The arrangement of menu commands has been improved and now has a clearer structure.
The image inside a scan frame (including the prescan frame) can be saved with "Save As…" without creating an edit window.
The histogram can also be calculated for an image in a scan frame. Cirrus 2.0 can scan in the background.
To open scan windows you will find a sub-menu in the file menu ("Open Scanners") , that contains all installed scanner drivers. Just choose the desired scanner from this menu to open a window for a specific driver.
You can open additional scanner drivers later by opening the driver file in the Finder (e.g. by double-clicking). Or choose the command "Other..." in Cirrus’ "Open Scanners" sub-menu and open the desired scanner driver. It will be opened temporarily as long as Cirrus is running but not automatically the next time Cirrus is started.
This sub-menu contains commands to scan all frames, as well as all frame names from which you can select the frame you want to scan.
All Successively: This command scans one scan frame after the other. The scanner performs an individual scanning process for each scan frame. Use this command when the various frames have different color modes or resolution.
All At Once: After selecting this command Cirrus will first calculate the entire area, as well as the maximum resolution and color mode of all scan frames. The scanner then only scans once and Cirrus extracts the images in the individual scan frames from the overall image. Use this command when all frames have the same color mode and resolution. This is the only way to scan several frames if the original is ejected by a document feeder after each scan.
The command "Prescan" does not only scan the Prescan frame but now also creates a new frame after scanning. The frame size is automatically calculated to contain the complete original. Furthermore the command can automatically - using scan preferences - calculate color mode, highlight and shadow values and threshold for line art.
Display: these options control the display of frames in the scan window. The option "Create 72 dpi image for faster display" is new. When it is checked, an image is calculated after each scan at screen resolution and used for display. We recommend you use this option when the scan window displays extremely large and high-resolution images.
Prescan: This option controls the frame parameters that are to be automatically calculated by Cirrus for the Prescan command. The frame size is always calculated automatically.
"Scan creates image window": after each scan an image window for retouching the images is created. In case you do not require retouching you may save the image directly from the scan window to a file with "Save As...".
"Show warnings": Cirrus will show an alert if all frames are to be scanned at the same time but have different color modes. An alert will also be shown in case the frame’s parameters have been altered as the previously scanned frame contents are then lost.
"Return/Enter initiate scanning": If this option is on you can scan the selected frame by hitting either the return or enter key. This is equivalent to the Cirrus 1.5.1 characteristic.
"Reduce moiré": When this option is on an image is always scanned with the scanner´s highest possible resolution and then reduced to the desired resolution by Cirrus. This procedure reduces moiré effects when scanning rastered originals.
The size palette shows the size of a frame in the scan window. The frame size can be altered numerically by clicking on the numbers and entering the desired new value in the appearing dialog.
This palette has a zoom box for resizing.
The same method as in Cirrus 1.5.1 by using brightness, contrast and gamma values.
All settings can be changed by clicking on the value.
A slider allows you to set a density range for transforming linear intensity values (delivered by the scanner) into linear density.
A slider allows you to set a density range for transforming linear density values into linear intensity.
A slider controls the S-curve curvature.
A pencil allows you to freely draw a correction map.
Up to 64 curve points determine together with various mathematical methods the correction curve. The values can be entered via keyboard.
When switching to "Point List" the curve points that are closest to the currently valid correction are automatically calculated.
You can enter the amount of steps for a posterizing effect with a slider bar.
The histogram can also be calculated for an image in the scan frame.
By holding either the option or command key the diagram can either be enlarged or reduced in order to show even small frequency differences.
It is now possible to read CMYK and CIELAB color images. They are transformed into the RGB format.
When saving color images the amount of bits per color channel can be entered in order to reduce the image´s number of colors in the TIFF file.
For images larger than 2MB a preview image is additionally written into the TIFF file. This speeds up cataloging with Cumulus.
If a ColorSync profile is assigned to the image you also have the option to save this information to the file.
When opening a TIFF file a saved ColorSync profile is reassigned to the image.
It is now possible to read and write PICT images compressed with QuickTime.
If a ColorSync profile is assigned to the image you also have the option to save this information to the file.
When opening a PICT file a saved ColorSync profile is reassigned to the image.
Cirrus now creates EPSF files that can be opened by Photoshop.
Color images are now saved as color EPSF files (instead of as grayscale).
If a ColorSync profile is assigned to the image you also have the option to save this information to the file.
Color images are now saved as color PostScript files (instead of as grayscale)
If a ColorSync profile is assigned to the image you also have the option to save this information to the file.
Cirrus 2.0 can read and write files in the Photoshop 2.0 format.
