Know Your StuffPRACTICALPHOTOGRAPHY.COM 75
I’verecentlypurchased
a fil mscannerand
I’ marchivingmy old
negatives.Canyoutellme why
someof themhavea bluecast?
Reg Hayward,ColchesterBen says:Withoutknowingthe
makeandmodelof yourscanner,
Reg,thiswill haveto be a rather
genericanswer!Thefirstthingto
checkis thesettingsyou’reusing
onthescannersoftware.Make
su reyou’retellingthescanner
whatsortof mediait is scanning,
forinstance‘colournegative’or
‘black& whitenegative’.
The usualculpritforcolour
castesin scannednegativesis
fr omlightleakingaroundthe
image.A negativeholdernegates
th is,butif youdon’thavea holder
yo u canmitigatetheissueby
makinga manualselectionof the
sc anareaandensuringthatno
backgroundis beingscanned.
If a castpersistsyoucan
usuallyremoveit in Photoshop
bygoingtoImage>Adjustments>
MatchColor.Inthewindowthat
appearschooseNeutralizeand
then clickOK.Why aremy scannedne gativesblue?AbovePhotoshopcanusuallytake
care of any dominant colour casts
on your scanned images.Is colour management
re allyimportant?
In your last issue, the home
printing special stressed
the importance of colour
management. I’ve never had my
monitor calibrated and I don’t really
see the point. Can you explain please?
Tony Brightman, London
Louise says: Colour management is
something that most of us overlook.
We take it for granted that the colours
we see on screen are ‘true’. But if you
plan to share or print images, it’s a key
part of the process. Here’s a guide to
the subject from experts Datacolor...
“The copious hours dedicated to
perfecting your shot can all go to waste
if you don’t make colour management a
key part of your photographic workflow,
yet many photographers still deem it
an unnecessarily complex process.
However, in today’s world, it’s more
important than ever. With so many
differentviewingdevicesavailable,
ensuringyourimagesarereplicated
accuratelyacrossall of themis crucial.
With anuncalibratedmonitor,it’s
impossibleto tellif whatyou’reseeing
on yourscreenbearsanyresemblance
to whatis actuallyin theimagefile.
Colourmanagementis overlooked
by manyphotographers,particularly
when it comesto processingimagesfor
di gitaluseonly.”
It ’s essentialwhenyou’reprinting,
to ensureyougetresultsthatperfectly
matchyourscreen.TheSpyderXis an
must-havetoolthatsitsin frontof your
monitorandcreatesa customprofileto
ensurehighlyaccuratecolours– whatyou
see is whatyouget.In fact,we reviewthe
SpyderXCaptureProkit on p135.It’sa
comprehensivepackagethatincludes
colourcalibration,plustoolsto correct
cameracolourandfine-tunelensAF for
the bestresultsin printandon screen.Above Colour management
is a key part of the
picture-making process.Left & below Datacolor’s
SpyderX makes light
work of calibrating
your monitor screen.