi,

I'm desperatly trying to untersand how all these things are working together
!

1/If I want to obtain the most accurate pictures, I have to calibrate my
scanner (LS-2000).

Here's what I did (in VueScan on Linux) :
- SCAN TASK : PROFILE SCANNER
- put my Wolf Faust target on the scanner, and copy the related file as
"scanner.it8"
- PREVIEW
- adjust the IT8 outline so that the selecting grid can cover the whole
chart (a landscape oriented picture), except columns 20 to 22, if I want to
have the B&W rectangles too.
- PROFILE SCANNER

After having analyzed and processed some stuff, my image became all red !

And every time I'm using this "ICC PROFILE", my pictures become redish ! If
I switch back to "BUILT-IN", it's "more normal" looking.

What's wrong ?
I'm sure this can be solved quite easily, so let's go to Q2 if I mean !

May I use the same ICC files on both WIN and LINUX ?

2/As I have a huge collection of slides to scan, I think the most efficient
workflow is to scan raw files and process them when I have some time (rainy
days, ...).
Nothing else to do than selecting "OUTPUT RAW FILE" and batch-scan ? I'm
thinking using "SAVE WIH SCAN" to get ICE too.

3/When my RAW images are ready, shall I open them in VS "SCAN FROM FILE" as
"LS-2000".
- How can I use the profile I've created at this moment ? "SCANNER ICC
PROFILE" ?

4/And now, what do I get ? Reliable scans from my slides, as great or as
crappy as the original ones ? Or should I modify other settings ?
I don't intend to "save" an underexposed picture at this step !

5/Whats's the next step to get usable pictues on Photoshop 7, including this
profile ? I've read several posts here about some darkness, but I'm not sure
to unterstand everything !

As my monitor is not calibrated at all, and is becoming old, I think any
"eye looking" processing will be wrong. Right ? So I just would likje to
have "as is" picture, even if they aren't that apealing on my screen.

I just want to store the most accurate pictures somewhere, in order to be
ready to process and have final results when all my systems are ready and up
to date. For now, I can only act on the scanner.

Thanks for any kind of help, and apologizes from a lost newbie !

 

[Bart van der Wolf]

Hi,

I'm desperatly trying to untersand how all these things are
working together !

1/If I want to obtain the most accurate pictures, I have to
calibrate my scanner (LS-2000).

Here's what I did (in VueScan on Linux) :
- SCAN TASK : PROFILE SCANNER
- put my Wolf Faust target on the scanner, and copy the
related file as "scanner.it8"

That's okay, but you may also give it another name e.g. Echrome if it's an
Ektachrome film, or keep the original name. Just make sure the path points
to the correct description file if you have more than one.

- PREVIEW
- adjust the IT8 outline so that the selecting grid can cover
the whole chart (a landscape oriented picture), except
columns 20 to 22, if I want to have the B&W rectangles too.

What happens if you insert a PREVIEW here?

- PROFILE SCANNER

The ICC profile will be written to "scanner.icc", or another name if you
change the default text. I have more than one filmscanner, and I use
different film types, so I could call the profile LS2K-Ekt.icc to
differentiate from LS2K-Pro.icc for Provia on the same scanner.

After having analyzed and processed some stuff, my image
became all red !

Which Color balance setting did you use? Neutral (or None) often work best
with a good profile. Also, set Output color space to Device RGB.

SNIP

May I use the same ICC files on both WIN and LINUX ?

You profiled a device for a certain family of film dyes. That should be the
same for any OS.

2/As I have a huge collection of slides to scan, I think the
most efficient workflow is to scan raw files and process them
when I have some time (rainy days, ...).
Nothing else to do than selecting "OUTPUT RAW FILE"
and batch-scan ? I'm thinking using "SAVE WIH SCAN" to
get ICE too.

That's possible. Omitting the saving of a fourth channel will save some file
space, but it will also make it impossible to benefit from potential future
improvements to IR cleaning or grain reduction.

3/When my RAW images are ready, shall I open them in VS
"SCAN FROM FILE" as "LS-2000".
- How can I use the profile I've created at this moment ?
"SCANNER ICC PROFILE" ?

Just change Scanner color spacefrom Built-in to ICC profile, and Scanner ICC
profile to scanner.icc or whatever name you gave it.

4/And now, what do I get ? Reliable scans from my slides,
as great or as crappy as the original ones ? Or should I modify
other settings ? I don't intend to "save" an underexposed
picture at this step !

See if the previous suggestion help. You may want to change the Brightness
to your liking.

5/Whats's the next step to get usable pictues on Photoshop 7,
including this profile ? I've read several posts here about some
darkness, but I'm not sure to unterstand everything !

You probably want to adjust the tone scaling to your liking. In PS7 that is
easily done with Curves. Often a slight S-shaped curve improves mid tone
contrast (and that reduces shadow and highlight contrast).

As my monitor is not calibrated at all, and is becoming old,
I think any "eye looking" processing will be wrong. Right ?
So I just would likje to have "as is" picture, even if they aren't
that apealing on my screen.

As a minimum you should use the Adobe Gamma utility that is installed
together with PS7. If you convert from Raw, you need to get a result that
makes some sense, otherwise you might as well keep it in Raw for future use.

SNIP

Bart

 

[Markus Plail]

1/If I want to obtain the most accurate pictures, I have to calibrate
my scanner (LS-2000).

Here's what I did (in VueScan on Linux) :
- SCAN TASK : PROFILE SCANNER
- put my Wolf Faust target on the scanner, and copy the related
file as "scanner.it8"
- PREVIEW
- adjust the IT8 outline so that the selecting grid can cover the
whole chart (a landscape oriented picture), except columns 20 to
22, if I want to have the B&W rectangles too.
- PROFILE SCANNER

After having analyzed and processed some stuff, my image became all
red !

Yes, that seems to be a Vuescan problem under Linux. I can't calibrate
my scanner as well. Can you use your scanner on a Windows machine? If
you build your profile there you can use it under Linux without
problems.

regards
Markus

 

[Robert Peirce]

Yes, that seems to be a Vuescan problem under Linux. I can't calibrate
my scanner as well. Can you use your scanner on a Windows machine? If
you build your profile there you can use it under Linux without
problems.

That's kind of interesting. I was amazed at how well the VueScan
generated ICC for my Epson 2450 translated into an extremely accurate
print on my Canon i9100, using a Mac PowerBook. Why should other OSs be
different?

 

[Markus Plail]

That's kind of interesting. I was amazed at how well the VueScan
generated ICC for my Epson 2450 translated into an extremely accurate
print on my Canon i9100, using a Mac PowerBook. Why should other OSs
be different?

I can't tell you why it is different. I can just tell you that the
profiles generated under Linux seem to be faulty. It's just the
generation that doesn't work. Profiles generated under Windows work fine
under Linux.

regards
Markus

 

[Bart van der Wolf]

SNIP

I can't tell you why it is different. I can just tell you that the
profiles generated under Linux seem to be faulty. It's just the
generation that doesn't work. Profiles generated under Windows work fine
under Linux.

If that's the case, I'd report it to the VueScan Support e-mail address
mentioned on the website, so Ed Hamrick can fix it (if it's broken).

Bart