Many Photoshop tools only work when the image is in RGB 8 bit mode. If you are in 16 bit mode,some tools won’t work. I have little experience with the Crop and Straighten tool, but this is a possibility. If your scan us 16 bit, you can convert it by Image>Mode and check RGB 8 but,
Wayne,
There may be other things that cause this, but I have seen only two that cause the command to be greyed out. 1) no image is opened, and 2) the mode is set to something the command doesn’t support (indexed, bitmap, multichannel, and duotone seem to fall in this category).
In CS2, it works with 8 and 16 bit images and RGB, CYMK, grayscale, and LAB.
If your image is open, check your mode and change it to something the command supports, if necessary.
Be sure to read the help entry. Sometimes the command doesn’t separate out all the images. The help entry tells you what to do in that case.
Bob
Thanks for the help – my initial scans resulted in bitmap mode. But that brings me to another question. I have a UMAX Astra 3400 scanner. I am importing into Photoshop using the WIA-UMAX Astra 3400 choice. When I scan in color or greyscale, the resulting scan is not bitmap mode and I can use the crop and straighten tool. However, when I scan in black and white picture or text, the resulting scan is in bitmap mode and then the crop and straighten tool is not usable. Can I force the black and white picture or text scan to be something other than bitmap mode? I realize this question is probably outside the forum, but I appreciate your help.
Wayne
Can I force the black and white picture or text scan to be something other than bitmap mode?
Yes. Image|Mode, then assign it to grayscale.
That said, I cannot see a reason to scan in bitmap mode (B/W) – pretty much, ever. As you’ve seen, that mode limits you severely. If you have black and white only, you are far better off scanning in grayscale, especially since you seem to need to be able to edit the images.
Peace,
Tony
What Tony said. The bitmap mode is useful principally for scanning in clear black and white text, especially for OCR. Not much good for anything else.
Thanks for everyone’s help in resolving my issue. You’ve given me some good advice.
Wayne
