Help me out on this please...Scanning suggestions?

Hello everyone.I need some help if you would so oblige.All my photos

are scanned on a HP psc 1210 all in one machine.It is at work since

I have not bought myself one as of yet.For the duration I would like

to see f this scanner could be improved.My problem is when I scan

some photos there is a textured look to the picture.It is very

prominent on some shots others not.I scan usually 3 shots at a

time,at 300 dpi setting,and depending on the shot grey scale or the

millions of color scale.Like I said it is at work so I dont really

have time to try out different settings so I hope maybe you could

help me out.Heres a link to a shot where the texture is

prominent...there are others too so feel free to browse.Thanks...joe

I'm scanning a lot of old film using a Nikon Coolscan 9000. A lot of my images have a

similar texture as your example image. For me, it is due to the film. That texture is on the

film, not sure why, but I'm guessing they might be scratches on the emulsion from when a

dirty camera was used, or during processing. If you have Photoshop, try using the blur

tool to smooth out the texture. Also, get a good look at the film with a loupe and see if

you can spot the texture on the film itself. Especially look closely at the emulsion side of

the film.

It seems that you are scanning a print, not film, right? I'd try scanning at different resolutions as this "texture" might be an interference pattern caused by the photo paper and the resolution you are scanning at. How does scanning at a higher resolution and then shrinking the photo work?

<p>I believe that what you are seeing is the paper texture.</p>

 

<p>There are many things that you can try to reduce this effect. For a more complete discussion fo this (and lots of other topics of interest), please check out Katrin Eismann's "Photoshop Restoration and Retouching" (you can find this on Amazon, etc. easily).</p>

 

<p>(1) Blur the scanned image slightly (as previously suggested).</p>

<p>(2) If your scanner + scanning software provides it, try the descreening filter functionality.</p>

<p>(3) Rotate the photo before scaning. The orientation can make a difference in how prominent the texture is in the scanned image.</p>

<p>(4) Use the dust+scratches filter of Photoshop (or other image editing software). This is basically a blurring technique, but generally, the software algorithms are smarter than a simple blur.</p>

 

<p>I really encourage you to check out the Eismann book -- lots of great tips and techniques to rescue your old photos (and very readable).</p>

 

<p>Regards -</p>

 

<p>Steve Bennett<br>

<a href="http://www.pixmonix.com">www.pixmonix.com</a><br>

Professional slide and negative scanning</p>

Contrasty negs will be difficult to scan. Some suggest scanning your B&W negatives as positives and invert the image later in photoshop.

 

When scanning if the sofware allows adjust the settings so that you capture all of the information on your neg.

Thanks everyone for the help.I tried scanning at a higher resolution and it helped the problem.It of course takes 30 mins to do but I guess its worth the time to get better images.

Glad to hear it!