I would like to hear some opinions on which scanners do a good job of colour portraits. In particular, which scanners will give an accurate colour of faces, hair, etc. when scanning a graduation, or wedding photo, etc. I'm not terribly concerned about whether or not it has a slide adapter. I now have a HP 3400c flatbed scanner, and I'm getting very frustrated with it. Maybe it's worn out. Of course, there's also the streaky glass on the underside. It scans great scenery pictures if there are many many different colours in the photo. A child sitting in a flower bed looks great. When I scan a colour portrait, the results are always too red or purple. Someone with brown hair ends up with auburn hair. The blacks are a very deep burgundy-black. Faces look like they have a sunburn. I've tried adjusting the colour in the pre-scan by adding a little yellow and/or green, but of course, that changes the other colours too. Thanks, Kathy

Kathy, Oh, you don't know what mischief you are going to get into. That you have such advanced questions leads me to believe that it will be some time before you will get answers that satisfy you. Fair warning that the learning curve is going to be very steep -- but you do appear to be capable of attacking it. I would start your quest at Wayne Fulton's website -- http://www.scantips.com. Then, after you run down all the leads he will give you (and if you are up to it), "google" for photography sites -- specifically those that mention "Color Management." Then there are all of those books... Good luck and Happy Trails to you. Ron -----Original Message----- From: kaytt [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Monday, August 09, 2004 7:04 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [SP] Scanner advice needed I would like to hear some opinions on which scanners do a good job of colour portraits. In particular, which scanners will give an accurate colour of faces, hair, etc. when scanning a graduation, or wedding photo, etc. I'm not terribly concerned about whether or not it has a slide adapter. I now have a HP 3400c flatbed scanner, and I'm getting very frustrated with it. Maybe it's worn out. Of course, there's also the streaky glass on the underside. It scans great scenery pictures if there are many many different colours in the photo. A child sitting in a flower bed looks great. When I scan a colour portrait, the results are always too red or purple. Someone with brown hair ends up with auburn hair. The blacks are a very deep burgundy-black. Faces look like they have a sunburn. I've tried adjusting the colour in the pre-scan by adding a little yellow and/or green, but of course, that changes the other colours too. Thanks, Kathy -- Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 7.0.262 / Virus Database: 264.4.0 - Release Date: 8/6/2004 -- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 7.0.262 / Virus Database: 264.4.0 - Release Date: 8/6/2004

Does anyone have an Epson Stylus Photo RX600? It is a printer, scanner, copier, card reader. If so, please give me your thoughts about it, or anyone else have an opinion? Thank you very much, Janet

I thought this list had closed,no postings for months. I use a HP4200 c no problem Nick kaytt wrote: >I would like to hear some opinions on which scanners do a good job of colour >portraits. In particular, which scanners will give an accurate colour of >faces, hair, etc. when scanning a graduation, or wedding photo, etc. >I'm not terribly concerned about whether or not it has a slide adapter. > >I now have a HP 3400c flatbed scanner, and I'm getting very frustrated with >it. >Maybe it's worn out. Of course, there's also the streaky glass on the >underside. > >It scans great scenery pictures if there are many many different colours in >the photo. A child sitting in a flower bed looks great. > >When I scan a colour portrait, the results are always too red or purple. >Someone with brown hair ends up with auburn hair. The blacks are a very >deep burgundy-black. Faces look like they have a sunburn. > >I've tried adjusting the colour in the pre-scan by adding a little yellow >and/or green, but of course, that changes the other colours too. > >Thanks, >Kathy > > > >. > > >

Hi Kathy, It would be handy to know what photo software you use. Any decent software should have an adjustment called "Levels" - this enables you to adjust red, green and blue individually. By doing this, most color casts can be removed. For example, I recently scanned some old slides that had changed color over the years and they had a bluish cast. After I did the levels adjustment the colors were accurate again - skin tones looked correct and white parts of the image were white again instead of the insipid blue. Regards, Andrew McPhee http://mixedbunch.com/ At 07:03 PM 9/08/2004 -0600, you wrote: >I would like to hear some opinions on which scanners do a good job of colour >portraits. In particular, which scanners will give an accurate colour of >faces, hair, etc. when scanning a graduation, or wedding photo, etc. >I'm not terribly concerned about whether or not it has a slide adapter. > >I now have a HP 3400c flatbed scanner, and I'm getting very frustrated with >it. >Maybe it's worn out. Of course, there's also the streaky glass on the >underside. > >It scans great scenery pictures if there are many many different colours in >the photo. A child sitting in a flower bed looks great. > >When I scan a colour portrait, the results are always too red or purple. >Someone with brown hair ends up with auburn hair. The blacks are a very >deep burgundy-black. Faces look like they have a sunburn. > >I've tried adjusting the colour in the pre-scan by adding a little yellow >and/or green, but of course, that changes the other colours too. > >Thanks, >Kathy

Hi Andrew, I have my monitor settings set to match my printer output so that what I see is what I'll get. I use Jasc Paintshop Pro 7 as my image editor. I've used the "levels" the "colour cast" remover, the "fade correction", the "curve" etc. I've tried out everything the program has to offer. In the pre-scan, I crop around the image so that I don't get any white from the lid. In fact, I've sometimes placed a sheet of black paper over the picture to replace the white. That will also produce different results. In most cases, I can do a reasonable job of colour correcting. It's mostly in the skin tones, and hair colours that I have problems, especially if it's only one person and only a few coulours in the picture. I have a grad picture of my son. He has mousy medium brown hair, and a fair complexion. The background behind him is a greyish-purple. Maybe that's the problem. The scan has a reddish-purple cast, and shows him with mousy brown sideburns, but the top of his head is a vivid auburn. His skin looks like he was in the hot sun for many hours. He's as rosy as can be. I've been experimenting over the last day or so. I've scanned this picture several times now, using the default settings. Each time I scan it, I get different results. The coulouring is a bit brighter or darker, or more purple. Sometimes the black gown is washed out - literally. Is this normal behaviour? I swear! The scanner has a mind of it's own. Kathy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Andrew McPhee" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Tuesday, August 10, 2004 8:15 AM Subject: Re: [SP] Scanner advice needed > Hi Kathy, > > It would be handy to know what photo software you use. Any decent software > should have an adjustment called "Levels" - this enables you to adjust red, > green and blue individually. By doing this, most color casts can be removed. > > For example, I recently scanned some old slides that had changed color over > the years and they had a bluish cast. After I did the levels adjustment > the colors were accurate again - skin tones looked correct and white parts > of the image were white again instead of the insipid blue. > > Regards, > Andrew McPhee > http://mixedbunch.com/ > > > > > At 07:03 PM 9/08/2004 -0600, you wrote: > >I would like to hear some opinions on which scanners do a good job of colour > >portraits. In particular, which scanners will give an accurate colour of > >faces, hair, etc. when scanning a graduation, or wedding photo, etc. > >I'm not terribly concerned about whether or not it has a slide adapter. > > > >I now have a HP 3400c flatbed scanner, and I'm getting very frustrated with > >it. > >Maybe it's worn out. Of course, there's also the streaky glass on the > >underside. > > > >It scans great scenery pictures if there are many many different colours in > >the photo. A child sitting in a flower bed looks great. > > > >When I scan a colour portrait, the results are always too red or purple. > >Someone with brown hair ends up with auburn hair. The blacks are a very > >deep burgundy-black. Faces look like they have a sunburn. > > > >I've tried adjusting the colour in the pre-scan by adding a little yellow > >and/or green, but of course, that changes the other colours too. > > > >Thanks, > >Kathy > >