Why does this happen when I use my scanner?

Question

I get perfectly good pictures taken, with good colour, and the sking tone of the people in the pics are fair/ tan, but when i scan, the pictures make the people in them extremely pale, when in the originals, they were tan. why is this happening and how do i stop this? How can i make my pics come in the normal colours instead of being more pale?

I dont print any of them, i save them into the computer, and yes, there is obviously something wrong. what is it though?

Lexmark X1270

thats the brand
its a printer and a scanner, but i use the scanner to put pics in the computer, not to print.

Answer 1

sometimes you have an option of how the scanner saves the image. i dont know what kind of scanner you have or the software you use with it. play around with the settings and options before you save the scanned image. if that doesnt help you might want to try to use a photo editing software. this can edit the colors or brightness along with many other aspects of your pictures. otherwise request a CD with your images that you get developed to put directly on your computer.

Answer 2

It would be very helpful to know what scanner model and scanning software you use - most probably it's just a matter of a few settings, especially brightness and contrast.

This website might give you some basic help:
http://www.scantips.com/

This one is not bad either:
http://mercury.soas.ac.uk/it/docs/guides/scanning/index.htm

I scan the images with a default setting that does not change what the hardware captures. In general, for the best results it is better not to manipulate the scans in the scanning software but afterwards in Photoshop, Gimp or whatever you have. But if you have many similar images and do not need 30x40" exhibition quality a good setting of your scanner software will do the work for you while you scan.

Advanced techniques would include using so-called ICC profiles and calibrating the whole workflow from the scanner to your monitor to your printer.

Answer 3

In a "Perfect World", our toys do exactly what we expect them to do, ALWAYS. In this case, you expect your digital photos, scanned or shot with a digital camera, to look the same on your Monitor as they did on the originals.

Here's what's really happening. Your scanned images "appear" to be washed out on your monitor. But, are they really?

To find out, print out any scanned image (the more detail, the better) on a full sheet of Photo Paper. Then, compare the printed image to your original scanned photo. If they appear to be very similar, your printer is correctly matched to your scanner, as it should be on all Multi-function printers. If not, contact the MFP manufacturer.

Now, compare the printed image to what appears on your monitor. I'll bet that they are very different!!! This is the Holy Grail of all photo editing experts the world over.

You can try to use the adjustments on your monitor to get all of it's settings CLOSE to the printed image. But, you should read the User Manual and / or contact the monitor manufacturer and see if they have any special drivers or other software to "Color Correct" their devices. Specifically, sRGB settings (among others) included in ".icf" files, which are used for just this purpose. Check out their FAQs and Forums for more info, too.

TIP: Better photo editing software often have their own tools to address this issue. I've seen it in PhotoShop and my PhotoShop Elements, for example.

Answer 4

Your Scanner would have a option of changing the hue, texture etc in its advanced settings or preferences etc.

Surely you are using a software that your scanner came with.
Helps to have the name of the brand.

Answer 5

I suggest, edit your scanned photos on Photoshop. Adjust the contrast and brightness of it.

Answer 6

you probably have a cheap scanner. Buy a better one.

Answer 7

mabye you need to change the prefrences to best quality or mabye ur low on ink

Answer 8

um.......maybe something is wrong with it.