Umax POWERCOLOR User Manual

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction ........................................................................................................xi

PowerColor ColorSync Separator ........................................................................xi

PowerColor Press Edition ..................................................................................xii

How to Use This Manual ..................................................................................xiii

Typographical Conventions ..............................................................................xiii

Related Documentation ....................................................................................xiii

Chapter 1: Installation

Configuration Requirements ............................................................................1-1

Host Computer ............................................................................................1-1

Scanner ........................................................................................................1-1

Setting Up and Installing PowerColor..............................................................1-2

Installing on an Apple Macintosh..............................................................1-2

Configuring Your Monitor for PowerColor............................................1-2

Installing the PowerColor Software ......................................................1-3

Assigning Memory to PowerColor..........................................................1-5

Installing on a Windows PC........................................................................1-6

Configuring Your Display ......................................................................1-6

Installing the PowerColor Software ......................................................1-6

Table of Contents iii

Chapter 2: Getting Acquainted

Overview of the Scanning Process ....................................................................2-2

Launching PowerColor ....................................................................................2-2

Setting Preferences ............................................................................................2-3

Changing Screen Gamma ................................................................................2-6

Making an Overview..........................................................................................2-7

Image Selection Tools ......................................................................................2-8

Creating Regions ..............................................................................................2-9

Images and Memory..................................................................................2-10

Region Names............................................................................................2-11

Working with Regions ....................................................................................2-12

Activating Regions ....................................................................................2-12

Adjusting the Queue Manager Window ....................................................2-13

Manipulating Regions in the Queue Manager ........................................2-14

Saving the Queues ....................................................................................2-14

Previewing Regions....................................................................................2-15

Dynamic Operations in the Queue Manager............................................2-16

Transforming Images................................................................................2-16

Viewing an Image in Detail ......................................................................2-17

Updating Images ............................................................................................2-18

Updating Automatically ............................................................................2-18

Updating Manually....................................................................................2-18

Saving and Recalling Settings........................................................................2-19

iv PowerColor User Guide

Chapter 3: Correcting Images with

PowerColor Photo/RGB Mode

Using the RGB Probe ........................................................................................3-2

RGB Probe Window Configurations............................................................3-2

Setting Highlight and Shadow..........................................................................3-4

Using the Gray Eyedropper..........................................................................3-7

Adjusting Tonal Range in Basic Mode ............................................................3-8

Adjusting Tonal Range in Expert Mode..........................................................3-10

Using the RGB Controls ..................................................................................3-12

Adjusting Colors ........................................................................................3-12

Correcting Colors..................................................................................3-13

Manipulating the Histograms ............................................................3-14

Using the ColorSync Profiles ..........................................................................3-15

Storing ColorSync Profiles ..................................................................3-15

Using Profiles ......................................................................................3-16

Table of Contents v

Chapter 4: Correcting Images with

PowerColor Press/CMYK:
Production Mode

Understanding the CMYK Probe........................................................................4-1

Probe Location ............................................................................................4-1

Displaying Density Values............................................................................4-2

Displaying Color Plates................................................................................4-2

CMYK Values Before and After Corrections..................................................4-2

Selecting Fixed Reference Points ................................................................4-3

Using Production Color Controls......................................................................4-4

Production Mode Workflow ........................................................................4-4

Setting Highlight and Shadow Points ..............................................................4-6

Setting Dot Limits..............................................................................................4-9

Setting an Image’s Tone..................................................................................4-10

Adjusting Color in Tone Regions ........................................................4-10

Correcting Color Casts..........................................................................4-10

Setting Multiple Gray Points................................................................4-11

Making Selective Color Corrections................................................................4-12

Selecting Colors to be Corrected ..........................................................4-12

Using the Sliders to Correct Individual Colors....................................4-13

vi PowerColor User Guide

Chapter 5: Correcting Images with

PowerColor Press/CMYK:
Expert Mode

Calibrating PowerColor Press ..........................................................................5-1

Understanding Calibration..........................................................................5-1

Preparing the Target for Output..................................................................5-2

Setting Up the Gray Balance ............................................................................5-5

Editing the Gray Balance Table ..................................................................5-6

Controlling Dot Gain ........................................................................................5-7

Setting Dot Gain ..........................................................................................5-7

Using Tone Controls........................................................................................5-10

Removing Color Casts..........................................................................5-10

Tone Curves..........................................................................................5-11

Using the Gray Eyedropper ..................................................................5-12

