Replace color on scanned Kodak slides

[Rish33]

Hi,
I am relatively new to PE (I have 4.0 version) and will appreciate your advice on the following subject. I have got some nice slides of flowers whose original violet and purple colors were changed by the film (Kodak Ektachrome 100 VS) into pink or red, probably as a result of the film's sensitivity to IR light reflected by the flowers. Now I have finally scanned these slides and wonder if there is any way to revert to the original colors by using PE. I tried Replace Color choosing a purple color from the pallette, but wasn't very happy about the result, as the color was washed out and too uniform.

[TonyW]

Hi there and welcome to the forum. That's a common problem with old Ektachrome slides as some of the dyes fade, cyan usually, leaving a red cast. So replacing colour won't work too well, you need to rebalance the colours. Some of that can sometimes be done in the scanner software if it lets you make colour channel adjustments and then you can improve it further in Elements by working on the individual colour channels using tools like levels.

I'd suggest posting an example. Resize to 800 pixels wide or so and upload to www.pixentral.com (http://www.pixentral.com) and post a link to the image. Lots of people here who will suggest the best approach once they see the example.

Tony

[Rish33]

Thanks a lot, I will soon.

[Wendy]

Hi ...

... and welcome to the forum :)

Hopefully we will be able to help once you post the image ...

Wendy

[Rish33]

Hi ...

... and welcome to the forum :)

Hopefully we will be able to help once you post the image ...

Wendy

Hi,
I've finally managed to get and upload two pictures of the same Rhododendron flower, both made this spring:
1. Libretto Digital - taken by using a digital camera and this is how the color should really look
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1P0DLHTsAuLrH31E9f6tsDXIPqMFgh1

2. Libretto Analog - taken using analog Canon EOS 30 (Rebel in US) on Ektachrome 100 VS (and then scanned by me using Canon 4000 US film scanner).
http://www.pixentral.com/show.php?picture=1NJVqe0JUNrtRjMyzgUBLkFrCS1aPQ1

As you can easily see, the slide film made purple look red and it is the case with almost all my flowers which are dark blue, violet or purple. This is the deficiency of slide films: they change such colors into various degrees of red when you take photos of objects in the sun, because they (the objects) reflect IR rays and the film emulsion is very sensitive to this.

I will very much appreciate your advice how to change such colors in my old slide photos that, unlike the above examples, have no digital back copies from which I could source.

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

Hi Rish,

Let me add my welcome to Wendy's. This is the world's friendliest newsgroup (NG). I do not have a Canon film scanner, but I do have a Nikon Coolscan 4000. I have never used the feature, but I am sure you can adjust the color balance of the scanner. If you do a lot of flowers and there is a consistent color shift, this might be the answer. However, if this is just in the violet end of the spectrum this approach may just alter the red end leading to funny colors in people's faces:).

I do not do a large volume of scanning. After each scan, I adjust the color and remove the dust in Photoshop Elements (PSE). This is a pain, but I am willing to do it because I do not do many at any one time. Some of the oldest slides have held up the best. Take a look at this shot my late father took at the 1939 World's Fair in New York.

www.s-i-inc.com/WorldFair72.jpg (http://www.s-i-inc.com/WorldFair72.jpg)

Pretty good for 1930s technology! Let us know how it is working for you. You are the first member from Poland I have seen in this community. Now I have only been a member for a short time, so if there are more of your countrymen in this NG, please let us know.

Cheers and Welcome,

Bob

[Rish33]

Hi Robert,
Thanks for advice. Perhaps I was not clear. The red color (instead of purple) is not the work of the scanner which reproduces colors quite faithfully. It is the developed film that changes the color. So my question was rather about how to creatively use PSE 4.0 to revert to purple. I tried Replace Color and changing Hue but was not happy with the reulst. I was think that perhaps there are some digital photo filters that can do it.

[Rish33]

Hi Rish,

Let me add my welcome to Wendy's. This is the world's friendliest newsgroup (NG). I do not have a Canon film scanner, but I do have a Nikon Coolscan 4000. I have never used the feature, but I am sure you can adjust the color balance of the scanner. If you do a lot of flowers and there is a consistent color shift, this might be the answer. However, if this is just in the violet end of the spectrum this approach may just alter the red end leading to funny colors in people's faces:).

I do not do a large volume of scanning. After each scan, I adjust the color and remove the dust in Photoshop Elements (PSE). This is a pain, but I am willing to do it because I do not do many at any one time. Some of the oldest slides have held up the best. Take a look at this shot my late father took at the 1939 World's Fair in New York.

www.s-i-inc.com/WorldFair72.jpg (http://www.s-i-inc.com/WorldFair72.jpg)

Pretty good for 1930s technology! Let us know how it is working for you. You are the first member from Poland I have seen in this community. Now I have only been a member for a short time, so if there are more of your countrymen in this NG, please let us know.

Cheers and Welcome,

Bob

Once again, now I have a little more time (sorry for the typos).

The photo is really great! I wouldn't believe this is so old!

Thanks for advice - I will see if changing the color balance of the scanner works and is a better way than PSE editing.

Thanks for the welcome - it's so nice to be able to exchange views and experience with other photo editing enthusiasts worldwide. I have found this forum quite recently when I started using PSE and the scanner (borrowed) to scan thousands of my slides, from my garden flowers to the Antarctic. Because of the number, I do batch scanning (six at a time) so I do not do any corrections at this stage, other than automatic dust removal which works quite well. It is in the PSE that I do the editing. I found that using Levels and then Shadows and Highlights is the best combination of time and quality. I am not using layers yet, but when I go from flowers to other subjects soon, I will probably start using them. And then, of course, I will be posting various silly questions at this forum.

Cheers,
Ryszard

[RobertSchuldenfrei]

Hi Ryszard,

Once you have adjusted the color balance on your scanner, post a before and after picture so we can see the results of your experiment. Between my late father's slides and my own collection I have almost 20,000 slides. I have thought of scanning, but when I think of the time it will take, I just sit down and have a drink, Polish Vodka of course:).

I have scanned in about 100 slides. As I need them, I scan them. Most of the time they are needed for one of my photography courses.

Cheers,

Bob

[TonyW]

That's quite a big colour shift for a new slide and doesn't look like the effect you get with fading of dyes in old Ektachrome slides. I'm not at a computer with Elements on it at the moment but I think I'd try Color Variations and decrease the red and increase the green and blue to see if you can match the digital version. It's tricky to match colours precisely but it would be a good place to start - and I find it can work quite well for big shifts like that.

Tony

[Rusty]

Hi Rish, I am very puzzled by what you are showing.

I have scanned many slides this year, all from the early 1960s. Most of the Ektachromes are in poor shape showing a decided magenta cast as mentioned by others above. The Kodachromes are faded but the colors have usually remained true. In either case, even those with true color, there is no question that the slides are faded.

Your second image is clear and vibrant. The color may not be true but they sure are bold.

Others have talked about using scanner software to "restore color". I use that on every single one of the 1960s slides I am scanning and it gives me excellent results. Not a finished product, but a good starting point for work in Elements. I don't think this is going to do you any good.

Your colors are not faded, they do not need to be restored.

I have no clue what the solution is but I'll bet (small sum :)) it doesn't have anything to do with scanner settings.


Welcome to the forum. Lots of people here will try to help; somebody might even figure it out. :D

Rusty