Scanning Help

[Ross]

Hello - I'd be grateful if someone could help me with my scanning. I have an Epson V750 scanner along with Silverfast Ai software but I have been not been 100% happy with the results at present. I also use Photoshop CS4 and use and Apple Mac.

I have profiled my monitor using Eye 2 One Software and I have made an ICC profile with the supplied inbox Monaco IT8 profile (which I believe is a Kodachrome)

I mainly shoot Velvia 50 and at present I scan at 48 bit colour at 1600dpi.

In Silverfast under Options - General I have the Gamma Graduation set at 2.2 with the HDR box ticked. The Q factor is 1.0

In Silverfast under Options I have the following options selected:
Input-internal - colorsync
Input-monitor - colorsync
Input-output - RGB

Profiles for colorsync:
Scanner (Transparent): the ICC profile for the 5x4 supplied template created using the supplied Monaco - EZ color
Internal : Adobe RGB1998.icc
Output/Printer : NONE
Rendering Intent: rel.colorimetric

I scan unsharpened and make no other corrections - occasionally I multipass scan to improve shadow detail.

There seems to be so much conflicting advice on the internet and therefore I anyone could point me towards a step by step guide to scanning using the above software I would be grateful.

Do I need to purchase any other profiles/templates for Velvia 50 or even Silverfast HDR to improve my scanning or is it my scanning technique ?

For transparencies which I have been pleased with I have been getting them scanned by Ian Scovell which I cannot recommend highly enough. I however want to scan my also-rans more proficiently.

[Joanna Carter]

Hi Ross, I have never found the need to use the Silverfast software; the Epson driver seems to work very well and I find it much simpler to use.

My experience is that there are significant differences in film emulsions and would not assume a profile for a Kodak emulsion would be any good for Fuji films. Wolf Faust http://www.targets.coloraid.de/ does excellent targets for several different films for reasonable prices and I would recommend you get the target for Velvia 50.

If you are not happy with the sharpness of the scans, I would also recommend the Better Scanning film holder from Doug Fisher http://www.betterscanning.com/scanning/mstation.html. The mounting station can be used for both wet and dry mounting (I only use dry mounting) but the most important difference is that you can adjust the height of the film to optimise the focus.

As for a working profile, I would tend to use the ProPhoto RGB which has a wider gamut than the standard Adobe one.

You should be able to get very good prints, at least up to 30" x 24" from the V700.

We are looking at running a digital scanning/printing workshop; we are thinking of holding it in the Midlands, but that will depend on who wants to come.

[Photovalve]

On the subject of scanners anyone know of a straighforward way to go from SCSI to either USB or PCMCIA?

Thanks

Malcolm

[michaelfinch]

Hi Ross. I also have a V750 and I'm v.happy with it. Prior to the Epson I had a Microtek 8700 which was good enough but limited optical resolution for medium format. There have been a couple of niggles with the Epson. When I first read reviews etc I understood that the fluid mount kit was included. It wasn't but credit to Epson, they sent it when I lobbied them. But there was no IT target for calibration which I'd had with the Microtek.
My Epson came with SilverFast Ai (not Studio). I like SilverFast 'cos I got used to it with the Microtek. I have it set for minimum sharpening (although auto seems ok) and I do little pre-scan adjustment unless I need to tweak shadows/mid-tones-highlights to retain detail in less than perfect trannies/negs. I scan to the output size I want at 300dpi. So, for eg, this evening I've done a couple of 20inx20in medium formats at 300dpi and they give me TIFFs at about 56Mb.
I use an iMac (10.4) with CS2. With tranny scans, the adjustment I use most is file>adjustments>highlight/shadow. I'm amazed at how much detail and balance can be teased out with careful adjustments. Then I might adjust a little more in curves/contrast/unsharp mask
I use Adobe 1998 colour space. I print on an Epson 7600 with Lyson inks/Lyson paper and Lyson profiles. I'm happy. I've had a couple of files printed professionally and they're not better. Using other quality papers doesn't make a huge difference.
I haven't calibrated my monitor. I suspect that keeping everything in the same colour space across the work flow and following some excellent support from Lyson has done the trick. Maybe I've been lucky.
I find, generally, that current negative film (colour and mono) scans far better than trannies on the sort of kit I can afford. Velvia is not one I've had much experience with although others tell me great care is needed to get the best out of it.
BTW - where is Options found in SilverFast Ai? I've had a quick look and can't find it.
Regards

[michaelfinch]

Had another look for Options - found them. I'm set up for: Input>Internal: none; Internal>monitor: Automatic; Internal>output: RGB. Also, as well having prints done by a pro printer (not significantly better) I've rescanned some negs/trannies I've had done professionally and the Epson delivers equally good results. It matches far more expensive flatbeds, compares v. favourably with Flextight but it won't do as well as drum scans done by an experienced operator. But the difference is not pronounced in prints up to 20x30in and barely noticeable at 30x40in at viewing distance.

