[Leica] Re: filmscanners: Photoshop 5 LE files darker than they look

[Peter Klein <pklein@2alpha.net>]

Since I brought up the issue of Photoshop 5 LE's display being lighter than 
everything else I use, I thought I'd share what I found.  Somebody on the 
Filmscanners list pointed me to the Adobe user forums at:

http://www.adobe.com/support/forums/main.html

That cleared up the mystery.  Indeed, PS 5 LE is set to a display gamma of 
1.8, which can't be changed.  That's why files edited in LE look too dark 
on the Web.  Stephen Holloway (of DeepTurtle) posted that once you get 
things looking right in 16-bit mode, you can multiply the image gamma (the 
center number in Levels) by correction factor of 1.22,  things will match 
up.  I was able to get PS and Irfanview images to match this way.

But this means that What You See Ain't What You Get once in 8-bit 
mode.  Now the successor to PS 5 LE, called Photoshop Elements, does have 
all the color management and gamma adjustment stuff.  What PS Elements 
doesn't have, according to the specs and user comments I read, is a curve 
tool, and the ability to adjust levels in 16-bit mode.  These are serious 
deficiencies, and the addition of lots of hand-holding features don't make 
up for it.

The curve tool is partially replaced by some "user-friendly" things called 
"backlighting" and "fill flash," among others.  But the loss of 16-bit data 
means you're in serious trouble unless you get it exactly right in the 
initial scan, because you'll be forced to fix things in 8-bit mode, with 
the risk of posterization that entails.  NikonScan does have a curve tool, 
but I much prefer VueScan, which doesn't.

All this means that basically Adobe has made sure that a serious 
photographer who uses Windows will have to buy the full $600 Photoshop, or 
make the choice between:

- - Editing things that don't look right on the screen so they'll look right 
on the Web (LE)
- - Give up the curve tool and 16-bit functionality (Elements).

Or use a non-Adobe product.  It's tempting.  Anybody out there use other 
programs.  Paint Shop Pro looks good, but doesn't handle 16-bit data. What 
about Ulead PhotoImpact, Corel Photo-Paint, Micrographix Picture Publisher, 
etc. ?

- --Peter Klein
Seattle, WA