Scanner shows texture of photo paper

[tom_raymondson1]

<p>I'm scanning some old photos with a Canon MX330 (pretty basic all-in-one) and VueScan and then tweaking in iPhoto. Some of the photos are on a textured paper. The texture shows in the scans, particularly in dark areas. Is there any way to avoid this, or to mask it without making the whole thing look fuzzy? I have Photoshop CS4 and would not be adverse to purchasing a new scanner if that would help. </p><div></div>

[tom_raymondson1]

<p>Maybe this shows it a little better.</p><div></div>

[William Kahn]

<p>Check your Vuescan software for a descreening algorithm, which is designed to eliminate texture in print scans. Silverfast has it, but I'm not familiar with Vuescan...</p>

[otto1]

Still not clear to me what the problem is, sorry.

 

It looks like scanner artifacts, try perhaps a non all-in-one scanner? I have never got good results with one.

 

In my opinion, the descreening facility of scanning software is meant to be used for scanning newspaper and

magazine photos only. But try it here, may have some benefit.

[richardsperry]

Tons of jpg artifacting compounding the issue too.

 

I would scan at a much higher resolution.

[cabbiinc]

<p>Try resetting everything on Vuescan. First save your settings: File> Save Options and name it something you can remember. Then click File> Default options. This takes the software back to a fresh install.</p>

<p>As Richard says, a higher resolution (dpi) would likely help. Your scanner has a max of 1200 dpi, unless that's excruciatingly long to scan at the dpi I would just lock that in even after resetting everything back to defaults.</p>

[gkgerber]

<p>Tom, if you have access to a digital camera with a decent macro/copy lens, you may want try photographing the prints with careful lighting. The long perspective from the camera may minimize the surface texture that your scanner is picking up.</p>

[tom_mann1]

<p>"Tons" of JPG artifacts is putting it mildly. IMHO, at this point, they are your major problem, not paper texture. Before you do anything else, make sure you are saving your scans as either TIFs or, if you must, much higher quality JPGs.</p>

<p>Here's how a pass with Topaz de-JPG (followed by a bit of selective sharpening) can help with what you have, but you don't want to try to repair errors after the fact like I just did - you want to eliminate them in the 1st place. Get rid of the blocky JPG artifacts and then we can talk about any problems that remain.</p>

<p>Tom M</p><div></div>

[tom_mann1]

<p>Thinking a bit more about your question about buying a new / better scanner .... I wouldn't worry about that at the moment. There are "lower hanging fruit". Scanning old photos isn't trivial, and rarely can you put even the best scanners on "Auto", let them go, and expect really good results. For example, if you don't aren't familiar with the technique to manually pull in the endpoint sliders separately for the R, G and B channels in your scanner software, that's a quick way to get better color, e.g. http://www.computer-darkroom.com/tutorials/tutorial_6_1.htm .</p>

<p>Below is an example of spending less than 10 seconds using this technique to remove some of the yellow-green cast present in your image.</p>

<p>HTH,</p>

<p>Tom M</p>

 

[tom_mann1]

<p>whoops... attachment didn't stick...</p>

<p>PS - In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't only do a levels adjustment on my Tweak #1 (ie, reduction of JPG artifacts), I also used the patch tool to reduce the strange indentations into the man's forehead and the colors around them.</p><div></div>

[joe_dahlgren]

<p>Tom, getting rid of that texture can be a challenge, but it can be done.<br>

I have used G.K.'s method of using digital camera for heavy textured photos and it works well.<br>

Also, you might try scanning your photos at different angles instead of lining it up straight on the scanner surface. <br>

It may take a few tries at different angles to find the angle that has the least amount of texture showing. <br>

When you find an angle that has the least amount of texture in preview, scan your photo at two to three times the resoution you need. Then straighten it by using the Ruler tool to draw a straight line, then Image-Image Rotation-Arbitrary to get it straight. This rotation blurs the texture a little more. Then downsize to the resolution you need.<br>

Then try Surface Blur, along with Gausian Blur, and go from there.<br>

There are numerous ways to get rid of texture, a lot of info online. You can also check different Photoshop books next time in the bookstore or library. Seems that every one of them, the ones that have any info at all on this subject, uses a different approach. A lot cheaper than a new scanner.</p>