Good Scanning Starts Here - Part 2

Scanning Photographs

Photographs come in all sorts of finishes - how do you get the best scan of the various different types?

This instalment of our Good Scanning Guide will concentrate on prints - we'll cover slides in another article. Prints come in all manner of sizes and on all sorts of paper finishes. Standard print size, these days, is 6x5 inches, and, if you're a Boots devotee, the standard paper is a gloss finish (in fact most dev and print shops use glossy paper as the standard finish) although other finishes are available.

These are, in no particular order, matt, eggshell, semi-matt and semi-gloss. Each has its own characteristics and things to be aware of when you're scanning them on a flatbed. We'll start with Matt finished prints.

Matt Finish

The easiest to cope with, a matt print usually has no texturing on its surface and is easily viewable, whatever the angle of the light falling on it. It makes for a very simple scan - you can simply drop it onto the bed of your scanner and go for it, with no need to do anything fancy with tools or software.

Semi-matt

A semi-matt print has a vague sheen about it, as opposed to a gloss. At certain angles of light, you can see a reflection - dulled, but there nonetheless - of strong light sources. You may have to angle the print to get the best view of it. The best comparison I can think of is that a semi-matt print has the same sort of sheen to it as the cover of the Radio Times.

Generally speaking, a semi-matt print poses no major problems when scanning - because the light source from the scanner is almost at right angles to the print, and because the print is not all that glossy, you'll notice very little difference between scans of the same print on both matt and semi-matt.

Semi Gloss

A touch glossier than a semi-matt, the semi-gloss is the first on the scale that might cause problems of contrast and density in your scans. It is, however, easy to compensate for this, and all you need is a makeup brush and some fine talcum powder (non-perfumed is probably best). All you need to do is to brush the surface of the print lightly with the talc. This has the effect of dulling the reflections from the quite shiny surface, which restores the contrast and density of your scanned image.

Full Gloss

This is the real beast. A full gloss print reflects light sources in an almost mirror-like fashion, especially large areas of dark colours. Scanning such prints can result in strange colour artefacts arising because of the high gloss. The talcum powder trick outlined above works very well with full gloss prints, except that a soft makeup brush quite often doesn't dull the surface quite enough. If this is the case, it's advisable to use a ball of cotton wool and to "polish" the surface of the print quite vigorously.

This has the effect of reducing the shine without causing the print itself any damage. You can test exactly how effective the process has been by viewing the print under quite strong lighting to see how reflective its surface really is - a few before and after checks will show just how effective a trick this can be.

Textured surfaces

Textured prints can be a nightmare to scan, depending upon the texture applied to them. For instance, you can have a linen or canvas effect applied to photos these days - it's supposed to look as though it's an oil painting. Scanning a print like this inevitably leads to the texture being transferred to the scan itself, and unless it's a repeated texture, it can be the devil's own job to get rid of.

Enter Clingfilm! This readily available kitchen substance is really quite clever stuff, and here's what you do to use it:

First, place your textured print on a stiff backing card.

Now tear off enough clingfilm to cover both the print and the card, and tape it into place at the back of the mounting card. Make sure you pull it quite tight, smoothing out any wrinkles as best you can.

Now take a hair dryer set to a medium to high setting and warm the clingfilm - it will tighten, but won't drop into the texture of the print.

Treat the final result as though it was a full gloss or semi-gloss print.

You will find that the clingfilm "smooths out" the texturing on the print, but it may cause a slight blue colour cast, which you may need to filter out as you edit your scan.

That's it for this time - next time, scanning photos from magazines and other printed sources.

Part One Calibration

Part 3 Scanning from Magazines

 

David Dorn