gary m

<A HREF="http://www.adobe.com/support/techdocs/321608.html">HERE</A> is an article that may help.

Here's a method I learned at an Epson seminar.<P>

 

From the menu, select Layer > New > Layer... <BR>

A dialog box will open. Select Mode > Overlay<BR>

Check the box 'Fill with overlay-neutral color'<P>

 

Use the dodge and burn tools on this layer. The exposure setting for the d&b tools should be between about 10-20%.<P>

 

The effect will be fairly subtle, but if you toggle the layer on and off, you can see the changes that you're making. I've been using this method for about a year and it works great.

I should add that there will be a learning curve when it comes to digital processing. With the equipement you mentioned, you're jumping into this with both feet. You may want to consider whether or not you'll enjoy the digital process before you spend the money on the fairly high-end equipement. I started out with cheaper equipement and slowly upgraded as I learned more. If you like working with computers, than chances are that you'll enjoy the digital process. Some of the major areas that you will have to learn about are 1)Scanning, 2)Photoshop or some other image editing program 3)Color Management.

 

You'll probably be able to make a decent print the first day you get your equipement set up, but it could take years to perfect your skills in all the areas to get really great prints. (Just like it probably took years to learn the chemical darkroom prcesses well)

"Question #1: Is the 9000 too much scanner for a serious amateur with high standards?" Definitely not - I'm an amateur as well and I love the results with the 9000. It comes down to your standards vs. the money that you're willing to spend. For me, the 9000 was the right compromise for cost vs. quality. (There are higher quality scanners available, but there's a big jump in cost to get a higher quality MF scanner)

I just ordered the <A HREF="http://www.pbase.com/copperhill/image/39082096">Copperhill</A> kit last night.

Paul,

 

My response won't directly answer your question, but it should at least give you a reference point. I have an RZ 67, a Nikon 9000 film scanner, and an older Epson 1280 printer. I'm very happy with the prints I get from this setup... the limiting factor is my photography skills ;-)

 

On the other hand, I also have a Canon DRebel 350 XT. I'm not as pleased with the prints from the DRebel. I know this isn't exactly a fair comparison (i.e. higher end film equipment vs. lower end digital camera). I'm not trying to start another digital vs. film war here, but I wanted to give you my thoughts. I print high gloss nature prints, and I have a feeling that a digital camera may be better suited for matte prints.

 

Anyway...back to your original questions. You can definitely get high quality prints from a digital (scan) workflow. I don't have direct experience with the Epson 4990, but with a Nikon 9000, I'm very happy with the results.

Yes it does - it's on the Filter tab.

Michel,

 

Beau and I seem to have the same ideas when it comes to color management - in fact, he probably replied to several of my color management questions when I was learning the topic.

 

After much experimentation (and some frustration), I came to the conclusion that a good monitor profile and a good printer profile will produce great results. I had Monaco EZColor and was not happy with the results at all. Using EZColor, you have to use a flatbed scanner to create your printer profile. While this will get you in the ballpark, it will obviously introduce more errors in your printer profile. In my case, the gamut in my printer profile turned out to be much smaller than the printer was capable of producing. There was also some banding visible when using the Monaco EZColor printer profile.

 

The system I use now is Monaco Optix Pro. This software is only used to produce monitor profiles. It produces great results. (Andrew Rodney - the PN resident expert on color management always seems to recommend the Monaco Optix). I'm sure the GM Eye-One will produce great monitor profiles as well.

 

For my printer profiles, I had custom profiles created by Kathy's Profiles ($40 each).

 

Note that I don't do a large volume of scanning, so an accurate scanner profile isn't too important to me - I can correct any color inaccuracies in Photoshop. If you do a high volume of scans, it may be worth investigating scanner profiles.

 

Monaco does make a complete system that is much better at producing your own printer (and scanner ??) profiles, but it costs several thousand dollars.

 

Bottom line, I use Monaco Optix pro for a monitor profile, and custom Cathy's Profiles for a printer profile. I'm pretty picky, but I'm happy with the results of this setup.

Sounds like a great idea to me....

Leo,

 

I almost always use the glass carrier without the mask, and I haven't had any problems with banding.

What Jordan said.....

Thomas - you might find this article interesting. In summary, it states that you should expose with your histogram as far right as posible in order to maximize the signal to noise ratio. Bottom line is that the method you stated above is a good idea. <A HREF="https://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/expose-right.shtml">HERE</A> is the link to the article on Luminous landscape.

Just to add or reiterate some of what was said above, for my eposn 1280, I couldn't tell the difference between 1440 and 2880 dpi setting on the printer. And it was very hard to see any difference between sending a 300 ppi and a 360 ppi file to the printer. For photos with a lot of blue sky, I could almost convince myself that I could see the difference between 300 and 360 dpi. (And I'm pretty picky).

 

Note that your printer setting (dpi) is different than the ppi associated with the file.

