How do you get your toning to show from scanner.

Trinketts

For those of you able to get the brilliant colors to come through from your scanner. I can Scan up to 9600 DPI. But no matter what I do I can't get the colors from the toning to show.

HELP!

Trinketts

Here is a perfect example. This 1964-D Washington has beautiful green, yellow, gold and purple in the rev toning but hardly shows in a scan.

GAT

Forget it, you can't get good toned pictures from a scan. You need to get a good digital camera and lighting system.

Baley

Forget it, you can't get good toned pictures from a scan. You need to get a good digital camera and lighting system.

clw54

Sunlight and a digital camera work pretty well.

stman

And statements like the ones above are probably why a lot of people don't post their images anymore.
Including me. IMO some of y'all are getting elitist attitudes with your images. Yes a camera is much better,
but I don't believe people need to "Forget" about trying with a scanner. Now flame away folks!!!!

clw54

I don't think I've ever claimed my images are anything special. However, there are people who are doing some fantastic photography here. They're not doing it with scanners. Sure, scanners will produce an image, but a camera will do a far better job. That's just reality.

Bochiman

Stman is right.
I didn't have a digital camera that could take good coin pics until just a month ago or so (thanks to Eric's recommendation).
The scanner isn't AS good, but it does work at times.

Trinketts....I have heard that you get a better scan if you prop up the coin just a bit on one end.

So, one edge is on the scanner and the other is propped up by something. Not too much of an angle but at least something.
Some scanners are better than others...the DPI doesn't mean much for this.

Good luck,

Ron

stman

Trinketts, Try propping one end of the coin up a bit on the scanner glass. Also you might need to prop up the
side or whatever helps bring the color out. It just takes a lot of experimenting but you will be able to get it to
look pretty decent for a scan. You might try a pencil, a few pennies and add or subtract till you get the right height.

I currently use a broken piece of a stick that is used to stir up paint. I also have two small pieces taped together that
works good for me. Hope this helps a bit. Another thing that helps is to cover the coin (propped up a bit) and the scanner
glass with a piece of black velvet.

stman

<< <i>However, there are people who are doing some fantastic photography here. They're not doing it with scanners. Sure, scanners will produce an image, but a camera will do a far better job. That's just reality. >>



I agree. And I'm sorry if I seemed harsh with my post. I guess it just bothers me when someone mentions help
with a scanner and everybody has to jump in and say forget it. I still use my scanner and will continue to do so.
Although I rarely post any of my scans anymore because they just aren't good enough for this board anymore.

When I joined this board many folks used scanners. Yes technology has evolved, but some of us old
dinosaurs just can't and won't keep up with it.

Baley

yeah prop one edge up, do some experimenting with photoshop, and you can get an image from a scanner.

An afternoon with a digital camera will change everything for you (once you've mastered things like cropping and resizing with a scanner, a camera is a pice of cake and will make a world of difference)

or, alternatively, refuse to try and just be a dinosaur might as well be grumpy too

stman

<< <i>might as well be grumpy too >>



I can relate to that. Hey man, I've been a good guy for quite some time.
Makes me grumpy to just think of being a good guy.

Monstavet

I have tried scanning toned coins extensively and it is not easy to do. My opinion is that heavily toned coins will scan, and tipping the coin works well, but coins with light toning are almost impossible to capture properly. Very slight changes in the angle make a big difference in the scan, and it is very difficult to scan, change the angle, re-scan, etc. Hard to control the degree of angle very accurately. You also have to rotate the coin so you scan at all different angles, because you never know which angle will work the best. It can be done in some cases, but not as readily as with a digital camera. Good luck.

CarlWohlforth

When I first posted in these forums I was using a scanner. I used them for eBay images as well. The propping up the edge of the coin really helped for me. When my scanner broke I tried a few new very thin scanners but I could never get them to focus properly on propped up coins.

magikbilly

Hi,
I disagree with some of the posts here - the scan below, and the ones in my sig line, were done by me with a scanner - HP2450 Perfection. You can certainly get reasonable results with a scanner - capturing luster is different than capturing color though. Sure there are hot spots and such - but I don't think the image is that bad. The text below is from an old post of mine.

