Image capture, tiff and photoshop issues on the Mac

I have been involved in a multi-year project scanning old photographs. My process was to use Image Capture on the Mac to capture a tiff file and then automatically load it into Lightroom CC. Image Capture has a nice feature that defines the appropriate scanning area, even if the picture had an angle to it (Image capture would create an angled scanning box). This approach worked very well for about 5 years. About a year or so ago, after an upgrade on my Mac, the following problem occurred:

 

1. Scan an image that is at an angle as a tiff file. This file will be corrupted as opened by PhotoshopCC. If you scan without an angled scanning box, it is fine.

2. Without making any changes, scan the same image saving it as either JPEG or PNG and the resultant file will be ok when opened by PhotoshopCC. So the problem seems only related to tiff files.

2. Now open the tiff file (that is corrupted) in preview on the Mac (it should look ok) and then export the picture to create a unique copy. For export as TIFF there are four options: None, JPEG, LZW and Packbits. For JPEG, LZW and Packbits, you have the additional choice of selecting or unselecting 'Alpha'. With option None and all all other options with 'Alpha' selected, the exported files will be corrupted as viewed by PhotoshopCC. ON THE OTHER HAND, if 'Alpha' is unselected, the resultant exported file will appear to be ok in PhotoshopCC.

 

Problem occurs in exactly the same way across three different computers, 5 different scanners and I think has been around since OS 10.12.

 

Has anyone else noticed this kind of problem and if yes, did you find a solution?

 

Has anyone used other scanning software that 'automatically recognizes the print boundary.'

 

Thanks

Your software which automatically crops and straightens scanned images seems to produce a TIFF format which is not compatible with MAC software. If the un-straightend images work, then it is easy to straighten them in Lightroom or Photoshop without significant loss of quality. Straightening always involves resampling unless in 90 degree increments. The process is completely non-desctrive (easily reversed) in Lightroom.

 

Under "Preferences" in Photoshop CC there is a tab labeled "File Handling." This option has a check box titled "Ignore Rotation Metatada." This may be the solution to your problem with older files. You can also "Import" directly from a scanner or camera into Photoshop (or Lightroom) using the basic driver software for your scanner.

 

If you get the same results with several scanners, It is time to alter your process or use different capture software.

Ed, The scanning software is Image Capture, designed and provided by Apple.

 

When one tries to import the image into lightroom, it says the file is not readable. Is there a similar preference choice in Lightroom? I looked but did not find anything.

 

Yes, and if one uses Photoshop to directly scan on the Mac, it goes to Image Capture and has the same problem.

 

I will try the 'File Handling preference' when I get back to my scanning computer

Please upload a link to the file so other's can try on their end. I see no reason why LR should barf on that TIFF but I'd like to test it.

Can you advise me as to how to upload a .tiff file. It is not large

 

Try this link: Dropbox - Scan.tiff.

 

If you just open the link it may seen ok, but download it to your computer and then try to open in Photoshop

Edited April 9, 2018 by stevenseelig

Dropbox worked. And I had zero issue opening that TIFF in Photoshop CC (latest version). Or Preview. Nothing wrong with it from this end.

The right 25% of the image is corrupted when I open the TIFF file in Photoshop. I see the entire image when I open it with Apple Viewer, but it is corrupted when I save it as a TIFF file under a new name. However I can save (export) it as a JPG file from Apple viewer and open it properly, without destroying the original TIFF.

 

UREKA! Open the file (double click in OSx) in Apple Viewer, then export the file as a TIFF with the ALPHA box unchecked, and compression = NONE. It then opens normally in Photoshop CC

@digitaldog--How much of the image do you see? How much of the horizontal view can you see. Can you send me a screen shot at saseelig@comcast.net I have the latest version of Photoshop CC. Are you on a mac or pc?

Yes Ed. That is exactly correct. I would add that you can save without the alpha channel check, but that is not an effective workflow solution.

 

So why do you see 25 right side corruption but digitaldog thinks it is ok...

I saw all of it earlier. Did you change the document from DP? Because now I see what you're talking about but saw the entire image in both PS and Preview. Kind of impossible to miss this the 1st time.

I did not change anything on the Dropbox file...

It's how you're saving the TIFF; what parameters are you using? It's odd it comes in as a layer so see the last bit below.

