I finally figured out why my scanner was making everything look like garbage after 8 years

So I've been scanning old family photos for a client project on my ancient Canon LiDE 110. The colors always came out flat and muddy. I just assumed it was because the scanner was old and cheap. Then last week my buddy who shoots film casually asked if I was scanning emulsion side down. I had never even heard that term before lmao. Turns out I've been scanning everything backwards this whole time. Now the blacks actually look black and the skin tones don't look like rotten apples. Has anyone else had a bonehead moment with an old piece of tech that fixed all your frustrations?

2 comments

2 Comments

faith_schmidt5d ago

That explains why every photo looked like a faded instax print from 1995.

emma6845d ago

Eight years is a long time to be living a lie with a scanner. That's like owning a car and not realizing you had to put it in drive to go forward. I appreciate your buddy asking the simple question, because sometimes the most boneheaded fixes are the ones nobody thinks to try. For me it was finding out my printer had been set to "draft quality" for two years from a default setting I never touched. A little embarrassing but the relief of having it work right washed away all the frustration.