Image editing

[lori5060]

I used Image Capture to scan some hand written pages from my mom's (recently deceased) cookbooks as I wanted to preserve them as her handwriting was beautiful.
I scanned at 300dpi BW...images are in .jpeg format

the writing is in pencil and very feint and the background is dirty grey colour.

I know there are many image editors out there but I need one which will tidy up these images so the page is brighter, the writing is darker.

can anyone help?
I tried to upload a sample page but file was too large. what is file size maximum on this site?

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello.

First off, my sincerest condolences.

Not sure what the maximum size for a file is. You can either reduce the dpi to 72 or so and make sure the resolution is smaller than say 1024x1280. Or, even better, do you have an iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox, etc. you could upload it to and link it from?

C

 

[lori5060]

apparently max size for uploads is 500kb.... so I changed size for my files to upload
see attached 2 files...hope you can view them
first is original page, scanned 300dpi....notice second line from bottom, faded a bit due to writing on fold....
second file is my edit file....colour bright -95 and contract 114, I think if I remember correctly.
did not do a great job and was wondering if there could be a better edit process for this file.
thnx

 

[Cory Cooper]

OK, thanks for the additional info and screenshots.

The first screenshot looks like you scanned it as a photo, and the second is an edit of that image file.

-Which brand/model scanner?
-Do you have the ability to change the scan type from color/black & white photo to text in Image Capture?

You would get much better results if you could scan them as text.

C

 

[lori5060]

Thanks Cory
My canon mg3620 air printer/scanner does not have near as many options showing for scanning as your example. see attachment.

When first starting out, I tried scanning as text and that was terrible. So I used bw... tho I did not try color. Adjusted resolution from 75(default ) to 300 as I read that is a good level.
so I tried colour...that was not good.
I tried text and initially was not good but then changed image correction to manual and adjusted brightness, wasn't too bad but not as good as scanning in text and then editing file using GIMP.

tho have been reading that Photos as some pretty good options for editing and may try that.

I have lots of pages to work on and want to get the best editing options on this page before I go ahead with the rest.

 

[Cory Cooper]

No worries. In the manual, it looks like you may get more functionality if you use the Canon IJ Scan Utility software. You can download it from here: PIXMA MG3620

My scanner is an Epson Perfection V600 Photo, which is a little larger, dedicated flatbed scanner. All-in-One printer/scanners normally don't have as many functions as a dedicated scanner, which is why you don't see as many options.

C

 

[lori5060]

I do have that scan utility and had totally forgotten about it...cuz Image capture seemed so easy. worth a try tho....
thnx

 

[Cory Cooper]

Yes, I prefer Image Capture most of the time myself. But, sometimes, I use VueScan from Hamrick Software when I really want a lot of control over things.

Let me know if the Canon app works better for you.

C

 

[lori5060]

little busy at the moment on another project but will work on that at some point. thnx

did a quick check on VueScan and it seems pretty good tho one must buy it and I am relatively happy with what I am using now and it cost nothing.

when I was using MacBook Air I download photos scape x, a free app...have you had any experience with this one. for free there seems to be a lot of neat tools for editing. tho having difficulty getting it download from App Store...it just opens app and won't actually download...can get from other sites: c-net, softonic and few others but won't deal with them.
any suggestions

 

[Cory Cooper]

No, I have never heard of that until now. Are you using Mac OS X 10.10.x Yosemite or later?

I never download from sites like those. I only get apps via the App Store or directly from the author's website:

PhotoScape X

C

 

[lori5060]

I too only try to get apps from App Store or direct from developers site.
PhotoscapeX is in app store but just can't download it for some reason.
I am running Sierra v.10.12.6..

I tried the IJ Scan Utility with my Canon MG3620 .... not near as easy as Image Capture and it would take some time to learn how to use it efficiently. oh well....I will carry on with IC and do my editing via GIMP and I should be ok.
thanks for your help.

 

[Allen Davis]

No worries. In the manual, it looks like you may get more functionality if you use the Canon IJ Scan Utility software. You can download it from here: PIXMA MG3620

My scanner is an Epson Perfection V600 Photo, which is a little larger, dedicated flatbed scanner. All-in-One printer/scanners normally don't have as many functions as a dedicated scanner, which is why you don't see as many options.

C

I have an Epson Workforce WF-3620, and its scanner function allows for scanning up to 2,400 dpi and delivers exceptional quality.

Forgot to add that I don't use image correction or unsharp mask as I do all my editing/correcting in Photoshop.

 

[lori5060]

thanks Allen
I like Image Capture cuz it is so darn easy. I do have copy of IJ scanner for my mg35620 and tried it recently but found it awkward to learn.
tho I vaguely remember that I could select draft mode...but that may have been last year some time when I was trying out this scanning project. I just may have been using IJ Scanner. may try again. thnx

 

[lori5060]

well I tried IJ utility...I can scan no problem.....I just can't figure out for the life of me how to print by accessing the utility so I can select option to print draft. I can find the media option but from there no option to choose draft.
maybe I am missing something very simple here.....can you help? I just may have to contact Canon for help.