 

Byte Order: Mac or PC? Well that’s a debate that will continue on, but in this case, pick PC since the Mac will have no issues with this Byte order but the ancient PC software may.

 

Pixel Order: Interleaved is supposed to be a more common way of saving a TIFF and the default, traditional method used by Photoshop from day one. The Per Channel option is supposed to be a little faster at reading and writing the data. The dialog does give some idea of what the differences are; the pixel order is the way color information is written in the document, so with interleaved, each pixel is written in the RGB sequence (RGB, RGB, etc) while Per Channel is written in that order (RR, GG, BB etc).

 

Save Image Pyramid: This is an option few need to worry about as few modern applications utilize this method of storing multiple resolution levels within a single document. If you’re old enough to recall Kodak PhotoCD, FlashPix or Live Picture’s IVUE format, you have experienced formats that used multiple resolution levels within a single document. TIFF also supports this mode and hence, its an option in the Save dialog. You probably have no reason use it however.

 

Layer Compression: How should the layer data be compressed? Note that with layers, it’s the pixels themselves, not the transparency that accounts for the increase in document size. So if you have a 2nd layer that is all pixel data, it will take up far more space than a layer that has only a small part of image data, surrounded by transparency (the checker board). An Adjustment layer is tiny, its essentially metadata describing a correction. RLE (Run Length Encoding) uses a lossless compression much like LZW on your layers. Or you can use Zip for an even smaller document but at the expense of speed in saving and opening the document. Both greatly aid in keeping the resulting TIFF with backwards compatibility to a manageable size. Your call here, faster speed or smaller documents?

So Ed, why saving the file as a tiff without the alpha check doing? Any clues?

Opens fine in Preview.

 

Yes digitaldog, it does open fine in Preview. That is not the problem

@digitaldog...nothing fancy here. Scan in Image capture and save as a tiff. I am not able to select anything of the things you mention in the export process to my knowledge. Remember I am using Image Capture on the Mac

The problem is how you are saving the TIFF; got any options when saving a TIFF like these:

 

@digitaldog. Nope....I can see that in Photoshop, but not in Image Capture. Maybe you know how to find this in Image Capture because I don't

I just made a scan using Image Capture and saved as a TIFF, no issues. And yes, there's no options there. The metadata of your scan states: EPSON Artisan 835. Did you make the scan using the Epson software or through Image Capture?

I even rotated the scan in Image Capture, again it's fine.

Hold on, my bad: I do see an issue with rotation in Image Capture! That's the problem. Weird. I recommend you don't rotate of course, then do this in Photoshop. JPEGs don't show the issue. EVEN more odd, if I scan in grayscale, no issue saving as TIFF. Image Capture is messed up!

Edited April 9, 2018 by digitaldog

I have used four epson scanners (Epson Artisan, Workforce and and two others that I don't remember at the moment and one non epson scanner). What OS are you using? This has proven true across two different iMac's and my MacBook Pro. All are using 10.13.4. Did you rotate the scanning box? All in Image Capture. Epson software does not allow for rotation of the scanning box. What scanner are you using?

I'm on 10.13.4 and it IS Image Capture when scanning in color (see my past post). It's a bug there. I can scan a TIFF in grayscale, no issue. But color is messed up.

@ digitaldog. I have never tried greyscale. Great...that means there are quite a number of people who can replicate this problem in Image Capture. The question is it a problem in Image Capture or in Photoshop/LR trying to read the file. I have talked with Apple for over a year without success and have contacted Adobe and so far they have not provided feedback

@ ed....do you have a mac to see what happens if you scan?

You're options are to open existing scans and re-save from maybe Preview. And NOT using Image Capture with rotation in the future. Trying to get Apple to help you is fruitless. I know as I've worked directly with them on a number of issues and getting to the right people without them hiring you first is a waste of time <g>. LR will not open the files; I tried that too. Graphic Converter will open them correctly so it's a combo of Photoshop/LR and Image Capture (after all, some app's open them correctly). IF you have many of scans already, Graphic Converter may be the best option as it can do batch re-saving which could save a lot of your time. All for $40:

Lemke Software: Image Editing, Slideshow, Browser, Batch Conversion, Metadata and more on your Mac