Setting Highlight and Shadow Points ............................................................5-13

Automatically ......................................................................................5-13

Manually ..............................................................................................5-13

Using Gradation Controls ..............................................................................5-16

Understanding Gradation..........................................................................5-17

Working with Gradation Curves................................................................5-20

Using Negative Slope Detection ................................................................5-21

Working with the Gradation Table............................................................5-22

Determining Black Generation ................................................................5-23

Table of Contents vii

Chapter 6: Unsharp Masking

Applying Unsharp Masking ..............................................................................6-1

Controlling USM in Tonal Regions ............................................................6-2

Manually Adjusting the Region Control Bars ......................................6-4

Controlling Edges between Tonal Regions............................................6-4

Using the Unsharp Masking Curve ............................................................6-5

Applying Descreening........................................................................................6-6

Descreening options ....................................................................................6-6

Customizing the Descreening Function......................................................6-7

Chapter 7: Scanning Images to Disk

Reviewing Scan Settings ..................................................................................7-1

Checking Toolbar Parameters ....................................................................7-2

Scan Type................................................................................................7-3

Scan Mode ..............................................................................................7-3

Line Screen ............................................................................................7-4

Sampling ................................................................................................7-4

Using the Resolution Lock Tool ............................................................7-4

File Size ..................................................................................................7-4

Width and Height ..................................................................................7-4

Scale........................................................................................................7-5

Naming Final Scans ....................................................................................7-5

Performing Final Scans ....................................................................................7-6

Scanning Images Individually....................................................................7-6

Batch Scanning All Images ........................................................................7-6

Pausing or Stopping the Scanning Process................................................7-6

Chapter 8: Tips and Tricks

Tips and Tricks ..................................................................................................8-1

viii PowerColor User Guide

Preface

Introduction

PowerColor is a powerful scanning software package for the UMAX Technologies,
Inc. scanner. With its many flexible features, PowerColor enables you to perform
complex color corrections and to make professional RGB or CMYK color separa­tions from your scanned images quickly and easily.

Because it manipulates 16-bits per channel color data directly on the host com­puter, PowerColor gives you the opportunity to preview changes during the initial
scanning process without additional prescanning. PowerColor also provides
instant CMYK feedback on your image transformations, so you can see the results
of your changes immediately.

For performing CMYK separations, PowerColor offers the ease and automation of
ICC profiles with our ColorSync Separator, as well as high level control with the
PowerColor Conventional Separator.

PowerColor and ColorSync (Macintosh)

The Macintosh version of PowerColor is fully ICC compatible with the use of 16­bits per channel input, output, and display profiles. Output profiles can be either
RGB or CMYK, allowing for flexible color matching for a wide variety of output
devices.

Preface xi

PowerColor includes the following features:

• Multiple, independent scan regions

• Color, range, and gradation control for individual scan regions

• Image manipulation tools, including rotation, cropping, and unsharp

masking

• Flexibility in setting lpi, dpi, size, and scale for individual scan regions

• Scanning to commonly used file formats

• Use of standard ColorSync ICC profiles (Macintosh only)

PowerColor Press

PowerColor Press is a high-end CMYK separator based on a density-to-dot color
engine. This software is intended for use by those who understand the concepts
behind color separation and reproduction as they relate to offset printing.
PowerColor Press offers sophisticated, advanced features for creating high-end
color separations, including:

• Selective color correction

• Automatic adjustments for wanted and unwanted colors

• Two operation modes for general production and expert work

• Input/output three-color and four-color density range gradation control

• Cast correction with diffused highlight and shadow settings

• UCR/GCR gradation control

• User definable dot gain

• User definable gray balance

xii PowerColor User Guide

How to Use This Manual

This manual explains how to install PowerColor and guides you through the
functions of the software. It contains all the information you need to begin using
PowerColor with your scanner. Once you have installed the software, this manual
will help you understand the process and tools for scanning, color correction, and
image manipulation.

Typographical Conventions

The following typographical conventions are used throughout this guide:

Menus and menu options, dialog box selections, on-screen messages, and key­board keys appear in bold: e.g. Manual Update, Preview, etc.

Note: Notes provide useful information about
the current topic.

Related Documentation

This guide assumes that you are familiar with the Macintosh or Microsoft
Windows interface and operating system. For detailed information on your com­puter and its interface, refer to your computer’s installation guide. For details on
using your scanner, refer to the Umax Technologies, Inc. Installation and
Operation Manual provided with your scanner.

