1. An imaging system comprising: an x-ray source configured to emit a beam of x-rays toward an object to be imaged; a detector configured to receive x-rays that are attenuated by the object; a data acquisition system (DAS) operably coupled to the detector; and a computer operably coupled to the DAS and programmed to: obtain scan data with two or more incident energy spectra; present a list comprised of possible three material combinations of basis materials to a user based on an anatomy being imaged; prompt the user to select a material that is known or expected to be present based at least on the anatomy being imaged; truncate the list of possible three material combinations based on the user selection; prompt the user to select a material triplet from the truncated list of possible three material combinations; decompose the obtained scan data into the material triplet that is selected by the user, with a limitation that a component mixture comprises an ideal solution of all component materials, which comprises defining that a volume of the component mixture is equal to the sum of the volumes of each material of the selected basis material combination; generate an image using the decomposed scan data; and replace at least one pixel in the image using decomposed data of another of the material triplet.