Dumb questions from a Noob

[Mark_S]

I've been involved in traditional LF photography for quite a while, but am thinking about dabbling in colour with a hybrid workflow. I have shot a few colour transparencies, and done the E-6 processing in my darkroom, and I have what look like some halfway decent images. My thought is that I can send these out to have them scanned, then play with the images in photoshop, and print them on an inkjet printer, or have them professionally printed. I have colour transparencies both in 6x6 and 4x5 that I would like to work with. I live on the West coast of the US.

Questions:

1) Any suggestions as to where I should go for scanning? - is this something that a local camera shop will be able to handle, or do the transparencies get mailed off?

2) What do I ask for when getting them scanned - do I need to specify resolution or anything?

3) When it comes to manipulating the images, what software do I use? Looking around the interwebs just got me confused and gave me even more questions: such as:
a) is Photoshop Lightroom just for organizing images, or is it an editor as well?
b) What is the difference between Lightroom 4 and 5?
c) Do I need both Lightroom and Photoshop Elements - and what is Creative Suite anyways?

4) Are there places where I can get good quality prints from digital files, and if so, how is colour management handled? I worked with a local lab years ago to get Cibachrome prints, and that was an iterative process where they would generate work prints, I would stop by and discuss the work prints, then come back in a few days for the final prints - I am having a hard time imagining a similar process with a digital print.

5) Can I mount an inkjet print on board with my dry-mount press the same way I would mount a traditional silver print?

[Light Guru]

Any suggestions as to where I should go for scanning? - is this something that a local camera shop will be able to handle, or do the transparencies get mailed off?

You can scan from home just fine. If you have an image that you want to get drum scanned for higher quality then send those out.


When it comes to manipulating the images, what software do I use?

Go with the FULL Photoshop. It handles the LARGE files that you will get from scans much better.


Are there places where I can get good quality prints from digital files, and if so, how is colour management handled?

LOTs of them. Any good printing service should provide icc profiles so you can soft proof it on your screen. There is lots of info out there on color management.

[Jim Andrada]

If you want to get into scanning yourself, you'll probably want an Epson 700/75-. Tghere are others but mosr peole tend to use one of these Epsons (or maybe a used 4990)

Epson provides scanning software and it works fine, although you'll find a lot of folks using either Silverfast or Vuescan.

You can't buy Photoshop any more - you have to "rent" it on a $/mo basis from Adobe. Best idea might be to find a used version - it's OK for people to sell their software to others.

If you want really top notch scans, then you will need to talk to someone like Lenny Eiger or others who offer the service for drum scanning - it's expensive but might be worth it depending on what you're going to do with the photos.

[Jim Jones]

Scanning at home is worthwhile, especially for 4x5. If the end use is large prints, it might not work so well for roll film. Even my now retired Epson 2450 suited me for 4x5 negatives. Transparencies are more demanding.

For viewing, organizing, and printing edited images, get Irfanview, a free download. It has limited editing capabilities.

[Lenny Eiger]

My Dad always said - use the right tool for the job. Probably almost everyone's Dad said the same. It's been good advice for most things. My approach to printing is that I look at the image and decide what I want to do... usually it involves lightening some area, darkening another, controlling the contrast carefully. In color there is getting the right color and saturation. I start printing an image by creating the masks I will need to control things. This is where PhotoShop is different from all the other programs, it has excellent masking capabilities. IMO, the quicker and better one can make a mask the easier printing becomes. As overwhelmingly bloated as PhotoShop is, there are only a handful of things a photographer needs. Masking with adjustment layers is one of them...

Just my opinion....

Lenny