I have similar issues, one thing that helps is putting something heavy along the spine, I believe the lighter color comes from it being slightly raised.  I have some glass coasters that seem to help out.

Quoting keung:

Quote:
I cut a rectangle from a cardboard box and put it on top of the spine, and also put a little extra weight on the lid. It eliminated the problem! But now my scanner seems to be all confused and can't properly rotate the image. The rotate function in DVD Profiler is quite good, but I just can't seem to align the cover properly. I guess I can't have it all

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I use GIMP, its an open source free picture editing program.  It's pretty easy to use, once you get the hang of it.  I use it to rotate the image, crop it, use the white balance feature, and clean up any issues I had with the scan.

Quoting DJ Doena:

Quote:
I slowly fold the spine against the original direction, thus undoing the fold without making new fold marks. Then I lay a big book on the cover on the scanner. The scanner lid is just excerting not enough pressure.

That's what I do also. It definitely helps with these gutter shadows.

I tried to simply apply pressure to the lid, but it didn't seem like even that was enough, which is why i laid a small cardboard cut-out in between. Though, when I think of it I might not have had enough pressure. I'll definitely try a nice big book.

About GIMP. I have it installed, but I find it heavy to use, as the most advanced software I've used over the years is MS Paint Once the smoke clears and most of the profiles I'm contributing atm shrinks I might have a go at it again. Would be nice to have an undo function instead of starting from scratch whenever I make a mistake in DVD Profiler! 

You don't need to close the lid of the scanner - I put something with some weight to it on the cover and if the scanner lid doesn't close, so be it.

I also use GIMP because I'm a Linux user, but Paint.NET is definitely more user friendly than GIMP and will achieve the same results.

Stuart

Quoting tweeter:

Quote:
I used to have gutter shadows when i tried to scan the whole jacket at once.  I solved it by turning the jacket 90 degrees and scanning the front while part of the back hands off the side of the scanner.  Then i did the same for the back.  Haven't had a gutter issue since.

I agree that this is the simplest way.  It works very well.

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I don't close the scanner when I scan covers. I place the cover on the scanner and place a piece of cardboard, that is bigger than the cover, on top and then a paper weight to press it down. I never close the cover. It's easier to make sure that the cover is lined up straight on the scanner with the cardboard.

Iron them?

I use a book on top with the cover open, though I need a new scanner as mine is kaput.