Black and White in Photoshop II - Black and White in Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop Lightroom - page 170

Bringing scans into Photoshop

The mass proliferation of digital cameras has moved just about everyone
to an almost entirely digital workl ow; with it come limitless possibilities for
images and an archival medium untouched by time, weather or light. What
about all of those images that weren't shot with your digital SLR - you know,
those shoeboxes i lling the attic? Whether you've decided to enjoy the
organizational powers of a good Digital Asset Management (DAM) system
or you're just looking to have a desktop darkroom, you'll need to get those
images into your computer.
So whether you're pulling in your i lm shots to have everything in one place
or enjoying the nostalgia of a chemical workl ow as your front-end, let's take a
look at bringing those scans into Photoshop.
Dif erent scanners bring images into Photoshop in dif erent ways. Some will
populate Photoshop's Import sub-menu (under the File menu), others will
send the image from the scanner directly into Photoshop, and still others will
place images in a folder where you'll then use the File menu to open them like
any others. As with your camera, you'll often have a choice between a JPEG
and TIFF and, as with the camera, if you have the room, use it and opt for the
uncompressed (and artifact-free) TIFF.
*In these days of ever-changing operating systems and drivers, check with the
manufacturer's website to assure you have the latest drivers.
If you're bringing in multiple images, follow these tips:

1. Always assure your scanner's surface is clean (treat the scanner's optical
glass as you would a lens and keep it clean and clear with only approved
materials).

2. Use a blank white piece of paper behind the images (this keeps the dark
edges of prints from getting “lost” and helps Photoshop to dei ne the
boundaries of each image.

3. Don't worry too much about keeping the images straight - Photoshop has a
wonderful tool to help. With your multiple-photo scan open in Photoshop,
navigate to the File menu, Automate, Crop and Straighten. Here Photoshop
will extract and straighten your photos into separate i les (a huge time-
saver for anyone who has tried the select, copy, drag, new layer, save, repeat
method!) and number them based upon the original i le name.

4. Before you begin to adjust your images (at least a little bit of adjustment
always seems to be necessary when moving from analog to digital i les),
start an action. This way you can replay those setting on each image from
the scanner. It's very easy, here's how:

With an image open, navigate to the Action panel (if it isn't yet open,
go to the Window menu and select “Actions”).

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Use the turned page icon to create a new Action. ●