Saving large files on Silverfast AI

Hello,

I hope you can help me out.

I have been browsing this forum for a while and it has been excellent for solving most of my questions about scanning, however I have run into a pressing problem that I haven't seen mentioned.

I am using a Microtek ArtixScan M1 scanner with Silverfast AI. I am trying to scan 8x10 color negatives at a high resolution (would like to print 32x40" at 400DPI).

The file size is under 2Gigs, but after Silverfast goes through all the work scanning the negative, it does not save the file, instead it saves a file of only 8megs that seems to be a junk preview image. :confused:

What is going wrong? I haven't had a problem with smaller scans with Silverfast. I am able to make large scans with ScanWizard (but I don't like the software and would prefer to use Silverfast). Using a Mac G5 with 2Gigs of ram.

Many thanks for any help!

-AD

Ad, I can't help you specifically, but you may want to post your question on the SilverFast forum if you haven't already.

http://www.silverfast.com/forum/index.php

Good luck,

Jim

Have you tried tests at lower resolutions? The manual says to set the output size and (print) resolution you want and it calcutes the scan resolution (page 76 in my copy under "Scan Resolution for Scaled Images"). I might suspect it has conflicting settings(?). Just a thought.

Thanks Jim and Scott,

I will post over at the Silverfast forum as well.

I ran some more tests and it seems that the file will save as long as it is under 1gig. However what I would ideally want to scan is slightly more than that. :mad:
Silverfast claims that it will scan and save up to 2gigs, so I am still not sure what the problem is. Could be something to do with ram or available memory?

Scott- Yes, I double checked the sizing controls and went over the manual again, but nothing seems to solve the problem. 32x40" at 400 DPI = 1.183 gig file (in 48 bit color). Admittedly a huge file, but the computer should be able to handle it.

-AD

I'm wondering now if it's just a memory problem, maybe Silverfast needs the RAM to write the file that isn't there. Did you check the Activity Monitor on the memory? You can check it as Silverfast saves the file. With only 2 GBytes, it may be writing and quiting. Just thinking out loud, and I suspect the Silverfast forum will answer your question. Keep us posted on what you find. I use Silverfast AI with an Epson V750 and scan 4x5's.

If you really can't save past the one gig mark, the problem may be with virtual mememory. Silverfast needs a place to store all two gigs of information before writing it to a file. (Think of it as a holding pattern if you like) The only two places all that info can go is into physical ram, and virtual ram. (Virtual ram is specially designated hard drive space that the operating system will not write files to, so if can be utilized as a place to store physical ram overflow.) I don't know much about Macs, but a fair bit of the 2gigs of physical ram you have will be eaten up but by the operating system, leaving far less than 2 gigs for the scanning info. Furthermore, if the final file is 2gigs, the information that needs to be stored will be greater than that, as it lives in raw form when its in the "holding pattern". I can't tell you how to up the virtual memory on a mac, but it can't be too dificult. I would recomend at least 2 gigs of virtual memory to compliment the physical mememory.

Also, I believe the two gig limit is a tiff file type restriction. I know when I get a few layers going on a file in PS I push past the 2 gig mark and get a warning if I try to save as tiff, so I just save a PSD. Silverfast can't save as PSD so, maybe if you're file is just barely sneaking PAST the 2 gig mark you'll get a crash. Good luck. -Adam

There is a 2gb limit in Silverfast...

I believe that the Silverfast software folks might improve that limit in the future...

Epson 4990 has a limit too, using Epson scanning software, and I believe their limit happens to be 2.0gb also for a tiff file. The Epson 750, which I purchased after discovering that file size limit within the 4990, has a limit of 4.0gb, while using the supplied Epson software to scan 8X10 negatives at 16bit rgb, and 3000 spi. My file sizes average 3.54gb each.

The file size limitation on a tiff file within Photoshop is 4.0gb, and if you want to save a larger file you must use Photoshop's "Large Format" file saving routine, which produces "psb" files. Obviously the 4.0gb limit is breached once you work on a file in Photoshop, where you might have several layers attached to the original 4.0gb file. You cannot save the larger scanned file as a "psb" file using the Epson scanning software.

Photoshop's psb file size limitation is a file that measures 300K X 300k pixels.

I would recommend searching this group's archives, regarding ram limitations, where we discussed Photoshop's fair play activities, while using ram within a Mac. Photoshop usurps the ram within a Mac and unfortunately does not release the ram back to the operating system properly. There is a reason for this issue, and it was discussed in the previous messages.

jim k