I have the Nikon 9000 scanner and I don't use a custom profile for it. I do have my monitor calibrated/profiled and I use a custom printer profile. This setup works pretty well for me. The only way I would recommend a scanner profile is if you do a large volume of scanning - then it might be worth the effort. (I only do the occasional scan)

Mike - I agree that using a flatbed will introduce another variable when trying to create a printer profile. I had Monaco EZ color - it was the same type of setup. I guess that EZ color got me in the ballpark, but I'm pretty picky and wasn't happy with the results at all.

 

If you don't want to spend the money on a spectrophotometer, I'd recommend just buying a h/w monitor calibration system. You can then order custom printer profiles from Cathy's Profiles for $40 each. (After at least several months of trying different things, I now use the above workflow and I'm really happy with the results.)

I have to caveat this by stating that I'm just barely starting to work with a digital camera/Raw processing. But... I downloaded the free Raw converter from <A HREF="http://www.pixmantec.com/index2.html">Pixmantec</A>, and I'm pretty impressed - especially since its free. I haven't tried to go through a large number of files yet, but the interface seems to be set up in a way that it could be done quickly.

<A HREF="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00CT5S">HERE</A> is a similar discussion that may be of help.

I can't remember the specific Viewsonic model I had, but I couldn't calibrate it because the green gun was locked by the hardware. I'm sure not all Viewsonics are like that, but I'd recommend testing out the buttons to make sure you can adjust all of the color guns before you buy one.

Bob,

 

One thing to look for if you do get a cheaper CRT monitor - make sure you can manually set the RGB levels. (Assuming you'll want to calibrate your monitor). I had a Viewsonic and couldn't calibrate it because the green gun levels couldn't be adjusted. I bought a Sony CRT (can't remember the model), but returned it because horizontal lines were really distorted (and couldn't be corrected with the monitor adjustments). I returned the Sony and ended up with a KDS monitor (from Office Depot or Office Max). For the price I paid (less than $200), I've been really happy with the KDS monitor .

I agree with most of what Matt posted, but I would put a higher priority on a good monitor profile. Without a good monitor profile, you won't know if what you're seeing on the screen is accurate - therefore your final print may not be what you expected based on what you saw on the screen.

 

There is a bit of a learning curve for color managment. I'd also recommend reading up a bit to really understand what is going on.

 

As far as your specific question, NO - you don't edit in your new profile's color space. Your calibration software automatically set up windows to point to your new profile as the default. PS then uses the default profile when displaying information on your monitor. You should continue to edit your photos in Adobe 1998.

I have an Epson 1280 and have had a few relatively stubborn clogs, but 5 or 6 cleaning cycles cleared it up. (I know an earlier post stated not to do this - which does make sense, but it seemed to work in my case). Someone on an earlier thread stated that powering off the printer when not in use helps to prevent clogging. I've been doing that for the past several months and it does seem to help.

J.L - I can't think of any universal 'tips/tricks' that would apply to the 20D (or any other camera). Not knowing your experience level, I'll assume that you're fairly new to SLRs. My suggestion is to just start taking pictures. You can start in the automatic mode (P) to get used to the camera and learn how to transfer the files to your computer, etc. Then I would move on to aperture priority mode to learn how to control the depth of field. The main thing is not to try to learn everything at once. Select a topic and work on it for a little while, then select another and move on. You'll likely have to repeat your topics once in a while so that everything makes sense.

 

If you give us a little bit of your photography background and your photography goals, I'm sure others will pipe in with some recommendations.

<A HREF="http://www.normankoren.com/color_management_2A.html">THIS</A> page has a visual test for gamma settings as well as an explanation of the gamma setting.

Its hard to tell from your description if it's a h/w problem or a software problem.

 

If everything on your monitor changes color and brightness, then its not the profile that is getting changed. (Most applications including Internet Explorer don't use profiles). But it could be your gamma loader functionality that also comes with a calibration sytem. This loads on windows startup.

 

When your monitor changes color, can you run the gamma loader to get it back to normal? (I have a Monaco calibration system, so I'm not familar with the spyder, but I assume it has a gamma loader that runs on startup. When the monitor changes color, go to Start > All Programs > Startup > gamma loader. If your monitor returns to normal, then it sounds like a software problem or your video card is not holding the information in your card's Look up table (LUT). Although I never heard of a video card doing that, I guess that it's possible.

 

If rerunning the gamma loader doesn't work, and the change you see on your monitor is pretty significant, then I would suspect a hardware problem (monitor or video card.)

I equate buying a digital camera to buying a PC - no matter what you buy at the moment, there will be much more capable hardware in 5 years. I used to buy high end PCs, but have learned that getting a 'pretty good' PC every few years works better and is cheaper. So, unless you need (and/or can afford) the highest quality right now, I would recommend going with the digi rebel. You can put the extra money towards quality glass, which should have a longer life than the camera body. Just my 2 cents....