Making a Scan Step by Step
The following steps walk you through the scanning process. The most important
thing to remember as you work through these steps is to treat lint and dust like the
plague. In addition, rely on the scanning software that comes with your scanner.
Perfect the image beforeyou scan.
If you have a negative or print you’re ready to scan, follow these steps to get the best
image possible onscreen:- Prepare the scanner and the area around the scanner. Ideally you already
have the scanner connected and working. Did you install the scanner driver,
and have you successfully calibrated the scanner (using its built-in calibra-
tion software)? - Prepare the area by removing anything that can attract dust. If you’re work-
ing with a flatbed scanner, make sure the glass plate is clean. Keep the top
closed and prepare a cloth made for cleaning optical glass surfaces (you can
pick one up at a camera store). - Dust the film or artwork. Wear antistatic gloves, and use an antistatic brush
or compressed air to clean film. Scanners are very sensitive and will capture
dust spots on the film as part of the image. You’ll pull your hair out later
“cloning” out dust and scratches—so clean beforehand. - Load the film or print according to the directions. Be sure to orient film so
that the emulsion side is facing the correct direction. The scanner instructions
should make this very clear. If not, check out the Internet support site for
your scanner. - On the computer, open the scanner software. If you have plug-in software for
Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, open the
image-editing software and launch the scanner
software from the File, Acquire (or File,
Import) menu. - Preview the scan. A preview scan is a quick,
low-resolution scan that shows you the
image in miniature (see Figure 6.3). It lets
you plan corrections to brightness, contrast,
color balance, and cropping. - Crop the image if necessary by dragging the
outlines (edges) of the scanned area until
only the part of the image you want to
record is within the rectangle (see
Figure 6.4).
74 ABSOLUTE BEGINNER’S GUIDE TODIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
For information on bit
depth and color space, see
Chapter 12, “The Importance of
Resolution.”