A basic calibration and raw image question from a new user..

[waiter]

Hi all!
A *very* basic question from a new Epson 10000XL/LaserSoft Ai user...(that's me)

To start, I am looking simply to take in raw color images, which later will be used within a few software packages - Aperture, perhaps Final Cut Studio, etc. either by myself or perhaps others. I have SilverFast Ai (not HDR or IT8). I don't want to limit the scan to use by any one program (and indeed, teh scan may or may not be used within Photoshop in the future).

I am most confused by the initial setup (warning - NEWBIE ALERT!):
To obtain raw files that are accurate all I did during setup was select:
Scan Type: 48 Bit HDR Color
Q-factor: 1.0

And under options selected (all of these selections based on advice based on the SilverFast Quicktime tutorial, not the computer-darkroom.com site):
Color Management
Input -> Internal: ColorSync
Internal -> Monitor: ColorSync
Internal -> Output: RGB

Profiles for ColorSync:
Input: 10000 refl.icc
*** This 10000 refl.cc file is a profile that I made by scanning in my MonacoEZcolor reflective target using MonacoEZcolor and the Epson, and then saving the file. I am most confused by this selection.
Internal: AppleRGB.icc
Gray: Generic Gray Profile.icc
Output/Printer: <NONE>
Rendering Intent: perceptual

Embedded ICC profiles
Embed ICC profile [X] (checked)
Profile to embed: 1000refl.icc

I realize most of these selections are NOT as suggested by
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/hdr_tutorial/hdr_1.htm
but were suggested within the Silverfast Ai Quicktime tutorials...

Was this correct? Or should I have not embedded the ICC profile.
And should I only be using the Silverfast IT8 calibration?

Thank you SO much!

:o

[RAG]

Hello waiter,

Using an IT8 target will ensure better color capture, but using the manufactures specific profile (either the one provided by LaserSoft or the one profiled by the scanner manufacturer) is perhaps the next best thing.

In regards to embedding a profile I'm not sure why you selected "Apple", the Adobe 1998 color gamut has more colors. Based on your intended uses you want a larger color gamut.

The following will illustrate my point:


Comparison of various systems
Following is a list of representative color systems more or less ordered from large to small color gamut:

Laser video projector uses 3 lasers to produce the broadest gamut available in practical display equipment today, derived from the fact that lasers produce truly monochromatic primaries. The systems work either by scanning the entire picture a dot at a time and modulating the laser directly at high frequency, much like the eletron beams in a CRT, or by optically spreading and then modulating the laser and scanning a line at a time, the line itself being modulated in much the same way as in a DLP.
Photographic film is one of the best systems available for detecting and reproducing color. Movie goers are familiar with the difference in color quality between the film projections seen in theaters and the home video versions. This is because the color gamut of film far exceeds that of television.
Laser light shows use lasers to produce very nearly monochromatic light, allowing colors far more saturated than those produced by other systems. However, mixing hues to produce less saturated colors is difficult. In addition, such systems are complex, expensive, and ill-suited to general video display.
CRT and similar video displays have a roughly triangular color gamut which covers a significant portion of the visible color space. In CRTs, the limitations are due to the phosphors in the screen which produce red, green, and blue light. Besides the limitations of the device itself, for displaying realistic images, such displays rely on the quality of color sensors, such as those in digital cameras and scanners. Sony has recently introduced a four-color (RGB plus "emerald") color sensor system which may eventually lead to high end video displays with an even larger color gamut. How practical this is remains to be seen.
Liquid crystal display (LCD) screens filter the light emitted by a backlight. The gamut of an LCD screen is therefore limited to the emitted spectrum of the backlight. Typical LCD screens use fluorescent bulbs for backlights, and have a gamut much smaller than CRT screens. LCD Screens with certain LED backlights yield a more comprehensive gamut than CRTs.
Television uses a CRT display (usually), but does not take full advantage of its color display properties, due to the limitations of broadcasting. HDTV is far better, but still somewhat less than, for example, computer displays using the same display technology.
Paint mixing, both artistic and for commercial applications, achieves a reasonably large color gamut by starting with a larger palette than the red, green, and blue of CRTs or cyan, magenta, and yellow of printing. Paint may reproduce some highly saturated colors that can not be reproduced well by CRTs (particularly violet), but overall the color gamut is smaller.
Printing typically uses the CMYK color space (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black). A very few printing processes do not include black; however, those processes (with the exception of dye-sublimation printers) are poor at representing low saturation, low intensity colors. Efforts have been made to expand the gamut of the printing process by adding inks of non-primary colors; these are typically orange and green (see Hexachrome) or light cyan and light magenta. Spot color inks of a very specific color are also sometimes used.
A monochrome display's color gamut is a one-dimensional curve in color space.

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamut

[waiter]

Thanks RAG.

I have modified to Adobe1998, and also will look for the manufacturer's specific profile (I am probably misunderstanding, but I think that the Monaco target is what I should be using for the Epson - it came with the scanner...again, new to this so not 100% sure).

I am still trying to get as accurate a scan as I can, but when I look at the scan on my monitor (Apple Cinema display) it doesn't seem as close to the original as I expected. Don't know if that has to do with my settings, scanned target, or simply monitor calibration.

Is there one area on which I should focus before I begin scanning hundreds of pics? Didn't want to get too far down the road doing something silly...


Thanks!

[RAG]

waiter,

If you have not already, might want to calibrate your monitor. If you are trying to achieve a managed workflow your monitor, printer, and scanner all need to be calibrated.