How do I scan an image with 48-bit color output with CanoScan LiDE60?

Question

I have a Canon CanoScan LiDE60 flatbed scanner that is supposed to have 48-bit color input and output according to the specification. That's 16-bit color depth per channel with the RGB color model, right? But how do I get a scan with this color depth?

I was trying to use Photoshop CS6 to accomplish this but every attempt failed. Photoshop uses 24-bit colors by default, right? That's 8-bit per channel for RGB, right? I was using the Adobe TWAIN plug-in for Photoshop to acquire/import the image from the scanner. And there is a check-box for enabling 48-bit scanning in the preferences of the scanner driver software (ScanGear CS). I had this enabled. But the resulting images in Photoshop were still "RGB/8".

Is 48-bit color just science fiction or is there actually a way of importing a photo with 48-bit colors?

Answer 1

For the LiDE60 there is an option in the driver software where it says "Color(48bit)". You will find it in the "Color Mode" drop-down menu, right under the option "Color (Documents)" and it will only be available after enabling the 48-bit mode in the preferences, as mentioned above.

I didn't notice it the first time, even though I have been looking at the color mode menu. Maybe it wasn't there, I don't know. It might have appeared after I restarted the software. But the problem is solved now. Photoshop now gives me 16-bit/RGB output. Note that this is 16-bit per color channel! I hope this will be helpful to someone.