BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: Traditional Film Photography

Angie M. Nemanic		SCANNING SLIDES AND PHOTOSHOP If a slide is too dark is it possible to fix it by scanning it and trying to touch it up in photo shop? I was taking lots of photographs with very contrasty areas in the scene. Sometimes part of the photo is very dark so I thought if I used photoshop, I'd be able to adjust that somewheat. And if so, how would I ajust the dark spots in photoshop? I'm very much a novice when it comes to photoshop. Thanks!! To love this question, log in above October 13, 2005

doug Nelson		You have hit upon one of the most vexing situations we photogs who shoot slides face, scanning the dense shadow areas of slides. Slides show density in the shadows, where negatives are thin. Most scanning software, even that packaged with Nikon and other fine scanners, simply cannot cope with the density of shadow areas in slides. Our choices are: 1. The Rumsfeld model, use whatcha got. Scan using the scanner's software, making NO adjustment, save for the dust cleanup, full color bit depth, and full resolution. In Photoshop, play with Curves, and do the best you can. Check the histogram after your correction to see that you did not deteriorate the image too much. (You don't want gaps in the histogram). Select the dark areas that show a lot of noise with the lasso tool at about a 3 pixel feather, and apply some Filter/Despecle. 2. Buy a better scanning software, such as Silverfast or Ed Hamrick's VueScan (do a google search). These do a better job of bringing out shadow detail in slides. 3. For option 1 or 2, learn to live with less than perfection. The scan will never look as good as a projected slide. The only other thing I know to do (I haven't yet) is to pay top dollar for a drum scan, using the $10,000 Imacon scanner at a service bureau, a specialty shop in big cities. To love this comment, log in above October 14, 2005

doug Nelson		REF point 1 above: Do your tonal corrections in high bit color. Only after that do you go to Image/Image Mode and convert to 8-bit. By observing this, you can get away with more tonal correction without damaging the image. If your scanner can do multiple scans, (some can do as many as 16) or if you have the hamrick software that can enable mutiple scans, use that function. You can get somewhat better shadow detail this way. While you are waiting for 16 scans, mow the lawn and have a beer. This takes a while. To love this comment, log in above October 14, 2005

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