Preface xiii

Installation

1

1

his chapter describes the configuration requirements for PowerColor and

T

guides you through the software installation process for both the Macintosh

and Windows platforms.

Configuration Requirements

Before installing PowerColor, make sure your system meets the minimum config­uration requirements indicated below.

Host Computer

In order to take full advantage of the PowerColor software,
your host computer must meet the following minimum requirements:

Macintosh

®

• Macintosh

sor installed

• 24-bit color display adapter

PowerPC 8100 computer or better with floating point coproces-

• 17" or larger high-resolution monitor (1024 x 768 dpi)

• 64 MB RAM available (128 MB recommended)

• System 7.5 or higher

Windows PC

• Pentium class computer running at 266 megahertz or above

• 24-bit color display adapter

• 17” or larger high-resolution monitor (1024 x 768 dpi)

• 32 MB RAM available (64 MB recommended)

• Windows NT 4.x or Windows 95/98

Scanner

PowerColor works with the UMAX Technologies, Inc. series of scanners.

For details on connecting your scanner to your host computer, refer to your
scanner’s user guide.

Chapter 1: Installation 1-1

Figure 1–1

Monitors control
panel.

➀

–Millions setting.

Setting Up and Installing PowerColor on
an Apple Macintosh

This section gives instructions for installing PowerColor on an Apple Macintosh
computer. For installation on a computer running Microsoft Windows, turn to
page 1-6.

Configuring Your Monitor for PowerColor

PowerColor Needs to run in 24 or 32 bit color mode. To configure your monitor
for PowerColor, follow the steps below:

1. Open Control Panels in the Apple menu.

2. Open the Monitors control panel and set your monitor to millions of colors
(see Figure 1–1).

➀

1-2 PowerColor User Guide

Figure 1–2

PowerColor installer
splash screen

Installing the PowerColor Software

To install the PowerColor software, proceed as follows:

1. Insert the PowerColor CD into your CD-ROM drive and double-click on the
Installer icon.

2. Click on Continue... in the PowerColor installer splash screen.

Chapter 1: Installation 1-3

Figure 1–3

Installation destina­tion window

3. Read and adhere to License Agreement. Click the agree button to continue.

4. Click the box next to Standard to install the Application and ColorSync
Profiles. If you choose to install just one component, click on the arrow to
the left of the box for separate component installation options. After select­ing your installation options, click the install button to continue.

5. If you want to change the location in which PowerColor will be installed,

follow these steps:

• Click on the Install Location drop down menu.

• Choose Select Folder in the drop down menu.

• In the destination window that appears, select the destination disk and

folder of your choice for PowerColor.

Note: To install PowerColor, you must have at
least 10 megabytes of free hard drive space.

• Highlight the folder where PowerColor will reside and click on Install.

6. Follow the screen prompts to complete installation and exit the installer

Installation of your PowerColor software is now complete.

1-4 PowerColor User Guide

Figure 1–4

PowerColor Get Info
dialog box

Note: If you are reinstalling or upgrading from a
previous version of PowerColor, before launch­ing the application, delete all PowerColor
Preferences files (located in the Preferences
folder within the System Folder). PowerColor
will create a new preferences file the first time
you launch it.

Assigning Memory to PowerColor

To increase the amount of memory assigned to PowerColor, proceed as follows:

1. Select the PowerColor application icon in the PowerColor folder and choose
Get Info from the File menu (+I).

2. In the PowerColor Info dialog box that appears, under Memory
Requirements make sure the Preferred size is set to at least 32 MB. If possi­ble, increase the RAM for PowerColor to 64 MB.

3. Close the PowerColor Info dialog box.

Chapter 1: Installation 1-5

Setting Up and Installing PowerColor on
an Windows NT and Windows 95/98

This section gives instructions for installing PowerColor on a PC running
Microsoft Windows 95, 98 or Windows NT. For installation on an Apple
Macintosh, turn to page 1-2.

Configuring your display for PowerColor

PowerColor needs to run in 24 or 32 bit color depth. To configure your display
settings for PowerColor, do the following:

1. Right click on a clear area of your Windows desktop. Choose Properties from
the pop-up window that appears.

2. The Windows Display Properties window will appear. Choose the Settings Tab.

3. In the Color Palette section of the Settings window, choose 24 bit or 32 bit color.

Installing PowerColor

To install the PowerColor software, proceed as follows:

1. Insert the PowerColor CD into your drive and double-click on the Setup icon.

2. The PowerColor installer will launch. You will be asked to specify the location

3. After you have selected the install location, click OK to have the software

1-6 PowerColor User Guide

in which PowerColor should be installed. Use the standard Windows dialog
box to specify a location, or use the default location of:

c:\Program Files\PowerColor

installed to the specified directory.

