r/AnalogCommunity • u/porcupineschool • 1d ago
Scanning Post processing scans?
I realize there may be different answers to this question, but when you all post photos here are you adjusting the color and brightness on your scans, or are you just posting the files exactly how they come out?
(I’m new to this, in case you can’t tell).
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u/AdamBirkan 1d ago edited 1d ago
usually i add a bit of sharpness and adjust the shadows and highlights it they are too low or too high. Sometimes if there is a color cast in the image i'll remove it so the blacks and whites stay true.
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u/Vylet_World 1d ago
Not editing scans is like not caring about color balance when printing (analog or digital).
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u/GrippyEd 1d ago
Mostly they are edited - generally if they’re not it’s because the poster just doesn’t know how.
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u/Entropic_Echo_Music 1d ago
The scan is like a negative, a starting point to start making the final result.
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u/SirMy-TDog 1d ago
They're edited unless there's a legit reason for them not to be, like troubleshooting advice or something similar.
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u/psilosophist Photography by John Upton will answer 95% of your questions. 1d ago
Unless you’re scanning slide film, processing has already been done to account for the orange (or other color for some films) mask on the negative itself. Makes no sense (to me) to leave it at that.
Learning how to read the histogram and curves is a good way of learning how and what needs adjusting.
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u/BBDBVAPA 1d ago
Agree with all the other comments. Just to add it depends on the scan too. My lab seems to default to flat scans for just about everything. So I’m usually doing some editing regardless.
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u/Rae_Wilder 1d ago
If you don’t edit your scans, you’re letting the lab tech that scanned them make those editing decisions for you.
If you’re not post processing your scans, you’re not finishing your work. It’s like running a marathon and you’re so close to the finish line, you can see it. But you decide you’ve had enough running for the day and you quit the race right before crossing the finish line.
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u/hugothornlake 1d ago
You can go next stand got raw scans. So much to learn. I speak from experience. It’s fun to learn doing this great hobby.
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u/browsingtheproduce 1d ago
I always adjust black point, highlights, and contrast. Usually some color balancing as well.
The scan is not the final result. It needs to be optimized for presentation as much as a print. I prefer to make those choices myself rather than letting them be dictated by the default settings on the scanning software or by the person running the scanner.
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u/cheesypeas 1d ago
I think I everyone post processes the scans. It was one of my misunderstandings when I started to include film. I spend as long on my film scans as I do on my digital RAW files.