[Acheron Photography]

Hi Ross, I have never found the need to use the Silverfast software; the Epson driver seems to work very well and I find it much simpler to use.

I'd definitely second that. Despite quite a bit of fiddling around with Silverfast, I've never been persuaded that the results are worth the effort. Probably if I had a week to play with it and/or a silverfast guru on hand, it might be different, but meanwhile the epson software gives me really good results on both Velvia and Provia.

[DJ]

Silverfast.... well, it's an odd thing. I have something of a love / hate relationship with Silverfast.

I know why Joanna doesn't like it, and I really do sympathise. To anyone with a background in software and IT using Silverfast really goes against the grain, every fibre of your being screams why!?!? because of the appalling interface and meaningless hieroglyphics for icons. It's a masterpiece of poor interface design.

I'd even go further and say the support is dreadful, and Lasersoft are at best sluggish and non-committal. I've had several run-ins with them, the software for the Mac is still compiled for PowerPC chips which Apple hasn't sold since Jan 2006. It's also expensive to buy.

I tell you all this so that you understand how much I begrudge bestowing the following accolade, namely that Silverfast is hands down the best scanning software I've ever used, and by a significant margin.

The code behind that interface is extremely good, no other software comes close in terms of features and configurability. Silverfast can do some incredible things, the negative profiles are extremely good ( your ICC profile is next to useless for negatives btw ) and nobody else has these, the de-screening algorithm is quite brilliant, they have a new mode specifically to scan in Kodachrome and automatically correct the blue caste, the multi-exposure feature can pull out more shadow detail, you can very accurately configure curves and batch scanning is very good.

If you persevere with the interface, a day's use will clear away the mists and see it become almost second nature. Each of those horrible little icons has a "tooltip" if you hover over it long enough, and every panel on the interface has a quicktime video explaining what it does, and their website has plenty more videos to help. The quirky interface doesn't even bother me anymore, and I don't use it all that often, I'm not exactly a prolific shooter. In short, if you stick with it so that you know the interface ( it really doesn't take that long ), it becomes a non-issue, and you will reap the benefits of what's behind it.

If the software itself really wasn't that good, I assure you I wouldn't have paid over £300 for a copy of Ai Studio for my drum scanner.

[Acheron Photography]

Just as a sequel to this, I did indeed spend a day playing with Silverfast, and came to the conclusion that DJ is right - it is a masterpiece of bad interface design, but you can get great scans _if_ you know what you are doing. I'm still getting strange results with it sometimes, perhaps because there is a profile missing somewhere in my workflow, but a day was enough to suggest that it is worth getting on top of the Silverfast beast.

One last tip, in case anyone comes across this one: digital ICE sometimes terminates saying that you are not using high enough resolution for the selection. In my case at least, this was nothing of the sort - what was really going on was that I didn't have enough room on the disc for the excessive amount of scratch space Digital ICE uses. When I freed up some space, it worked fine.

[timparkin]

Just as a sequel to this, I did indeed spend a day playing with Silverfast, and came to the conclusion that DJ is right - it is a masterpiece of bad interface design, but you can get great scans _if_ you know what you are doing. I'm still getting strange results with it sometimes, perhaps because there is a profile missing somewhere in my workflow, but a day was enough to suggest that it is worth getting on top of the Silverfast beast.

One last tip, in case anyone comes across this one: digital ICE sometimes terminates saying that you are not using high enough resolution for the selection. In my case at least, this was nothing of the sort - what was really going on was that I didn't have enough room on the disc for the excessive amount of scratch space Digital ICE uses. When I freed up some space, it worked fine.

I don't know if this will help anybody but ...

If you use EZColor to make your profiles, once you have scanned your profile, overwrite both of the extreme dark patches with black (0,0,0). You can also (if you like) bring the second black patch down to a value close to black. Doing this will force the scanner to make a linear transform between the final patch point (about 10,10,10) and absolute 0. This will mean you won't get perfect black in your prints but you will get more detail out of the shadows, a lot more in some cases..

If anybody wants a Velvia 50 ICC profile from a v750 that has the blacks opened (it should work pretty good on most scanners) let me know.. (it also handles Provia very well = I have an astia target but haven't tested it thoroughly yet).

Tim

Tim

[numnutz]

... straighforward way to go from SCSI to either USB or PCMCIA?

There is / was a scsi to usb adaptor made by Adaptec. I had one on order for nearly six months from Amazon (UK) but never managed to get one - they were always awaiting delivery.

Perhaps you could locate one direct from Adaptec.

nn

[Joanna Carter]

Just to let folks know that there is still room on the Photoshop for LF workshop, on August 15th, We will be covering scanning as part of the day. If you want to try out the various options available, this could be a great opportunity.