Getting Acquainted

2

2

owerColor provides a powerful and flexible software interface between your

P

Computer and UMAX Technologies, Inc. scanner. The software offers a wide
array of professional scanning and image manipulation tools with all the conve­nience and user friendliness of the standard Macintosh or Microsoft Windows
interface, including drop-down menus, multiple windows, point-and-click con­trols, and keyboard shortcuts.

This chapter covers the following topics:

• Overview of the scanning process

• Launching PowerColor

• Setting Preferences

• Changing Screen Gamma

• Making an Overview

• Image Selection Tools

• Creating Regions

• Working with Regions

• Updating Images

• Saving and Recalling Settings

For details on correcting scanned images, see Chapters 3–6. How to use the
Queue Manager and scan images to disk is discussed in Chapter 7.

Chapter 2: Getting Acquainted 2-1

Overview of the Scanning Process

Preparing scans with PowerColor is a simple process with many tools for an effi­cient and organized workflow. Summarized below are the basic steps in the
PowerColor process:

1. Generate an overview scan of the entire scanning bed:

2. Define regions as desired and add them to the Queue Manager.

3. Select an image from the Queue Manager and perform the desired image
corrections while verifying the results visually and numerically on-screen.

4. Scan the final images to disk using the desired output and file formats.

Launching PowerColor

To launch the application, double-click on the PowerColor icon in the
PowerColor folder, or, if using Windows, click on your Windows Start menu, then
choose PowerColor from withn the UMAX program group. When the application
opens, the menu bar, blank Overview window, Queue Manager, Control Bar and
Toolbar are displayed (see Figure 2–1). These are the tools with which you can
access all of PowerColor’s commands and functions.

Figure 2–1

PowerColor menus:
Toolbar, Control Bar
and Queue Manager

2-2 PowerColor User Guide

Figure 2–2a

Preferences window,
General components

Setting Preferences

Before you begin scanning, check PowerColor’s preferences to be sure the options
you need will be available.

Preferences are set in the Preferences window (see Figure 2–2). To open this
window, select Preferences from the Edit menu.

The components of the Preferences, General window, are defined as follows:

• Application: The static fields in this section describe the software revision

number and type of encryption (if any). This area is also used to toggle
between the ColorSync and PowerColor Press by selecting the desired radio
button.

• PowerColor Photo : This section allows you to set the mode of operation as

well as the type of information to be displayed in the expert tone graph.

• PowerColor Press: This section allows you to set the type of separation tools

to be used with PowerColor Press. Production mode provides an “all-in-one”
color correction window suitable for most general scanning work. In Expert
mode, all of PowerColor’s sophisticated image correction features are avail­able separately.

• Default Save Directory: Allows navigation to volumes mounted on

workstation or available network or servers.

• Prompt Before Adding to Queue: toggles a prompt before file names are

added to the queue for final scan.

Chapter 2: Getting Acquainted 2-3

Figure 2–2b

Preferences window,
Other components

• Periodically Save Queue: allows you to designate whether PowerColor will

automatically save the current queue at the interval specified in the Saving
Interval Field.

The components of the Other tab in the Preferences Window are defined as fol­lows:

• Overview: This section controls how images are viewed on screen during the

scanning and color correction process. The Resolution setting defines the
desired resolution of the overview scan. The default value is 50 dpi. Higher
resolutions provide greater detail in the image window, but also require con­siderably more RAM (as reflected in the non-editable Buffer Size field). If
you have over 64 MB of RAM available for PowerColor, setting the resolu­tion to 75 or 100 increases the default resolution in the region windows,
which may save you from having to perform a preview scan for each region.
The Preview Size setting defines the dimensions of the image window. The
default size is 512 pixels.

• Units: sets the units of measure for the entire application. The default setting

is Inches.

• Probe Size: sets the size of the area sampled by the probe. 1x1 samples a sin-

gle pixel; 3x3 samples the eight pixels surrounding the cursor location; 5x5
samples the 24 pixels surrounding the cursor location.

2-4 PowerColor User Guide

Interpolation: PowerColor provides the following interpolation modes:

– Bi-Cubic: weighted average of a region of pixels around the target pixel

(default mode). This type of interpolation provides high quality for con­tinuous tone images when scaled to a resolution higher than that of the
scanner.

