Hey, I broke down and got an epson 3490 scanner. I uploaded a new scan in the gallery: http://www.apug.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=11420&limit=recent

The quality seems to be good enough for my needs. The strange thing is I could not get a close match doing scans, but when the preview scan came up it was pretty spot on. So out of desperation I just took a screenshot of the preview scan and used it. I must be doing something wrong...

Hey, I broke down and got an epson 3490 scanner. I uploaded a new scan in the gallery: http://www.apug.org/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=11420&limit=recent

The quality seems to be good enough for my needs. The strange thing is I could not get a close match doing scans, but when the preview scan came up it was pretty spot on. So out of desperation I just took a screenshot of the preview scan and used it. I must be doing something wrong...

Sounds like a mismatched color space or something. Scanners need calibrating just like the printers. Aggravating aint it?

Sounds like a mismatched color space or something. Scanners need calibrating just like the printers. Aggravating aint it?
Scanners need to be profiled, not calibrated. But aside from that you probably will get good results simply by making some adjustments in an image editig application.

However don't expect a perfect match unless you profile your scanner and calibrate and profile your monitor. Even then color space translation from device to device usually isn't always perfect.

Don Bryant

Thanks for clarifying Don. Maybe one day the systems will come out of the box able to match input and output standards automatically for consistant results. Till then I'm not going to beat my head with it.

Most scanners do not need to be profiled and when profiled they only get you a little closser to a finished image. A profiled scanner is good for a a production environment or a truly skewed scanner, but overkill for personal use. If your scanner has a calibration routine then definately follow it as often as recommended -- I doubt the epson has one.

Preview windows even on the highend scanners using very good scanning software are not the end all and the epson with software is neither.

The histogram is far more important than the the preview display. If you make certain the the scan is not clipping either the high's or low's then you are in fairly good shape to adjust tone and contrast in a propper tool.

The image will look flat in the display (and when opened in PS) but all the goods (the complete scale) will be in place.

Basic black and white steps
Scan with histogram clipping only the empty ends;
and or turn off all image adjustment in the scanning software and In PS adjust levels to the white and black points;
in curves adjust density (see attachment);
and then adjust overall contrast (see other attachment -- please note the tonal scale is flopped on this attachment. If the tones are set light to dark the arrows are correct, otherwise adjust the quarter point in the opposite direction );
spot to taste.