Computer Graphics with Photoshop - Software Needed to Scan Photos

Author

Software Needed to Scan Photos

rain2fall

2006-05-20, 10:16 pm

I have Photoshop 7.0. I'm looking to buy a new scanner. Some scanners
come with software bundles. I scan documents and have a separate OCR
program. Don't need another. I also scan ancient, decrepit old family
photos and fix them up. I also scan photos from books and, god
forrbid, old yellowed newspapers, and fix them up.

I need software that will get past the half-toning or moire. Is there
any software that can fix scratches and dust without messing up the
image?

What software would you recommend I get? Do you know of any scanners
that come with that software?

Price range -- under $500.

Rain

Mike Russell

2006-05-20, 10:16 pm

"rain2fall" <rain2fall@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1148174959.858884.132290@j73g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>I have Photoshop 7.0. I'm looking to buy a new scanner. Some scanners
> come with software bundles. I scan documents and have a separate OCR
> program. Don't need another. I also scan ancient, decrepit old family
> photos and fix them up. I also scan photos from books and, god
> forrbid, old yellowed newspapers, and fix them up.
>
> I need software that will get past the half-toning or moire. Is there
> any software that can fix scratches and dust without messing up the
> image?
>
> What software would you recommend I get? Do you know of any scanners
> that come with that software?

Re halftone descreening.

Dan Margulis discusses a method of descreening using layers in his
Professional Photoshop book that gives very good results. The best
descreening methods all involve manipulation of the image's Fourier
transform.

Reindeer Graphics provides an excellent set of plugins that can deal with
this issue and others:
http://www.reindeergraphics.com/ind...=176&Itemid=124

Another product, Descreen, has a Home version available at a modest price
and does a good job. There is a pro version for somewhat more, but still
well within your budget.
http://www.descreen.net/eng/soft/descreen/descreen.htm

There is a free plugin available, intended for Forensic use, that appears to
do the job very nicely.
http://home.planet.nl/~ber03728/4N6...lugin/howto.htm . This
looks promising as well for removing certain textures from scanned
photographs. I'll be discussing my results using this plugin shortly in the
curvemeister forum.

Re removing dust and scratches - there is a filter with the same name in
Photoshop. This removes defects from an image by detecting areas that
change contrast suddenly. It can be very effective if used sparingly, with
the Radius as low as possible, and the Threshold value set as high as
possible. I use it the most often to remove defects from shadows, using the
lasso tool to select the general area, followed by a dose of Dust and
Scratches. I then follow up with the clone tool in darken or lighten mode,
depending on the color of the defects. Dust and Scratches is an impulse
filter with a threshold.
--
Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com/forum/

Robert Feinman

2006-05-23, 6:18 pm

In article <1148174959.858884.132290@j73g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
rain2fall@yahoo.com says...
> I have Photoshop 7.0. I'm looking to buy a new scanner. Some scanners
> come with software bundles. I scan documents and have a separate OCR
> program. Don't need another. I also scan ancient, decrepit old family
> photos and fix them up. I also scan photos from books and, god
> forrbid, old yellowed newspapers, and fix them up.
>
> I need software that will get past the half-toning or moire. Is there
> any software that can fix scratches and dust without messing up the
> image?
>
> What software would you recommend I get? Do you know of any scanners
> that come with that software?
>
> Price range -- under $500.
>
> Rain
>
>
Look at one of the Epson models that has digial ICE software/hardware
for prints as one of its features. This will clean up many defects
on the prints as they are scanned.
The software that comes with most scanners is adequate, but if you
have special needs the big two third party brands are Vuescan
and Sliverfast. Vuescan is much cheaper, and one version works with
hundreds of different models of scanner. Silverfast hasn't been
purchased for the specific model you own, is good for batch jobs
and allows more editing in the scan software. Many models (even of
Epson) come with either the basic or advanced version.

A little online searching at the Epson site will get you the details.

--
Robert D Feinman
Landscapes, Cityscapes and Panoramic Photographs
http://robertdfeinman.com
mail: robert.feinman@XXXXXXXXXX

rain2fall

2006-05-24, 6:21 pm

Thank you all for your suggestions!

Rain