Trident software for drum scanner...

[Capocheny]

Greetings all,

For the folks who use Trident software on their drum scanners... "What version are you currently using?" And... "Is there a significant difference between the two?" As an alternative, I'm considering the purchase of Silverfast Ai. Any thoughts on how they compare?

I know one of the more experienced scanners on this forum, Lenny E., uses Aztek's Digital Photo Lab on his Howtek 4500 but, unfortunately, it only runs on a PC platform. I would go this route if I'm forced to... but my preference is to stay with the Mac platform.

Thanks in advance for any comments you may have.

Cheers

[D. Bryant]

Greetings all,

For the folks who use Trident software on their drum scanners... "What version are you currently using?" And... "Is there a significant difference between the two?" As an alternative, I'm considering the purchase of Silverfast Ai. Any thoughts on how they compare?

I know one of the more experienced scanners on this forum, Lenny E., uses Aztek's Digital Photo Lab on his Howtek 4500 but, unfortunately, it only runs on a PC platform. I would go this route if I'm forced to... but my preference is to stay with the Mac platform.

Thanks in advance for any comments you may have.

Cheers

I have a friend who is quite pleased with the Silverfast software for his Howtek 4500, he even got Silverfast to reduce the price by about 50% to about $300.

Don Bryant

[Capocheny]

I have a friend who is quite pleased with the Silverfast software for his Howtek 4500, he even got Silverfast to reduce the price by about 50% to about $300.

Don Bryant

Hi Don,

Thanks for the note. I guessed it would be a long-shot kind of question but thought to post it anyway.

Is your friend's Howtek set up on a Mac or PC platform?

He sounds like quite the negotiator... any secrets in how he got Silverfast to reduce the price by 50%?

Cheers

[Lenny Eiger]

Greetings all,
I know one of the more experienced scanners on this forum, Lenny E., uses Aztek's Digital Photo Lab on his Howtek 4500 but, unfortunately, it only runs on a PC platform. I would go this route if I'm forced to... but my preference is to stay with the Mac platform.
Cheers

I would rather be on Mac myself. So much more reliable... One of these days I'm going to run it in Parallels.... I just have to get the scsi to usb thing figured out - and a lot of folks have done that before me so it shouldn't be too hard.

As to having it on another machine, that's actually a good thing. Ripping a large file is a good thing to have happen somewhere else other than the machine you are working on...

Lenny

[Kirk Gittings]

FWIW, I gave up on Parallels, allot of quirks and crashes leading to reinstalls.

[D. Bryant]

I would rather be on Mac myself. So much more reliable... One of these days I'm going to run it in Parallels.... I just have to get the scsi to usb thing figured out - and a lot of folks have done that before me so it shouldn't be too hard.

As to having it on another machine, that's actually a good thing. Ripping a large file is a good thing to have happen somewhere else other than the machine you are working on...

Lenny

Instead of a SCSI/USB go for the SCSI/Firewire converter. They are about $100 but apparently work very well. I'm thinking of using it myself for an older SCSI scanner.

Don Bryant

[Capocheny]

Instead of a SCSI/USB go for the SCSI/Firewire converter. They are about $100 but apparently work very well. I'm thinking of using it myself for an older SCSI scanner.

Don Bryant

Hi Don,

Are you referring to the converters made by Ratoc?


Lenny,

I found an Adaptec 2930 U Power Domain SCSI adapter and will be trying to hook the thing up in the next couple of days.

Be sure to get the one made specifically for the Mac though... it'll say it on the box and also on the card itself. You can find them every so often on ebay for about $25 and up.

Yes, I picked up an extra Mac G4 just to hook up with the scanner. It'll make life a lot easier.

I know you're on Aztek's Digital Photo Lab software but did you ever have occasion to try the Trident software in your travels?

Thanks for the comments.

Cheers

[D. Bryant]

Hi Don,

Are you referring to the converters made by Ratoc?

Yes. I haven't purchased one yet since they are sort of pricey. Purchasing a SCSI card is a much cheaper alternative, but my current PC is short on available PCI slots so I may eventually adopt that option.

Don Bryant

[Mike Boden]

For the folks who use Trident software on their drum scanners...

I'm using Trident 4.0 on a Howtek 4500. However, when I bought my scanner, it came with Trident 3.5. After installing 3.5 and messing around with it a bit, I immediately changed to 4.0.

As for a significant difference, if I remember correctly, color management did not function properly on 3.5. Therefore, a switch to 4.0 is mandatory in a color managed workflow. Other differences were simply operational with more control.

Aside from that, keep in mind that Trident is not the most intuitive application. It certainly takes a while getting used to and to master. I'd say that I'm still learning something with every scan.

If you're not aware already, there is one gotcha with the Trident software and that pertains to the dongle, which plugs into a PS2 port. To get it to function, you'll need a USB-to-PS2 adapter.

Good luck and let us know what you end of using.

[Ted Harris]

Lenny,

Why not just install a SCSI card n your Mac? I run both my scanners on a G5 with an Adaptec card installed.