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Scanning from the Manual Mode / Optimizing Scanning

Adjusting Color

Adjusting the Gray Balance Intensity setting
Adjusting the Saturation setting
Making tone curve settings

Color adjustments should be made after adjusting settings related to brightness and contrast. Color settings should be made in the order shown above.

Adjusting the Gray Balance Intensity setting

Gray balance makes it possible to remove a cast (tint) from a specific color. Follow these steps to adjust the Gray Balance Intensity setting.

Click the Color Adjustment button to open the Color Adjustment dialog box.

Note:

The Gray Balance Intensity setting appears dimmed and is not available when Pixel Depth is set to 16-bit Gray, 8-bit Gray, or Black & White.

In the Color Adjustment dialog box, click the eyedropper button under Gray Balance Intensity.

The mouse pointer changes to an eyedropper, with movement restricted to within the Preview window.

Note:

If you want to stop adjusting the setting using the eyedropper, press the ESC key on your keyboard.

Move the eyedropper to a location where you want to adjust its gray balance intensity, and then click the color.

The color you selected appears in the two boxes below the Gray Balance Intensity slider.

Move the slider left or right, or enter a value between 0 and 100 in the text box to change the gray balance intensity level of the color.

set to 100

Changing the value causes the color in the right hand box to change accordingly. The changes are also reflected in the image in the Preview window.

Note:

Click Cancel to restore the original image.

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Adjusting the Saturation setting

Saturation is the density of a color. Higher saturation makes the color appear richer, while lower saturation makes it appear paler.

Click the Color Adjustment button to open the Color Adjustment dialog box.

To change the saturation level of the image, move the Saturation slider left or right, or enter a value between -100 (lowest color density) and 100 (highest color density) in the text box.

original image	set to 50

Note:

The Saturation setting appears dimmed and is not available when Pixel Depth is set to 16-bit Gray, 8-bit Gray, or Black & White in the Image Type dialog box.

Click Cancel to restore the original image.

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Making tone curve settings

The tone curve provides you with a versatile means for adjusting the intensity of the colors of the image being scanned. You can adjust the shadow, mid-tone, and highlight values, which helps to ensure well-balanced coloring of the image.

Note:

Use of the tone curve is recommended for fine adjustments after you have previewed the image and adjusted the highlights and the shadows using Auto Exposure and the Image Controls dialog box. Use of the tone curve to make initial settings is not recommended.

The Tone Correction button appears dimmed and is not available when Pixel Depth is set to Black & White and Halftone is set to None, or B/W Option is set to Text Enhancement Technology in the Image Type dialog box.

The tone curve is located in the Tone Correction dialog box, which appears when you click the Tone Correction button. The following section describes how to use each of the controls in the Tone Correction dialog box.

To save your Tone Correction settings, type a new name in the Tone Curve Name box and click Save. To delete a setting from the Tone Curve Name list, select the setting and click Delete. For details, see Customizing your own tone curve.

To apply your Tone Correction settings, click OK. To restore the original settings, click Cancel.

Tone Curve Name list

Use this list box to select a preset tone curve. There are six preset tone curves available as shown below, and you can add your own curves to the list using the procedure in the next section, Saving your own tone curve.

When you select a curve from the Tone Curve Name list, the settings in the Tone Correction dialog box change accordingly.

Channels

Click an option button under Channels to select the color whose tone curve you want to adjust. When the master channel at the top is selected, your adjustments affect all three colors. Selecting one of the other channels allows you to adjust red, green, or blue only.

Note:

If Pixel Depth is set to 16-bit Gray, 8-bit Gray, or Black & White in the Image Type dialog box, you can only select the combined RGB channel option.

Tone curve editor

Moving the mouse pointer into the tone curve editor causes it to change to a finger. Use this pointer to drag any of the five points in the curve and change its shape. The x-axis of the curve is the brightness of the original (input values) while the y-axis is the brightness of the scanned image (output values).

To change the tone curve back to its default, select Linear from the Tone Curve Name list.

Output values

These are the current values for output data in accordance with the current locations of the points inside the tone curve editor. These values change when you drag points in the tone curve editor, or you can enter values here to change the shape of the tone curve. Each value can be adjusted within the range of 0 to 255.

Note:

Each output value name has a check box to the left of it. Highlight and Shadow are always selected, but you can select or clear 1/4 Tone, Midtone, and 3/4 Tone by clicking their check boxes.

When a value's check box is clear, its point on the tone curve editor automatically shifts to smooth out the tone curve when one of the other points is moved.

When a value's check box is selected, it means that its point is fixed and it will not shift when other points are moved.

Customizing your own tone curve

You can customize a tone curve, and then save or delete your own tone curve.

Saving your own tone curve

Use the following procedure to assign a name to a tone curve you have customized and want to save for later use:

Modify the tone curve settings as desired. This causes the name shown in the Tone Curve Name list to change to User Defined.

After customizing the tone curve, enter a name for the new curve (up to 32 characters) in the list box.

Click Save to save your new tone curve settings under the name you specified.

Deleting a customized tone curve

Use the following procedure to delete a custom tone curve. You cannot, however, delete the six preset tone patterns.

Use the Tone Curve Name list to select the custom tone curve you want to delete.

Click Delete.

When a dialog box appears, click Yes to delete the curve.

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