I wish to image-enhance scanned grayscale magazine pages, using different settings for text and halftone photo's.
There are hundreds of pages, so I'd like to do it automatically, in batch mode with Photoshop 6.0.1.
The photo's are generally well separated from the text (but not always rectangular).
Is there a plug-in that will automatically select the photo's or the text?
Better yet, is there a plugin that will clean up the whole page, descreening the photo and darkening/sharpening the text, etc.
Thanks for you help and advice![/u]
automatic selection of photo's in scanned magazine page
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What you describe is a very specialized tasks. Plugins usually do more general tasks, unless you hire someone to write one for you that does such a specialized task.
But I think with some experimentation you will be able to do that with the help of a Photoshop Action. You will need to invest some time, but if you have a lot of images to process, it will be worth the investment.
I think Photoshop 6 already lets you record the usage of the magic wand into Actions. So you can use the magic wand to create a selection of the text. Inverting the selection should select the photo. However, this will only work, if the photo and the text are located very similarily on each of your hundred pages.
Otherwise, only create two Actions that do the image manipulation for the photo as well as for the text and select the photo and text manually before applying the Action. This doesn't let you use Batch mode, but still saves you a lot of time.
But I think with some experimentation you will be able to do that with the help of a Photoshop Action. You will need to invest some time, but if you have a lot of images to process, it will be worth the investment.
I think Photoshop 6 already lets you record the usage of the magic wand into Actions. So you can use the magic wand to create a selection of the text. Inverting the selection should select the photo. However, this will only work, if the photo and the text are located very similarily on each of your hundred pages.
Otherwise, only create two Actions that do the image manipulation for the photo as well as for the text and select the photo and text manually before applying the Action. This doesn't let you use Batch mode, but still saves you a lot of time.
Thanks for your reply Harald.
The manual selection method was what I started with, but it's just too cumbersome....
I've experimented with the magic wand and actions, problem is, try as I might, I can't figure a way to select text or image only. Perhaps someone has figured this out and would post their solution?
In the mean time, I'll investigate another avenue: scanning software that autodetects images and allows separate settings for text and images. Silverfast?
Thanks for your help.
Cheers,
Casper
The manual selection method was what I started with, but it's just too cumbersome....
I've experimented with the magic wand and actions, problem is, try as I might, I can't figure a way to select text or image only. Perhaps someone has figured this out and would post their solution?
In the mean time, I'll investigate another avenue: scanning software that autodetects images and allows separate settings for text and images. Silverfast?
Thanks for your help.
Cheers,
Casper
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Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2003 9:52 am Post subject:
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If you could upload one of your images somewhere and place the
link here, I could try to investigate it and give you some suggestions.
Thanks for the kind offer Harald! I uploaded a 200dpi test image to:
http://home.earthlink.net/~c.mol/200_dpi_test_image.jpg
The images I work on are actually 400dpi, but there was no room left on the server for a larger file. But this will give you an idea.
I'll check back in afew days.
Cheers[/quote]
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If you could upload one of your images somewhere and place the
link here, I could try to investigate it and give you some suggestions.
Thanks for the kind offer Harald! I uploaded a 200dpi test image to:
http://home.earthlink.net/~c.mol/200_dpi_test_image.jpg
The images I work on are actually 400dpi, but there was no room left on the server for a larger file. But this will give you an idea.
I'll check back in afew days.
Cheers[/quote]
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- Posts: 3363
- Joined: Fri Mar 08, 2002 1:00 am
- Location: The Plugin Site
- Contact:
Well, I think, the only to batch process these scans and to apply different effects to the images and text is to write a plugin. This plugin would have to detect the images and the text and apply a different effect to each of them.
For example FilterMeister (www.filtermeister.com) could be used to write such a plugin. But it means quite some work.
Otherwise, use my earlier suggestion to create actions for the effects and manually select the images and the text.
For example FilterMeister (www.filtermeister.com) could be used to write such a plugin. But it means quite some work.
Otherwise, use my earlier suggestion to create actions for the effects and manually select the images and the text.