There are various adapters available for Cirrus 2.0 with which you can scan in images from within other programs and directly import them into these programs. At present there are adapters available for Photoshop, Quark XPress, PageMaker and RagTime.
The Photoshop Adapter works with Adobe Photoshop version 2.0 and higher.
Copy the file "Cirrus PS Adapter" into the folder that contains the plug-ins for Photoshop. Launch Photoshop.
If everything is installed correctly the menu item "Cirrus US..." will appear in the File menu’s Import sub-menu.
The XPress adapter is compatible with version 3.0 of Quark XPress.
Copy the file "Cirrus XT Adapter" into the folder that contains "Quark XPress".
Launch Quark XPress.
If everything is installed correctly the menu item "Cirrus US..." will appear in the Utilities menu.
This adapter is compatible with Helios’ OPI concept as follows:
If a file with the file name extension ".lay" exists in the same folder in addition to the image file to be imported, this file will be imported instead of the original file.
The PageMaker adapter is compatible with version 4.2 of Aldus PageMaker.
Copy the file "Cirrus.add" into the additions folder in the Aldus folder. The Aldus folder is either in the system folder or in the same folder as the PageMaker application.
Launch PageMaker.
If everything is installed correctly the menu item "Cirrus..." will appear in the Aldus additions sub-menu in the option menu.
This adapter is compatible with the company Helios´ OPI concept as follows:
If a file with the file name extension ".lay" exists in the same folder in addition to the image file to be imported, this file will be imported instead of the original file.
The RagTime adapter is compatible with versions 3.1|7 and 3.2 of RagTime.
Copy the file "Cirrus RT Adapter" into the"Scanner" folder in RagTime´s B&E folder. The latter is either in the system folder or in the same folder as the application RagTime.
Launch RagTime.
If everything is installed correctly the menu item "Cirrus..." will appear in the Image menu’s scan sub-menu.
Execute the command "Cirrus…". In Photoshop this command is in the file menu’s import sub-menu, in XPress in the utilities menu, in PageMaker in the Aldus additions sub-menu in the option menu and in RagTime you will find the command in the image menu´s scan sub-menu.
Now the adapter will look for a currently running Cirrus application. If Cirrus is not on at the moment the adapter will look for Cirrus on all connected volumes and launch it.
Cirrus is brought to front and shows a small palette window indicating the calling program.
Select an image window or a scan frame containng an image and click "OK".
The respective image file is now imported by either Photoshop or XPress, PageMaker or RagTime.
Cirrus 2.0 has a direct link to Cumulus, the image database.
When saving you have the option to catalog the image directly with Cumulus.
Opening files that are cataloged by Cumulus can now be done directly from Cirrus. This function is equivalent to the Photoshop adapter for Cumulus.
You can work either with the RGB or CMY color model.
Images can be optionally displayed color-corrected using ColorSync. You can have Cirrus mark colors that cannot be printed on the selected output device.
Cirrus 2.0 supports theQuickTime 1.5 video digitizer interface. Select the command "Video" in the "Acquire" sub-menu. The standard parameter setting dialog will appear. Close the dialog with "OK" in order to create a still image for retouching.
All functions can now be done in the background.
Cirrus 2.0 supports AppleScript for scanning images. Sample scripts to demonstrate this are available.
Cirrus 2.0 supports ColorSync, Apple’s color management system as follows:
Each grayscale or color image can have a ColorSync profile as a description of the valid color model assigned to it. The image is then shown according to this profile and the system profile set with the ColorSync control panel.
In order for a certain ColorSync profile to automatically be assigned to the scanned image at every scan Cirrus 2.0 offers the possibility to assign a scanner profile to a scanner driver permanently.
The command "Select profile…" allows you to assign profiles to the current image window or scan window. For this purpose a profile file is opened.
If a profile is assigned to a scanner driver or image its name appears in the title of its window.
The method for image display is determined by the preferences in the "Edit" menu.
The option "Calibrated" allows the display of an image considering the assigned profile as well as the current system profile.
The option "Calibrated with Gamut Alarm" shows those areas of the image—using an alert color of your choice—that cannot be output on the printer with the current printer profiles. For this purpose the selected printer driver must support ColorSync.
You can choose an alert color by clicking in the color swatch.
Select a printer profile from the appropriate pop-up menu (currently only the Apple Color Printer supports ColorSync).
With this command an assigned profile is removed.
ColorSync profiles can presently only be saved in PICT files. In the Save dialog an additional option appears allowing you to save the profile together with the file. Saved ColorSync profiles can be reread from the PICT file with Cirrus 2.0.