Best to All,
Billy

"Hi All,
someone PM'd me asking for tips. After writing them out I decided to share with all who might want them.
Pasted below:


"well, I am using a high quality epson Photo Scanner, perfection 2450, that can scan up to 12,500 DPI. I am using the Photoshop Elements program that came with it. I am scanning at 2400 with adjusted settings for"Gamma" and "Exposure", "Saturation" and such - and I scanned with the "Unsharp Mask" on. The slabs are tilted on the flatbed, capable of 48 bit true color, with a combination of Kodachrome slide mounts and other odd items under them that give the proper reflection or other sought after effects (color, cameo etc.) without changing focus or color appreciably (these can be corrected in the editing phase to a degree). The whole thing then gets covered with a folded black t-shirt which seems to enhance the mirrors and color. Trial and error with exposures and tilt will yield the best results (try rotating 90 degrees for each scan until you find the right angle for the light to attack - then play with it). This scan is then saved, and turned into a JPEG file. This is then opened and cropped with the "Crop Tool". I then select "Inverse" under "Selections" and then turn the "Rectangular Selection" tool into an elipse/cirlce by right clicking and choosing that feature. After selecting the coin only I choose from the layers dropdown folder on the right the lower left icon which changes the unselected background color to black (or whatever color you want). This image is then saved. Each step is saved seperately - in case you make a mistake you won't have to start again. Then, I edit for minor color variations with "Variations", then "Brightness" and "Contrast" to insure accuracy to the coin in hand, then very judiciusly remove scratches in the slab, which show up quite well, with the "Blur Tool" or the "Pencil tool" (by sampling color), and then a slight touch of manual "Unsharp Mask" to pull it all together. This is then resized to "500x500" (or whatever size you want) and saved at quality level "7" (or whatever you want). This ought to do it. Let me know if I can help further."

Best
Billy"

FatMan

I used a scanner for years with fair results. Old deep scanners seem to work much better than the newer thin scanners. I used a Asta 2100U which you can probably find on ebay for nothing but an overly large shipping charge. The older ones are slower though. You can improve the flatness of the scan by slightly tilting the coin. I found a cheap Home Depot paint stir stick created the best angle for PCGS slabs. Rest the top end indented part the slab on the stick. The slight angle really added depth to the image. Do the revevse upside down so the same angle is created.

Color and luster is a little tougher with a scanner. But I think most of us have fair experience in reading scans so certainly your image can be appreciated. Good luck, and post away.

MadMonk

<< <i>And statements like the ones above are probably why a lot of people don't post their images anymore.
Including me. IMO some of y'all are getting elitist attitudes with your images. Yes a camera is much better,
but I don't believe people need to "Forget" about trying with a scanner. Now flame away folks!!!! >>



No flame from me. You've made an excellent point!

Cratylus

I "tweaked" your picture. This might be slightly better.

JrGMan2004

<< <i>Forget it, you can't get good toned pictures from a scan. You need to get a good digital camera and lighting system. >>

Generally, I'll have to agree... it's tough to get a good color picture off a scanner... the light is generally too harsh, and it needs to be more diffused... some suggestions that might work to bring out the color somewhat, is to use a post-it-note pad, and use that to prop the coin up so it's at a slight angle... this might help you to bring out the color, but it will not look nearly as good as a practiced person with a decent camera and a few lamps can do... Good luck, friend

lablover

<< <i>Forget it, you can't get good toned pictures from a scan. >>



I'd beg to differ with this...sure you can. Here's an example:



Angle the coin on the glass appox. 1/16". I use a small "Post-It-Note" pan and peel off pages until I have the height I need. Usually you'll angle the coin top to bottom...side to side does not produce the color well.

lablover

Here's another "Scanner" coin for good measure:

CoinResource

Scanners use VERY flat DIFFUSED lighting and increment at 1/300 or 1/600th of an inch (scanning just a piece at a time). This almost always gives a flat look to the coin (most scanners). cm

magikbilly

Does my sig line look flat?

Billy

Baley

How do you get your toning to show from scanner.

1. prop coin up on Scanner
2. put two or three nice lights on the coin
3. take picture of coin with digital camera