Scanning in Color - Having White Remain White

[coljediv]

Hi, I use an Epson V700 Photo scanner with either PSP 2023 or with my CutePDF Professional desktop apps. Let me describe a scenario that applies to either PSP or my PDF program.

1. I have a form that I want to scan, mostly black and white with typical form-like objects like underscore lines or rectangular boxes. But sometimes there may be some color on the scanned page like a signature in blue ink or some highlight color (like yellow) showing which field should be completed.

2. So, I can't use a Black & White or a grey-scale scan because I will lose the color on some of the objects of the form being scanned. I need to use either Color or Color Text scanning.

3. With either Color or Color Text, the dominant white of the scanned form always has a very light bluish cast to it. Actually when I use grey-scale scanning I also get a cast, but very light grey.

4. I suppose this may be a scanning software problem rather than a setting in PSP, but maybe there is something to set in PSP before the scan?

5. If I am stuck with having the bluish cast to work with, is there an easy way in PSP to change all the bluish cast to a more pure white?

[Kathy_9]

Once you've scanned the document, try White Balance.

[Jean-Luc]

3. With either Color or Color Text, the dominant white of the scanned form always has a very light bluish cast to it.

Could you post a sample here?
Is your monitor neutral?
Does the document print bluish too?

[coljediv]

Here is a page that has some color in it. The background paper is white. It was scanned in Color.

I don't know how to answer your question about the neutrality of my monitor.

The document when printed is the same bluish/greyish cast.

[Jean-Luc]

This may be a scanner problem. The bluish background areas are not regular. But it could be the paper warping. Try scanning with a black card behind the sheet.

Alternatively, try Adjust / Color / Red/Green/Blue: Green -1% and Blue -5%. You'll get a neutral background (Red Green and Blue values equal or near equal):

After the RGB correction, make the background white (RGB values near 255) by applying a Histogram Adjustment like this:

You may record those adjustments in a script and apply it to your scans.

Note: Monitor neutral:
do File / Color Management / Monitor Calibration

[Kathy_9]

You could also try the Color Changer tool (nested under Flood Fill) with white set as the Foreground color. Also, as Jean-Luc mentioned, the paper does look warped as the edges appear to be wavy.

click for larger view