Gray field in image

[Hans L]

I scanned a document in Finereader, and saved it as a jpg. When I open it in XnView MP, it has the gray field shown in the attachment in it.

Would anyone know where it might come from. It is not in the scan. Just installed latest version of Xn View MP.

Thanks,

Hans L

[jkm]

I scanned a document in Finereader, and saved it as a jpg. When I open it in XnView MP, it has the gray field shown in the attachment in it.

Would anyone know where it might come from. It is not in the scan.

Have you tried opening the jpeg in some OTHER image viewing application (not Finereader) like Irfanview or Windows Paint?

If you are referring to the pale grey smudge in the middle of the page, since we can see it when viewing in a web browser, obviously it is in the jpeg. Which means XnViewMP has nothing to do with it.

Finereader put it there when you saved the image.

You say "it is not in the scan" but evidently Finereader thinks it is; probably Finereader is showing you an image with different contrast settings, or perhaps a 16-bit image that when it converts it to 8-bit for jpeg it's compressing the tones and this pale grey area becomes visible. Assuming Finereader is not hallucinating, it obviously was in the scan, but the tonemapping when the image was displayed for you was such that it was not apparent to your eyes.

I suggest you export your image from Finereader the way you actually want the jpeg to look. When I increase the contrast in this jpeg, the grey smear disappears. So either do that in Finereader before you export, or fix the jpeg afterwards.

This isn't magic or mysterious. Undesirable contrast effects are a common issue when scanning. Make sure you correct them before exporting the image. Once the jpeg is saved, it's there, and all image viewing applications should show it the same way. Obviously the jpeg can be edited afterwards, but at the risk of impacting quality.

[Hans L]

Yes, the field was shown in Paint too.

I eventually cright-clicked in the field, and it shoed something I have now forgotten with options Red, Green, Blue, and RGB, and also something else that I have now forgotten, and. at the endo of the options, "Close". And I clicked "Close" and the gray field disappeared and does not show up again in scannings or save scans (like jpg files). Most confusing.

Anyway, thank you for your input, which at least taught me some.

Hans L