# Scanning gold foil

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-gold-foil/546405>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [July 12, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-gold-foil/546405 "2010-07-12T16:11:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\
**Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-gold-foil/546405/1 "2010-07-12T16:11:09Z")

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I’m trying to scan some book covers that have gold foil on them. That doesn’t work. Is there some gold-tone something, somewhere (already in digital form) that I can use to fix up my scans? I’m using GIMP if that matters.

This is sorta arty, so I put it in CS, but if it belongs in GQ please move it.

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**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-gold-foil/546405/2 "2010-07-25T14:28:28Z")

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OK, one bump. I need some help here!

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**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-gold-foil/546405/3 "2010-07-25T14:40:16Z")

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Instead of using a scanner, try using a digital camera - that way you can adjust the light so that you don’t get reflections off of the foil.

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**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scanning-gold-foil/546405/4 "2010-07-26T07:13:42Z")

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Gold and silver - all metals for that matter, are tricky when trying to use digitally.  
In real life, metal reflects light, but digitally, you have to “create” the illusion of a light source reflection (as **beowulff** mentioned).  
If you want that gold to glitter, you can take a photo and use lens flare (in Photoshop) or any number of other tricks - but unless you use a flash and simply luck out, the gold is most likely going to look dull brown.

Next time you see a [photo of gold](http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://njnnetwork.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/gold-standard.jpg&imgrefurl=http://njnnetwork.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/new-gold-standard-in-politics/&usg= __kd7WlbeAbBWZtQXg-ND5SAijGSE=&h=450&w=450&sz=28&hl=en&start=88&sig2=fWiqqXMmBL81lWHmeVtfLg&tbnid=CCcuBAd5yFjoAM:&tbnh=152&tbnw=152&ei=CjVNTMXqJY2ksQOdsNFJ&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgold%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1R1GGLA_en___ US357%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D609%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C3003&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=135&vpy=277&dur=39&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=129&ty=183&page=7&ndsp=15&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:88&biw=1024&bih=609) (or shiny silver), take a really close look. You will note that the shine comes from a small blast of white or a blur of sorts that makes the image seem as if there is light coming from somewhere else, bouncing off it. To the average viewer, it just looks shiny. To someone who works digitally, it is creating a magical illusion and sometimes a real pain in the ass to accomplish successfully.