A Dear Friend pointed out to me that many images in my recent Gallery series on the Circus World Museum seem to lack contrast, and are washed out. Also, the color balance appears wrong. I had a lot of difficulty scanning these, and the future Fall Color series, for unexplained reasons. The negatives look properly exposed. Particularly some of the Fall pictures (some, but not all) had their "straight" scan histograms really skewed to the bright side. Seemed to be a green/cyan cast, (particularly to the deep golds of the gilded wagons). Correcting this caused the highlights to go magenta. I know that Photoshop lets be use different correction curves for the highlights, midtones, and shadows. But how to really do this in practice has always been sort of a mystery to me. And, always before, it was not much of a problem. Hope the scanner isn't drifting out of calibration...

I really like the one on the bottom rightside ->>>> the best! But the green water is kind of kewl too on the image next to it :) Is there a way to calibrate your scanner??? Do you calibrate it to the monitor? I just hooked up my scanner to my new computer which is running Windows XP. And all the functions that were related to my scanner in Windows95se have vanished in Windows XP ;[ I HATE Windows XP --- Waaaaaaaaaa Sorry :) Dee-Marie

My dear friend.... sorry to have caused headaches for you... let me rub your temples... ~~~~~ There... Now I'm with Dee-Marie on this... from my monitor the two bottom ones look proper. The one on the right being my preference, but as she said the left bottom also looks good. What I find with my scanner is that is sometimes get a heavy cyan cast... (remember those soccer images from a couple of years back?) Nothing I did could get rid of it, yet the prints from the lab looked fine. I'm wondering if it has something to do with the properties of the film? I notice this happens far more frequently with my favorite Fuji film than with any other...... Hahah... Dee-Marie, I'm hanging on desperately to my Windows ME.... hubby has XP professional on his laptop and I HATE it.... I know soon we'll be getting a new desktop and handing this one over to one of the kids.... I almost don't want a new 'puter cause I know I can kiss my OS goodbye.... :~(

bottom 2 for me too :]
(to Dee & 'chelle: as i haven't really worked much with other OSs,
i'm perfectly happy with XP... probably would've killed it otherwise when i first learned how to use it)

Sorry Misha I cant help with your problem, the bottom right looks pretty close to me though. Kinda like the left one too.

Michelle

You could have your new desktop set up as a dual booting PC, therefor have XP as your mainOS and Me and as secondary OS.
If this is done properly, on boot up you will get the option to choose which OS to boot into.

Hate Me Love XP (just to even the odds :-)

Cant understand what is not to like about XP
Edited for bad typing (as usual)

Message edited on: 11/14/2004 15:43

@Michelle A. > I'm hanging on desperately to my Windows ME ... > I almost don't want a new 'puter cause I know I > can kiss my OS goodbye (1) If you have the Win ME Cd from your current PC, that should work on any new configuration. ... Especially if the version you have is the retail version. (2) Do a BYOB ... ummm, I meant buy your own OS ... From www.directdeals.com ... MS Windows Millennium (ME) OEM License Only (COA), No CD ... about $60. You would need to borrow the matching CD from someone who has one ... and I have a pretty good idea how to locate one or two of those CDs. MGD

(additional info) ... Also check www.pricewatch.com ... scroll down to 'Software' and click on 'Operating System' and then on 'Windows Millennium'. The really low prices ($10 to $60) are selling only the license AKA COA ... 'no media' means not selling the CD. Found what you want for $82 MGD

Attached Link: http://store.adobe.com/products/photoshop/systemreqs.html

Sticking purely to Me would IMHO be technical suicide More and more programs are now not supporting OS's earlier than Win 2000 Pro. Therefore Me may not run them at all Adobe CS being one of them Dual boot is the way to go, this will ensure 100% compatibility with older and new software alike Just my opinion

May I inquire as to why you hate XP? I mean after you turn of the 'my fist windows' theme it's a really nice OS.

Yes Simon.... sadly I realize this.... I can't update my PS.... and a couple of other programs.... Hmmm.... what is it about XP? I realize it's supposed to be so much better than Me ....but, and I think this is the biggie for me, the interface drives me somewhat mad...... It's so intrusive much more so than previous versions.... it wants to do everything for you.... and I feel like I'm being patronized, by a computer. LOL! Not only that but I can't find anything in there!! They moved everything around!! I go looking for something.... and it's in a different place than it was in ME.... arrgghhh..... I guess it's not so bad if you switch to the classic interface, which I'm not allowed to do, because it's my husbands computer and he likes to have his hand held while he uses it.... In any case my husband loves it... and I'm stubborn and hate change.... so mostly it's my thick-headedness.... and I couldn't possibly agree with anything my husband says... :~) So there.... :~P

"couldn't possibly agree with anything my husband says" ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!! you go girl! :D

[Could you hold my hand while I use mine?] XP really works pretty well, but I know about that "patronizing" thing. I ignore the "My Folder" "My Photos" stuff. It does seem more stable than ME. But, things like Poser 4 no longer work. If it works for you, don't fix it! Going rate for a 'puter box on the street is about $300U.S. w/o OS or Monitor. Not the greatest, but prolly better than the hardware I'm typing this on. Linux is Free. Maybe we need to start a GIMP column? Still... don't know what to do about my colors.

