Are your slide or negative scans coming out red?
If you learn and use the tip I'm about to show you, you will get rid of this reddish colour.
Your scanner is going to pickup the most dominate colour from your slide or negative. And in most cases, red is the brightest and stands out more than any other colour. Other times it can be green, or blue -- but only when red isn't around.
You see, every image has THREE main colours: red, blue, green (RBG). And you can mix RBG to get ANY colour.
So, what happens is since red is the most dominate colour, it will mix in with other ones. And you're left with a scan that is tinged red.
And it doesn't matter if you have a simple home scanner, or some high-end one. These are the little problems that happen when you convert analog into digital. Scanner's aren't perfect.
Remember how I told you about RBG? Well, your scanner software will have an option for you to adjust the RBG values.
Here's what I mean...
Startup your scanner's software, and look for the Adjustments (i.e. Digital ICE, Color Fix, Dust Removal, Histogram, etc.).
In Adjustments look for anything that has RBG Values, Colour Balance, or Image Adjustments, etc.
Once you find the Red value, move the slider bar LEFT -- away from toward the other colour.
Here's what mine looks like...
Your scanner software is OK at fixing reddish scans. But there's nothing more frustrating than adjusting the Red values, scanning your slide, and then looking at your digital image and it's STILL red.
Here's how to avoid having to re-scan...
AVOID using your scanner software to fix your scan.
Instead, get a "natural" scan. What I mean is, don't press any of those Adjustment buttons (i.e. Digital ICE, Color Balance, etc.). Get a natural scan, then use software that is DESIGNED to fix digital images.
Check out GIMP. GIMP is great at fixing digital images, and it's FREE. You can download GIMP, here... https://www.gimp.org.
Or, use Photoshop. You can get a free trial, here... https://www.photoshop.com.
Open your natural scan in GIMP. In the Menu click Color. Then click Color Balance to open a new screen.
In Adjustment Color Levels, move the slider left (away from Red toward Cyan).
You can also do this trick for scans that are too blue or green. Is your scan too blue? Just move the Blue slider toward Yellow. And so on.
Open your natural scan in Photoshop. In the Menu click, Image -> Adjustments -> Color Balance.
Here's how to use the Color Balance tool: move the Red slider bar toward Cyan.
Good job! You just learned how to fix reddish scans AND learned about RBG values.
But in my experience, knowing means nothing unless you put it into action.
So do this right now (if you haven't already):
Which of these scanning troubles do you want to overcome?
Hey, my name is Konrad. I've been scanning professionally since 2005. I've helped multi-billion dollar companies, pro sports teams, pro photographers, artists, museums, book publishers, etc. I've scanned over 930,000 slides, negatives, photos.
The reason I'm telling you this is because no matter what challenge or frustration you're having, I know exactly what you're going through. So, to help you RIGHT NOW, I've put together a super simple scanning guide to get you started.