Abstract: A system and method for scanning a photographic film using a scanner automatedly identifies the film as either a positive or negative and controls the scanner settings to perform the scan accordingly. The method includes performing a pre-scan of the film, sampling a color density of at least one location of the film, comparing the color density to a standard range indicating an orange bias for the at least one location, and setting the scanner to treat the film as a negative if the color density is within the standard range and to otherwise treat the film as a positive.

Abstract: One aspect of the invention is a method for altering defects in a digital image. At least a first pixel of a first channel of a digital image is filtered using digital circuitry to produce a filtered pixel by averaging the intensity of the first pixel and a plurality of additional pixels in the neighborhood of the first pixel. At least one of the pixels is weighted in response to the intensity value of at least one pixel in a defect channel associated with the digital image. A corrected digital image is produced using the digital circuitry in response to the filtered pixel and the first channel of the digital image.

Abstract: Surface defects in a reflection scan of a print made with visible light are corrected by using a scan of the print made with infrared light. In accordance with the present invention, surface defects in a reflection scan of an image consisting of pixels made with visible light are corrected by using a scan of the image consisting of pixels made with infrared light. This correction of surface defects is preformed by first establishing for each pixel an upper and lower bound for defect intensity based on the infrared record. The corresponding visible pixel is then corrected by subtracting the combination of upper and lower bound resulting in a corrected pixel.