– Bi-linear: weighted average of adjacent pixels. This setting provides high

quality with better performance than Bi-Cubic, but may cause unwant­ed patterns in some images.

– Nearest neighbor: interpolation by pixel replication (should only be

used for line art).

– Maximum Optical Resolution: This feature allows PowerColor to set a

maximum optical scanning resolution for certain film types. Any reso­lution above this value will be interpolated. This is very helpful when
scanning noisy or grainy originals that need to be enlarged beyond the
quality of the original.

Note: The preferences you select, as well as all
window positions and contents, are saved by
PowerColor when the application is closed. The
next time you launch PowerColor, they will be
restored.

Note: Changes made in the preference window
do not require the PowerColor application to be
restarted to take effect.

Chapter 2: Getting Acquainted 2-5

Changing Screen Gamma

PowerColor’s Monitor Setup option in the Edit menu (see Figure 2–3) allows you
to specify the gamma values of your monitor, as well as the CMY-to-RGB tables
used by PowerColor Press to display the “blowback” of your CMYK output.

By default, PowerColor assumes a monitor gamma value of 1.8. If you have
changed your monitor’s gamma, enter the new gamma value in the Monitor
Setup window. PowerColor then adjusts its previews to look the same regardless of
any monitor gamma
(in the range of 0.2 to 5.0)

Note: PowerColor does not adjust the gamma
value of your monitor. It merely adjusts its pre­views to look the same regardless of different
gamma settings.

You can choose between the PowerColor default blowback tables, or you can

Figure 2–3

Monitor Setup
window

select ColorSync and load your own monitor and output CMYK profile.

Note: PowerColor only uses ICC tables for the
monitor preview in Separator Mode.

2-6 PowerColor User Guide

Making an Overview

Before working with images, the contents of the scanning surface must be
scanned into the Overview window. To do so, proceed as follows:

1. Mount the original(s) on your scanner.

2. Select the Scan Type in the toolbar as follows:

• Transmissive: color or black-and-white transparencies.

• Transmissive Negative: negative transparencies.

• Reflective: color or black-and-white photographs or prints.

3. Click on the Preview button ( ) in the toolbar or the Preview button
( ) below the blank first image in the Queue Manager.

Your scanner now produces a low-resolution overview scan of the entire
scanning surface.

Note: To stop an overview scan once the desired
portion of the scanning surface has been
scanned: on a Macintosh press  + . (period), if
using Windows, hit the Escape (ESC) key.

Note: If you are scanning all the images in the
Queue Manager using the same line screen,
sampling, and scale values, set up the Overview
with the desired values. All images subsequent­ly added to the queue will reflect those changes.

Chapter 2: Getting Acquainted 2-7

Image Selection Tools

Once you have produced an Overview, PowerColor’s image selection tools, located in the
Control Bar, allows you to define and work with regions for detailed color correction
work. This section describes how to use these tools.

Note: For Macintosh users, enabling the Macintosh
Balloon Help will cause the name and function of

each button to be displayed as the cursor passes
over it.

Image Selection Tools

Probe Region: The Probe (or Pointer) tool is used to select items and to move around the

image to sample pixels. The tool deselects the Crop and Zoom tools.

Zoom: Click on the image with the Zoom tool to enlarge the image for more precise examina­tion of a region. If necessary, resize the image window to accommodate the new view. The magnifica­tion is shown at the bottom left-hand corner of the image window. To reduce the view again, hold
down the Option key (Macintosh) or Control key (Windows) while clicking on the image with the
Zoom tool. Note: The point where the Zoom tool is clicked becomes the new center of the image in
the window.

Crop Region: Use the Crop tool to select a portion of the image, for example to cut out the
clack edges of a film frame or tape used to hold images on the scanning surface.

Auto Range: Automatically adjusts the tonal range, setting the highlight and shadow points.

Pick Neutral Point: Uniquely selects multiple gray points in an image by holding down the
Option key (Macintosh) or Control key (Windows) and clicking on quarter, mid, and three quarter
tone values.

Highlight Value Shadow Value: Automatic values for each image highlight and
shadow range are made with both buttons selected (default setting). Deselecting either button will
result in a new auto range without the deselected value. Edit/Undo, from Main Menu reverts to last
values.

Refresh: With automatic updating off, click on the Refresh key to update the active region
with all changes since the last update

2-8 PowerColor User Guide

.