Post by BuckSkin on Aug 17, 2016 8:45:43 GMT
Our recent and ongoing discussion about scanning got my curiousity up and I had a look at the scanning options of our recently purchased Brother MFC-J870DW printer/scanner.
Prior to this purchase, I had scanned countless photos on our old never-quit HP 2200, using as best I remember whatever default Windows scanning software.
When we first got the Brother, several months ago, I scanned a many-colored highly detailed 4x6 photo using both the Brother and then the HP and compared the results; while the HP scan was plenty good, the Brother scan seemed to have better color and detail; this scanning was done with the same software, WIA I think.
Since all of the above, I have been reading an excellent book on photo scanning and restoration, "Digital Restoration from Start to Finish" by Ctein; this reading has made me aware that there is more to scanning than I had first thought.
So, I placed a random photo on the scanner, right-clicked the Brother in "printers and devices", and clicked "scan", which opened the default Windows scan dialogue.
A bit of right-clicking this and that allowed me hidden abilities that I was unaware were there.
Previously, the highest dpi I could select was 1200dpi; I was able to set the maximum in the menu at 2400dpi and had the options of going about three notches higher than that.
I was also able to reset the default destination via our network to an external hard-drive.
I made a few other adjustments and then made some test scans.
Then, I went into "all programs">Brother>ControlCenter4 and this brought up Brothers own scan software.
While I was unable to make the Windows scan dialogue any bigger than the miniscule size it was, by dragging the upper-left corner of the Brother dialogue to the upper-left corner of the screen, it automatically expanded to cover the entire screen --- a big improvement.
Plus, the Brother software has zoom capabilities.
Another thing I liked about the Brother s-w is that, if I checked the "continual scanning" box, after each scan, a little box appeared with the options of "scan" and "finished", so all I had to do was place the next photo and click "scan"
It has been a while since I did all that scanning with the Windows s-w, and maybe I have forgotten a trick, but when the Windows s-w finished and saved a scan, the dialogue box disappeared, requiring me to right-click the printer all over again as if I hadn't scanned a thing; surely there is a way to keep the scan dialogue active and ready for the next scan.
There are a couple of serious shortfalls about the Brother s-w that may keep me using the Windows s-w; I cannot set the Brother s-w any higher than 1200dpi; and, although "network" shows in the destination browse window, it will not acknowledge me trying to select the external hard-drive via the network; it only allows normal computer library destinations.
Another glitch in what might be a wonderful asset is the Brother s-w has an option to auto-crop to the image border; i even researched it in the manual; however, no amount of clicking will enable the feature.
Now, I get to my question; both softwares have brightness and contrast sliders; however, the image is not visible when these sliders are accessible; in other words, one must adjust the brightness and contrast in the blind.
The above-mentioned book makes much mention of adjusting these parameters during scanning; but, surely the author has better software or I am missing something; I would think that one should be able to observe the effect on the image as these sliders were adjusted.
How do you guys utilize these brightness and contrast sliders ?
Is there better software available that is compatible with our Brother and Windows 7 ?
Thanks for reading.
Prior to this purchase, I had scanned countless photos on our old never-quit HP 2200, using as best I remember whatever default Windows scanning software.
When we first got the Brother, several months ago, I scanned a many-colored highly detailed 4x6 photo using both the Brother and then the HP and compared the results; while the HP scan was plenty good, the Brother scan seemed to have better color and detail; this scanning was done with the same software, WIA I think.
Since all of the above, I have been reading an excellent book on photo scanning and restoration, "Digital Restoration from Start to Finish" by Ctein; this reading has made me aware that there is more to scanning than I had first thought.
So, I placed a random photo on the scanner, right-clicked the Brother in "printers and devices", and clicked "scan", which opened the default Windows scan dialogue.
A bit of right-clicking this and that allowed me hidden abilities that I was unaware were there.
Previously, the highest dpi I could select was 1200dpi; I was able to set the maximum in the menu at 2400dpi and had the options of going about three notches higher than that.
I was also able to reset the default destination via our network to an external hard-drive.
I made a few other adjustments and then made some test scans.
Then, I went into "all programs">Brother>ControlCenter4 and this brought up Brothers own scan software.
While I was unable to make the Windows scan dialogue any bigger than the miniscule size it was, by dragging the upper-left corner of the Brother dialogue to the upper-left corner of the screen, it automatically expanded to cover the entire screen --- a big improvement.
Plus, the Brother software has zoom capabilities.
Another thing I liked about the Brother s-w is that, if I checked the "continual scanning" box, after each scan, a little box appeared with the options of "scan" and "finished", so all I had to do was place the next photo and click "scan"
It has been a while since I did all that scanning with the Windows s-w, and maybe I have forgotten a trick, but when the Windows s-w finished and saved a scan, the dialogue box disappeared, requiring me to right-click the printer all over again as if I hadn't scanned a thing; surely there is a way to keep the scan dialogue active and ready for the next scan.
There are a couple of serious shortfalls about the Brother s-w that may keep me using the Windows s-w; I cannot set the Brother s-w any higher than 1200dpi; and, although "network" shows in the destination browse window, it will not acknowledge me trying to select the external hard-drive via the network; it only allows normal computer library destinations.
Another glitch in what might be a wonderful asset is the Brother s-w has an option to auto-crop to the image border; i even researched it in the manual; however, no amount of clicking will enable the feature.
Now, I get to my question; both softwares have brightness and contrast sliders; however, the image is not visible when these sliders are accessible; in other words, one must adjust the brightness and contrast in the blind.
The above-mentioned book makes much mention of adjusting these parameters during scanning; but, surely the author has better software or I am missing something; I would think that one should be able to observe the effect on the image as these sliders were adjusted.
How do you guys utilize these brightness and contrast sliders ?
Is there better software available that is compatible with our Brother and Windows 7 ?
Thanks for reading.
