Re: Scanning in CMYK vs. RGB
Re: Scanning in CMYK vs. RGB
- Subject: Re: Scanning in CMYK vs. RGB
- From: Henrik Holmegaard <email@hidden>
- Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 08:18:43 +0100
Anyone want to tell me the advantages of doing this conversion
process at the scanner?
Older scanner software that does not use a CIE connection space can
only scan direct from RGB to CMYK. The conversion is similar to a
device link transform in that the RGB source sees only the CMYK
output and vice versa. No way to rotate the CMYK output for the same
RGB input, hence no scan once output many.
In fully ICC enabled scanner software like Linocolor and Newcolor,
you scan either into Lab / RGB to output many, or you scan direct to
CMYK to output once.
There are quality advantages to scanning direct to output in a scan
once output many workflow, like so:
a. you map the uncropped film space into the output space using gamut
compression instead of first cropping the film space to an RGB
working space,
b. you map the uncropped film space into the output space using a
single 16 bit transform instead of doing an 8 bit stop-over in Lab
(Linocolor),
c. both the above restrictions (however theoretical they may be) are
no longer there in the 16 bit RGB / Lab workflow of Newcolor,
d. which again is a theoretical discussion in that we don't have
Newcolor available for the scanners most of us actually use.
At the end of the day you don't make money by going high bit but by
going high concept quality in the shots themselves and the layout of
the pages. Color reproduction is an enabling technology, in itself it
does not put bread on the table. I sometimes miss this point in our
discussions. I'd sweat more for an image that's worth it than for an
image I can't for the life of me see any value of -:)