Scanning B&W Prints

[sahnert]

I am a beginner and taking a photography class. I'm wanting to make decent scans of 8x10 prints using my hp all-in-one (psc1210). You can see my results so far here.

I would like some pointers for improving my scans (and improving my photos if you like).

For some reason the blacks are coming through with a gray grid-like pattern that I would like to get rid of. Also the scans seem to pick up a lot of dust spots that I can't see on the print itself. Could these be from the scanner? I've applied minimal photoshopping to get rid of some of the dust specks, but is there something else I can do?

Here are the settings I'm using in the TWAIN utility:
Output: Grayscale (8bit)
Resoultion: 600
Sharpen: None
Dust and Scratch removal: None

Any help would be great!

Thanks

 

[devilot]

I keep checking this thread and hoping for a response... I don't really have any prints that I'd bother scanning, and I don't have any scanner, but suggestions would be nice for if I somehow found myself in such a situation I guess.

 

[hvfsl]

You are probably better off asking the question at a place like this:
http://www.retouchpro.com/

You could always try scanning it using the colour photo settings (and then adjust the image in PS if need be) to see if it makes much of a difference.

 

[ChrisA]

I am a beginner and taking a photography class. I'm wanting to make decent scans of 8x10 prints using my hp all-in-one (psc1210). You can see my results so far here.

I would like some pointers for improving my scans (and improving my photos if you like).

For some reason the blacks are coming through with a gray grid-like pattern that I would like to get rid of. Also the scans seem to pick up a lot of dust spots that I can't see on the print itself. Could these be from the scanner? I've applied minimal photoshopping to get rid of some of the dust specks, but is there something else I can do?

Here are the settings I'm using in the TWAIN utility:
Output: Grayscale (8bit)
Resoultion: 600
Sharpen: None
Dust and Scratch removal: None

Any help would be great!

Thanks

I think your problem is simply low quality hardware. Banding/paterning is an artifact cased by low bit depth. Those all in one scanner/printer/faxes are not quite what the fine art photography community prefers to use. Also I suspect that enabling "Dust and Scratch removal: would help with the dust and scratches.

I think you are seeing why people say it is best to scan the negatives with a high quality scanner.

 

[seenew]

I think you are seeing why people say it is best to scan the negatives with a high quality scanner.

yeah, if you can afford it. But they said they were a beginner.


Only thing I would suggest is to just keep playing around with different options, making sure you note the settings for each scan so you can tell them apart.