Deceptive Ebay Scans - problem solved?

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Today is another big scanning day, so I'll give it a try today in a darker room. I'm wondering if it's a scanner setting that I inadvertently set. The good news is that this scanner requires no touch-up to any scans - very happy with the results, and it's lightning-fast....slow lightning, but fast compared to other things.

You might also try replacing/recovering the mat inside the lid of the scanner if you're always going to want a black background. For my main scanner, I took one of those matte plasticky kinds of pocket folders, cut out a panel that almost covers the whole area, and affixed it directly to the existing white background inside the scanner lid. It covers the entire scanner bed except for about 1/4" at the bottom, which I rarely require anyway. I used the cellophane type double-stick tape to affix it, so it lays flat. Voila, I have the black background I prefer, and don't have to leave the scanner lid up to get it.

Incidentally, I find this whole argument of lid up/lid down, native/tweaked settings to be ridiculous (not aiming this at you, Scott). All scanners are going to have different native settings and compensate for the lid being up differently from one scanner model to the next. Pick a combination that gives the most true-to-life appearance on your screen, and go with that. Don't tie your hands from improving the correlation between what you see with your eyes and what the scan represents by trying to adhere to some arbitrary set of "universal scanning standards."