Linux is Free. Yeah, except for the sharp learning curve. It's not just that it's so turned around different from DOS. There does not seem to be a central reference for commands -- other than the standard Linux line, "Every program can be run as a command." ... OK but how do I know which command to ues for a task? > Maybe we need to start a GIMP column? Yes -- might make learn Linux. MGD

i don't know XP; but having once changed gamma settings of PSP (5 or 6 then) and actually working with 3 different PCs with different screens (plus an apple ibook since 3 weeks) i finally feel urged to read more about colour profiles; using a scanner or changing the white balance of digital shots (RAW) multiplies the things to consider - colour is no mystery but complicated (sigh) (may be of no acute help but has to be said imho ) (the version bottom/right looks best for me)

@Michelle: There's a simple solution for your problem. 2 different logins. Your husband can have the candycane look while you can have the classic interface. BTW ME over 98SE? brrr.. ME arguably the worst windows ever released :P

Misha Ok from the top, using some of my other talents, and nerdy web reading skills! What scanner are you using? O/S XP I presume. What software are you using? PS or other for scanning software? Can you use or have you got access to another scanner? Maybe you could see if the same issues happen using another scanner. If so then it is possible that the scanner is picking up something in the film that the eye cant see.. When you scan what file format are you using? Are you using a specific colour space? Have you updated or re-installed you scanner drivers? Have you seen either of these sites? http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/colorcalibration/a/cal_scanner.htm http://www.scantips.com/ Ok thats enough questions for now Michelle Based on the fact that this issue may well be more related to your pending upgrade rather that you husbands laptop. I must agree with 3Dguy Mi(crashy)llennium was/is an awful O/S and IMHO should have never been released. For this very reason I was very sceptical about upgrading to XP, however this is a truly excellent and powerful O/S, I figured that they couldnt have made it any worse. Me = at least 1 crash a day XP= No crashes in 2 years (probably the kiss of death and tempting fate) Like any powerful program it takes some getting used to, and learning all the stuff that lies beneath its pretty GUI. In the same way PS is complex until you get to grips with it and make it work for you. Yes XP can be a little patronising, and may at times seem that it knows what you want better than you do, in reality though you can turn off much of the annoying things about it. And still if you wish have a dual booting puter, personally I dont bother and have not yet come across a program that I use that wont work on XP Theres very little (if anything at all) that Me can do that XP cant. Possibly the most important thing is that XP can use two file systems and Me/9x can only use one, and that is the route of most of the compatibility issues No one really likes change but it is unavoidable to some extent, the same could be said about film/digital but many people use both and except each for their respective pros and cons. (theres nothing I can tell you about that that you dont already know) As a foot note you could always get your new puter without an O/S and install your Me on it (providing you have a retail version) an OEM version/restore pack version might not work , but Im not sure if that would be a problem with Me

Misha can you explain more about the six images? Are the top ones the original scans? What are the middles ones? I'm guessing the bottom ones are the final after adjustments, which as I said before appear fine...... I mentioned before and LostPatrol also mentions the fact that it's possible it may be the film. Which one are you using..... I know that some companies have claimed in the past to be perfected for scanning..... can't recall which ones and my older magazines have been tossed.... probably won't be able to find the article I read this in. It would be really nice if we could figure out what is going on. I know that you and I used to have monitors that were calibrated pretty closely in tune with each other.... and then I went and fiddled around with mine... I'm fairly certain I've got mine working properly with the help of the grey tones image from Alpha and my monitor driver software. I gave up using Adobe Gamma.... I couldn't seem to get it right. As for OS's.... first computer had Win95 which would crash constantly, lost track of how many times I had to reformat the HD and reinstall everything. I became a computer wiz! Used Win98 at work.... never had problems with it.... I've had this 'puter for 2 years with WinMe and it's been fairly stable for me.... it'll crash, but rarely.... I'll learn to deal with it when we actually go out and buy a new system..... might happen at Christmas time, but I've asked Santa for a DSLR, and guess which I'd rather have if I had to choose.

[The "expensive" Fijicolor.] As I recall, the first set is "straight" scans. The histograms were really skewed to the right. The second is level adjustment in the scanner. And the third has the curves pulled down (in the scanner). Right is same as left with midtones magenta increased in Photoshop. Could not correct the green/cyan cast without different values for shadows, midtones, and highlights, which is something I don't quite know the process for. Biggest worry is lack of contrast in the Circus series. The colors are wrong in places, I think for whatever is causing the above problem. But the contrast looks OK.

A DSLR Michelle now thats greedy he he! Ah now your talking my language. A DSLR Michelle now thats greedy he he! Ah now your talking my language. Poor Santa though they can be heavy, but yes agree I know what I would rather have too, if I didnt have one. There are plenty to choose from these days, but guess Nikon or Fuji would be the preferred choice to fit in with your lens compatibility, luckily Santa knows everything. Cant wait to see what you produce using one, I will be watching closely to see what I can learn. And there was I thinking you didnt like change! :-)