Odd HP driver behavior?

[Jon]

Anyone see this before?

I'm using a HP C6180 AIO.
When I scan to HP document viewer, documents look fine.
When I scan to Photoshop -- using same exact settings -- the documents
look horrible. The text is broken up into dots, rather than
continuous tone.

Does HP cripple their drivers so they only work with their own
software??

 

[Alan Browne]

Does HP cripple their drivers so they only work with their own
software??

I don't know. HP is a company that used to be great and that now I
simply avoid in order to have a low stress existence.

 

[MoiMoi]

Anyone see this before?

I'm using a HP C6180 AIO.
When I scan to HP document viewer, documents look fine.
When I scan to Photoshop -- using same exact settings -- the documents
look horrible. The text is broken up into dots, rather than
continuous tone.

Does HP cripple their drivers so they only work with their own
software??

My guess:
You are not seeing entire image in Photoshop, but a scaled down one.
Make sure you are seeing image at 1:1 size, not just "full screen".
View at "actual pixel" size and I'll bet those dots turn into something.

HP preview is just that, a screen rez preview, but you are probably
scanning at much higher rez than screen.

MM

 

[MoiMoi]

.....

I
guess I need to try TWAIN acquires from some non adobe or HP software,
to figure out who is causing the problem.

Absolutely.
Just use IrfanView for a start.

MM

 

[Jon]

Maybe I wasn't clear.

When I initiate a scan using HP's software (HP document viewer), the
scan looks fine.
This is even if I "Scan to Photoshop" from HP (which basically scans
to bmp, then loads with PS0
When I initiate a scan using Photoshop (TWAIN acquire), the scans look
bad.

It has nothing to do with resolution -- with both scans, I use the
same saved scan profile, which sets exposure, resolution, sharpeneing,
etc. I am comparing both in photoshop using a large magnification.

The problem is subtle (but present) for photos. The problem is really
obvious for greyscale text, where basically you've got thin lines.
The photoshop initiated scan basically breaks these lines up into
dots, as if they were being over sharpened, or as if the brightness
and contrast were both cranked way up. The HP initiated scan looks
like the preview, and in fact like the original document, where
continuous lines are continuous shades of grey.

The histograms show a drop on the midtones of the Photoshop initiated
scan -- darks get darker, lights get lighter.

My one thought was maybe this is some sort of gamma effect, though I
have tried this with and without adobe color correction turned on. I
guess I need to try TWAIN acquires from some non adobe or HP software,
to figure out who is causing the problem.

-JB