Multicolor - Hi Res Scanning

MULTICOLOR AUSTRALIA is equipped with 3 high end drum scanners manned by experienced scanner operators.

Images are scanned, scaled, and colour corrected at the scanner ensuring that image quality is never compromised.

Images can be supplied either hi res or as lo res OPI positionals. OPI positionals are placed in position in the Quark or Pagemaker document and link to the hi res files stored on one of two OPI servers here at Multicolor.

Using OPI has huge speed advantages in both the creation of the document and output times but a point to remember is that you cannot crop or perform retouching to an OPI lo res positional. If you need any image alteration other than scaling or rotation, this must be performed on the hi res image.On output, the hi res images are substituted for the lo res positionals on the way to the imagesetter, saving processing time and money.

Although recent advances in technology have improved the quality of images obtainable with a flatbed scanner, the drum scanner is still superior in terms of resolution and tonal range.

The flatbed scanner's resolution is limited to the number of pixel elements in the CCD (Charge Coupled Device) head and the photosensitivity of each of these elements. To get an idea of the CCD head of a flatbed scanner, imagine looking through wire mesh at an object. Each hole in the mesh corresponds to one photosensitive cell. The latest flatbeds have multiple CCDs that overlap to give greater resolution and the image quality is far better than earlier models but still lacks the quality of drum scanning.

During high end drum scanning, a beam of light is passed through (or reflected off) the original and focussed through a prism which splits the light into its red, green and blue components. These beams of light are reflected through photomultipliers that convert the light to electrical impulses based on the intensity of light received. The original is spun at high speed around a glass drum as the light is swept across its surface. Because the sample area is so small and each beam of light is analysed through the same internal photomultipliers, the operator has a great deal of control over the tonal range of the image produced and this results in sharper, "gutsier" images.

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	MULTICOLOR AUSTRALIA is equipped with 3 high end drum scanners manned by experienced scanner operators. Images are scanned, scaled, and colour corrected at the scanner ensuring that image quality is never compromised. Images can be supplied either hi res or as lo res OPI positionals. OPI positionals are placed in position in the Quark or Pagemaker document and link to the hi res files stored on one of two OPI servers here at Multicolor.
Using OPI has huge speed advantages in both the creation of the document and output times but a point to remember is that you cannot crop or perform retouching to an OPI lo res positional. If you need any image alteration other than scaling or rotation, this must be performed on the hi res image.On output, the hi res images are substituted for the lo res positionals on the way to the imagesetter, saving processing time and money.
Although recent advances in technology have improved the quality of images obtainable with a flatbed scanner, the drum scanner is still superior in terms of resolution and tonal range. The flatbed scanner's resolution is limited to the number of pixel elements in the CCD (Charge Coupled Device) head and the photosensitivity of each of these elements. To get an idea of the CCD head of a flatbed scanner, imagine looking through wire mesh at an object. Each hole in the mesh corresponds to one photosensitive cell. The latest flatbeds have multiple CCDs that overlap to give greater resolution and the image quality is far better than earlier models but still lacks the quality of drum scanning. During high end drum scanning, a beam of light is passed through (or reflected off) the original and focussed through a prism which splits the light into its red, green and blue components. These beams of light are reflected through photomultipliers that convert the light to electrical impulses based on the intensity of light received. The original is spun at high speed around a glass drum as the light is swept across its surface. Because the sample area is so small and each beam of light is analysed through the same internal photomultipliers, the operator has a great deal of control over the tonal range of the image produced and this results in sharper, "gutsier" images.