Advanced scanning

This section covers the advanced scanning tools in the DiMAGE Scan Utility. The basic scanning section on pages 26 through 33 should be read before continuing.

Setting scanner preferences

Click the preferences button in the main window to open the preferences dialog box. Select preferences options to customize scanner operations.

Exposure control for negatives: autoexpo- sure adjusts the scan to compensate for the density of the negative. The manual setting uses a fixed exposure regardless of the density of the film. Manual exposure can show the exposure difference in a bracket series. When using AE lock or AE area selection with negatives (p. 45), the auto function must be select- ed.

Auto expose for slides: to use autoexposure when scanning slides. Since the density range of slides is relatively uniform, adjusting the exposure for each slide is usually unnecessary. However, when scanning an underexposed or overexposed slide, the autoexposure system can compensate for the unusual image density. When using AE lock or AE area selection with slide film (p. 45), the auto-expose-for-slide box must be checked.

Manual Focus Dial: to use the manual-focus dial on the scanner unit. The appearance of the manual-focus button in the prescan tab

changes when active. For more on manual focus, see page 44. If selected, auto- focus and point AF cannot be used.

Autofocus at scan: this option activates the autofocus function during the prescan and final scan. When using Digital ICE, ROC, and GEM, the use of autofocus is recommended. The autofocus function increases the scanning time.

Prescan after point AF: the scanner automatically makes a prescan after the focus point is specified with point AF. See page 44 for more on point AF.

Index scan at loading: the scanner automatically makes an index scan each time a film holder is inserted into the scanner.

Close utility after scanning: this option closes the DiMAGE Scan Utility after the final scan when using the scanner with an image-processing application. Activate this function when individual images will be scanned and then processed or retouched in another application. Uncheck the box when multiple images need to be scanned before retouching.

Color depth: this option specifies the color depth of the scanned image between 8 bit, 16 bit, and 16-bit linear for each RGB channel. Because 16-bit linear color depth does not make any gamma corrections, the scan of a negative produces a negative image. 16-bit and 16-bit linear images can only be saved in the TIFF file format. Some imageprocessing application cannot open 16-bit image files such as Adobe Phototshop Elements 2.0.

Multi-sample scan: multi-sample scans reduce random noise in the image by analyzing the data of each sample scan; 2, 4, 8, and 16 samples can be made. The more samples taken, the less random noise in the image and the longer the scanning time.

Prescan size: to change the size of the prescan image.

Color matching: to specify the output color space and monitor ICC profile. For detailed informa- tion, see the color matching section on page 65.

OK button: to apply the preference settings and close the window.

Cancel button: to cancel any settings made and close the window.

Help button: to open the help window.

Scanner Notes

When the autofocus-at-scan option is selected in the preferences window, the autofocus system uses the center of image to determine focus. This normally results in an excellent scan when the film plane is flat. However, if the film is warped or curled, the scanner can be focused using point AF or manual focus (p. 44).

Active preferences used in scanning are shown in the prescan tab. The preference display is below the scan setting pane.

The use of autofocus, manual focus dial, autoexposure, color depth, multi-sample scanning, and color matching is indicated. Color matching is indicated by the color space or monitor color profile.

Preference display

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Advanced scanning

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