Notes on the PC ColorPerfect Photoshop Plug-In, Version 1.04 3/1/10
ColorPerfect is an Adobe Photoshop plug-in that is designed to produce and preserve the natural look of good color images. We strongly recommend that new users read through all of this short ReadMe file. Those of you who really hate to read instructions, skip to "Installation" below and use the Help system in ColorPerfect as you need it.
ColorPerfect 1.04 converts scanned color negative film images to digital positive images, and deals with scanned positives and digital camera images as well, applying a selected calibration to produce natural color and providing very powerful image adjustments which preserve the natural appearance of the color. ColorPerfect is distributed as a fully functional demo version on our web site (http://www.c-f-systems.com/Plug-ins.html). For color negatives, ColorPerfect Version 1.04 has built-in calibration data for over 230 types of color negative film from Kodak, Fuji, Agfa, Konica, China Lucky, Rollei, and Ferrania. Problem negatives and positives as well as negatives of unknown type usually can be satisfactorily calibrated using our unique FilmType control.
The PC version of ColorPerfect has been tested with Photoshop 7, and Photoshop CS, CS2, CS3 and CS4. The plug-in currently operates in 32-bit mode and so will not work directly with the 64-bit mode of Photoshop CS4, but most 64-bit Photoshop installations also have the 32-bit version installed separately. Once you have ColorPerfect working, you may want to use larger dialogs with larger preview images to better accommodate larger displays. See
http://www.c-f-systems.com/Plug-ins.html#DialogSize
Installation
Download the zip ColorPerfect104.zip file. Put the ColorPerfect.8bf file in the Photoshop filters folder, typically
C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop x\Plug-Ins\Filters
where "Photoshop x" specifies the version of Photoshop. Once the ColorPerfect.8bf file has been placed in the folder, Photoshop will automatically configure for ColorPerfect the next time it is started.
Two Auxiliary files included in the zip are not needed for testing ColorPerfect. ColorPerfect.negpos and ColorPerfect.colorint are sample User files which are used by advanced users of ColorPerfect.
Getting Started with ColorPerfect
ColorPerfect requires that images be in RGB mode or Monochrome (B&W) mode. ColorPerfect produces its best results when you scan or bring in RAW files as 16-bits/channel but will work with standard 8-bits/channel images and scans. Then from the Photoshop Filter menu: Filter->C F Systems->ColorPerfect. The C F Systems entry should be near the bottom of the Filter menu. ColorPerfect has three modes that can be selected from a Pop-Up: ColorNeg for treating scans of color negatives, ColorPos for treating positive images from scanners or digital cameras, and Touch Up for dealing with positive images that have already been calibrated.
Note: ColorNeg Mode will produce the best results you are likely to get from a "standard" scan of a color negative if you scan it in the same way you scan a slide (color positive) - so the result looks like the color negative. However, the results from ColorNeg mode will be best, with very noticeable improvements in detail and color, when using a linear 16-bit/channel scan, and for 16-bit/channel images ColorNeg Mode is set up to expect linear images by default. If you are producing 16-bits/channel images but cannot do a linear scan or do not know what that means, try pressing the "L" button next to ColorNeg to see if the results are better. Also, ColorNeg needs you to use the pop-ups at the bottom of the dialog to select a film manufacturer and a film type that most nearly matches that of the scanned negative. Monochrome (B&W) negatives cannot be calibrated according to manufacturer and film type, so the manufacturer pop-up is not available for monochrome.
Learn more about the "L/G" linear/gamma button or any other topic by pressing the Help button and then activating the button or control which you want to learn about.
ColorPerfect works differently than other color systems. Select the Black number box, located near the top of the scrollbar, and use the scrollbar to control the lightness/darkness of the image. This control adds and removes black and so has its greatest effect on the brighter areas of the image. (Just as when you add black paint to white paint the change will be greater than when adding black paint to black paint). White, just below Black, also controls image lightness/darkness but does so by adding or removing white and so is shows greatest in the darker areas of the image. These two adjustments give an amazing amount of control over the image without damaging its color. It should be noted that the white adjustment so important and so easily done here ranges from difficult to impossible to do in Photoshop proper or with most color adjustment systems. Located at the top of the dialog, the Highlights control works in conjunction with Black to control highlight brightness and detail and the Shadows control works in conjunction with White to control shadow depth and detail. The way Black and White work in ColorPerfect might be more obvious to artists and is explained in
http://www.c-f-systems.com/Complete/CompleteColorIntegrity.html.
Ignore the next control, Bpoint, until you are more familiar with the system, but Saturation can be used to control the depth of color while maintaining an amazingly natural appearance. The Gamma control is similar to the "middle gray" slider in Photoshop's Levels control, but this Gamma adjustment affects only the tonal scale - photographic contrast - while leaving the colors unchanged. When working with Monochrome images (B&W) this Gamma control is also used to adjust the tonal range of the image.
Color balance can be set by clicking areas in the image that should be gray or by using the Ring Around or by using the AutoColor control. Use Help to understand how to use these features. Color balance is expressed in terms of the CC (Color Compensation) filters that are familiar to many experienced photographers. For a start, find a patch in the preview image that should be gray (colorless) and click on it. "Gray" can be anywhere from quite dark to white. If possible, click several gray patches and see what happens to the image, choosing the best result. ColorPerfect provides great control over color relationships in an image while still retaining a natural appearance.
ColorPerfect will also deal with problem or mishandled negatives or positives using the unique FilmType system, but save this until you have gained some familiarity with ColorPerfect. Use the Help system to get an idea of how FilmType works.
Demo Version and the Registration Key Code
ColorPerfect is distributed as a demo version on our web site:
(http://www.c-f-systems.com/Plug-ins.html).
The demo version of ColorPerfect embeds a gridwork in the images it produces. In general, this gridwork is not obtrusive enough to prevent evaluating the results and in fact we expect that some less critical users may find the results usable as is. To unlock the demo version and eliminate the gridwork, a key code may be purchased via our web site:
http://www.c-f-systems.com/Plug-ins.html
where you will find a paragraph starting in larger type:
"Purchase ColorPerfect for PC."
or
"Purchase ColorNeg for PC."
Clicking either of these will take you to a secure site where you can purchase a "ColorNeg for PC Family" key code. The SAME key code can be used on up to three computers owned by the same person or company and will unlock the PC versions not only of ColorPerfect, but the older separate ColorNeg, ColorPos and Gamsat plug-ins as well. If you find ColorPerfect to be too complicated, you may want to try the original ColorNeg or ColorPos to start with.
ColorPerfect, ColorPos, ColorNeg, and GamSat are also available in versions for the Macintosh.