questions about brightness/histogram when scanning/printing

Hi,

I'm in the process of scanning a whole bunch of old slides, but I'm
discovering a small problem with brightness:

- I normally have my monitor brightness set to about 70% brightness.

- A lot of my old slides are very dark requiring me to adjust the
histogram/brightness significantly so they are viewable.

- What I have noticed is that when I print off my slides on my photoprinter
the brightness of the print is the same as if I had the monitor brightness
turned up to full (100%) brightness.

- my dilemma is...what is the standard brightness I should use when scanning
slides? If I scan and optimize the picture to look good on my monitor @ 70%
then try to print it, it looks too bright and faded if I print it. There are
brightness adjustments I can make to the print before I print it. But what I
wanted to know is, what is considered the standard way to scan and adjust
for brightness?

- Since I want these slides to be viewed on monitors/TV as well as have the
option to print them out. So I'm not sure what optimization I should leave
the final scan as. Is it best to scan and adjust the image with my monitor @
100% brightness? or is it better to adjust the images with the monitor @ 70%
and make brightness changes during the print process?

Has anyone else come across this dilemma? Can you offer any advice?
Is this simply a matter of user preferences/taste or is there a general rule
to follow?

Thanks,
Bob.

In article ,
says...

Hi,

I'm in the process of scanning a whole bunch of old slides, but I'm
discovering a small problem with brightness:

- I normally have my monitor brightness set to about 70% brightness.

- A lot of my old slides are very dark requiring me to adjust the
histogram/brightness significantly so they are viewable.

- What I have noticed is that when I print off my slides on my photoprinter
the brightness of the print is the same as if I had the monitor brightness
turned up to full (100%) brightness.

- my dilemma is...what is the standard brightness I should use when scanning
slides? If I scan and optimize the picture to look good on my monitor @ 70%
then try to print it, it looks too bright and faded if I print it. There are
brightness adjustments I can make to the print before I print it. But what I
wanted to know is, what is considered the standard way to scan and adjust
for brightness?

- Since I want these slides to be viewed on monitors/TV as well as have the
option to print them out. So I'm not sure what optimization I should leave
the final scan as. Is it best to scan and adjust the image with my monitor @
100% brightness? or is it better to adjust the images with the monitor @ 70%
and make brightness changes during the print process?

Has anyone else come across this dilemma? Can you offer any advice?
Is this simply a matter of user preferences/taste or is there a general rule
to follow?

Thanks,
Bob.

That's one purpose for color management in Photoshop, to get output and
monitor to match.

Unfortuanately, you can only control your OWN monitor,though, so this is
no solution for images viewed elsewhere. Think everybody sees the same
webpage color and brightness?

Mac

In article ,
says...

I'm in the process of scanning a whole bunch of old slides, but I'm
discovering a small problem with brightness:

- I normally have my monitor brightness set to about 70% brightness.

- A lot of my old slides are very dark requiring me to adjust the
histogram/brightness significantly so they are viewable.

- What I have noticed is that when I print off my slides on my photoprinter
the brightness of the print is the same as if I had the monitor brightness
turned up to full (100%) brightness.


Is your screen otherwise bright enough? Except for Trinitron type screens,
it is very common that people set both monitor controls wide open. I assume
you must have a Trinitron type if 70% is about right.

See http://www.scantips.com/basics11.html (bottom of page) for a little test
chart that will help you determine if your screen settings see full range.
Those images are NOT special, any image with those tone values work the
same, including your slides.

You want enough brightness to differentiate most of the darker tones. You
dont want so much that those darkest tones are gray instead of black.

--
Wayne
http://www.scantips.com "A few scanning tips"

In article ,
says...
Is your screen otherwise bright enough? Except for Trinitron type screens,
it is very common that people set both monitor controls wide open. I assume
you must have a Trinitron type if 70% is about right.

Why would you say that about the controls when your own page gives the best
method of setting brightness (bias) and contrast (gain)? If you follow that
method (usually presetting the gain (contrast) to 50% first!), the
brightness will run 20% to 40%. Then the gain will adjust to 70% to 90%. The
lower figure is closer unless you love smashed whites or have an aged tube.

On my system (trinitron) it's 22% and 80% - tube is now 4 years old and had
started at 74%. I can just see the 4 and 153 points.

See http://www.scantips.com/basics11.html (bottom of page) for a little test
chart that will help you determine if your screen settings see full range.
Those images are NOT special, any image with those tone values work the
same, including your slides.

You want enough brightness to differentiate most of the darker tones. You
dont want so much that those darkest tones are gray instead of black.


Yes, trinitron type monitors are brighter than shadow mask type tubes,
which is why I said "except for Trinitron types". But shadow mask is not like
that. A shadow mask type is possibly slightly sharper, esp for text, but both
controls will typically be pretty near full on, esp after a year or two.

Where I was coming from is that I get questions from people with shadow mask
monitors which have been continuously turned on 24/7 for 6 years, why their
images are so dark, but print well. g You didnt say, so I thought it didnt
hurt to ask. Sounds like you're doing good in that respect.

--
Wayne
http://www.scantips.com "A few scanning tips"

I have a hansol monitor, about 5 years old, with a 128 MB 3D video card,
everything works just fine, I prefer to have my monitor at about 70%
brightness because it's less straining on my eyes when working with text
applications. However as I mentioned earlier I find when I am scanning
slides, if I set up the picture to look good @ 70% brightness, it tends to
look too bright and faded @ 100%, and this appears to be the setting that my
printer prints at. In general I'm just wondering if there are any set rules
governing what the picture should be set-up for?

Bob


Is your screen otherwise bright enough? Except for Trinitron type
screens,
it is very common that people set both monitor controls wide open. I
assume
you must have a Trinitron type if 70% is about right.

See http://www.scantips.com/basics11.html (bottom of page) for a little
test
chart that will help you determine if your screen settings see full range.
Those images are NOT special, any image with those tone values work the
same, including your slides.

You want enough brightness to differentiate most of the darker tones. You
dont want so much that those darkest tones are gray instead of black.

In article ,
says...

I have a hansol monitor, about 5 years old, with a 128 MB 3D video card,
everything works just fine, I prefer to have my monitor at about 70%
brightness because it's less straining on my eyes when working with text
applications. However as I mentioned earlier I find when I am scanning
slides, if I set up the picture to look good @ 70% brightness, it tends to
look too bright and faded @ 100%, and this appears to be the setting that my
printer prints at. In general I'm just wondering if there are any set rules
governing what the picture should be set-up for?


Bob, I am not sure what 70% means to you. That could be about right for a
Trinitron type monitor, but is likely dim on a shadow mask (Invar) type.

If you are saying that you are running your monitor intentionally dim, then
of course the photo image problem seems obvious... you cannot see the dark
tones in the photo image. I dont know the magnitude of the situation, but
if you adjust your images to overbrighten them, to look better on a dim
screen, they will of course be overly bright any other place than that one
dim monitor... like printing, or a different monitor. There is a lot to be
said for a proper setup monitor. Normally that is about all the "color
management" most of us need.

You mentioned text, but black text characters on a white background have
extreme contrast, and can readable when very dim. That doesnt really apply
to photo images, which have middle values too, which just go dark on a dim
screen.

--
Wayne
http://www.scantips.com "A few scanning tips"