Good Morning from my Robotics Lab! This is Shadow_8472 with a 1-night special project based on a mini-project I did a few weeks back. Let’s get started!
I’m no stranger to using my family’s photo trunk as fodder for a long-running project. Besides, there’s a special occasion coming up, and I thought it would be nice to restore a special photo where the photographer had his flash misaligned.
The first part was smuggling one of the scanners up to my room, where it wouldn’t be so obvious that/when I’m working on it. For reference, I’m working with an Epson Perfection V550 Photo and Manjaro Linux. My previous attempts at getting this and another Epson Perfection working with Linux using a driver called SANE were spotty at best. I even went so far as to save a cloned drive over my difficulty in reproducing my success.
> SANE: Scanner Access Now Easy
Long, boring story short: I landed at sane-project.org, where the whole series of Epson Perfection V[100-600] Photo is listed as “unsupported.” [1] The only reason I got it to work before was because I had Image Scan! for Linux installed, as I learned through a combination of user-forsaken forums and personal experimentation. My notes for this project made note to mention “[Epson Perfection V series scanners are] supported by the epkowa backend plus non-free interpreter.” I stopped trying to fully sort its meaning out after getting the V550 working thanks to an AUR package.
> AUR: Arch User Repository
With a working scanner, it wasn’t much more trouble to connect it to the XSANE plugin for GIMP, where I made a collage of different scans with slightly different settings. It took a while to zoom in and align each piece pixel-perfect; ironically, this process was aided by the dust and scratches I couldn’t get off. To finish off the project, I used a feathered eraser tool to smooth the edges.
Takeaway
If I had more time, I’d have feathered the edges after each scan. Like I said, this was a project I am finishing last-minute. I now have the picture looking the best it has in years, but it’s still due for plenty of help – some beyond my skill level.
Final Question
I have a pretty strong feeling I know the answer, but do scanner drivers communicate any additional information when optimizing a scan, or was I just needlessly exposing a special picture to extra light?
Work Cited
SANE, “SANE: Supported Devices,” sane-project.org, [Online]. Available: http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html#Z-EPSON. [Accessed Mar. 13, 2023].