Re: Epson Perfection 3200 Photo Color Scanner

Hi Suzanne,

I don't have this scanner, but the IT8 target is a standard color patch for
scanner calibration. If you need accurate reproduction of the color you scan
(espeically if you are scanning transparencies), then you need it. If you are
going to adjust your scans according to artistic preference anyway instead of
reproducing the original transparencies, then you don't need it.

If you imagine it in black-and-white world, the IT8 target would be analogous
to a gray scale with known density values. In principle, a scanning software
that scan it can determine exactly what values these densities should scan
into, and if the values are not correct, it can create curve to correct it for
future scans. A printing software can also create curves to match the original
densities.

In black and white, if we want to, we can create such scale ourselves. In
color it is much more difficult since we need to handle different hues and
lightness, so a pre-made standard such as IT8 is used.

Dave

In a message dated 12/3/2003 6:27:21 PM Eastern Standard Time,
bi3@georgetown.edu writes:
(The only difference between the 3200 Photo and the 3200 Pro seems to be
that the Pro comes with "Pro+ Arc Soft Suite" and "Monaco EZ color
Software and IT8 Targets". Since I don't even know what these are, I'm
assuming I won't be needing them.
Received on Thu Dec 4 09:26:23 2003