SilverFast, CS3 and B&W Scanning with 4990

[Jim Cole]

Another SilverFast / CS3 question for the knowledgable masses.

I use SilverFast Ai Studio and have just started shooting and scanning 4x5 B&W film. I have confirmed, at least for me, that the best scans from my Epson 4990 come from scanning only the green channel at 16-bit grayscale with the levels adjustment set to the endpoints of the histogram.

My problem is that I cannot seem to get SilverFast to allow me to tell it that I want to scan a negative instead of a positive transparency. So far I have simply left the setting as positive and then inverted the image in CS3. However, this method seems to leave a lot to be desired because I have to make considerable adjustments in exposure and gamma to make the inversion look right after getting a virtually perfect scan. There must be something wonky in the inversion process.

As far as trying to get SilverFast to allow me to set the scan as a negative, it won't let me. When I select "Negative" in the General Tab up pops the NegaFix window with some film choices that don't help at all. I am currently shooting Fuji Acros which is not on the list (neither are any other B&W films), so whether I select "Fuji" or "<other>" in the film manufacturer drop down and then select <other> in the film type dropdown and close the window, the Pos/Neg selection reverts to Positive. I cannot find any way to get the selection to stiick as Negative.

If anyone has solutions to either of these two issues I would be most appreciative.

1) How to convert a positive B&W to a negative correctly in CS3.
2) How to get SilverFast to let me scan a B&W negative.

Thanks,
Jim
www.jimcolephoto.com

[Tyler Boley]

It sounds like you have selected HDR grayscale instead of straight grayscale. HDR gives, with some caveats, the info right off the scanner bypassing the software, so no adjustments, including inverting, will be done.
Make sure your "scan type" selection is 16 bit grayscale, not 16 bit HDR grayscale, if you want your scan to be inverted, and the tonal controls in Silverfast to be active, including Negafix.
Regarding the various negafix presets, they are in dire need of updating.
I actually prefer HDR scans, even though the work in Photoshop requires inverting and bigger initial moves.
Tyler

[Jim Cole]

Tyler,

Thanks for the reply. As per my initial post, I do use 16-bit Grayscale and still have the problem with the NegaFix window closing and then reverting the Negative selection to Positive. I cannot get the Negative selection to stick no matter what I do. I'll make a post on the SilverFast forum to see what I can find out there. I tried the HDR scans and because I wasn't pushing the exposure envelope on my initial test exposures, I didn't find it necessary. I agree though that it may be a useful feature.

So the initial moves you refer to in Photoshop are the same adjustments I was referring to when I try to invert the image. Then this is normal behavior for the inversion? In other words, there is no way to invert a B&W negative without major adjustments. Correct?

Thanks,
Jim

[mrladewig]

You've just got to leave the negafix window open Jim. I think its very confusing as all the other settings have an "OK" box to confirm the setting. With negafix, you just leave the window open. At least this is how it works on my copy of SE (I haven't upgraded to Ai yet). That said, I've just let photoshop do the flip for me on B&W negative film.

It also seems that negafix is targeted to color negative film, not B&W negative.

Mel-

[Jim Cole]

Mel,

Thanks for the great tip...never considered leaving the NegaFix window open...jeez...

Do you have a special technique to flip the negative in Photoshop or do you just use invert and then make the necessary corrections?

Jim

[Kirk Gittings]

Jim, there is something wrong with your Sf setup and I would concentrate on fixing that first. SF is a very sophisticated program and to do the flipping in PS simply does not take advantage of the capabilities that SF offers. IMO, with scanners like the 4990 with fairly high noise levels it is better to make large adjustments in the scanner software. If I were you I would delete the settings folder, which is the only way to do a global reset in SF. I will give you directions for that this afternoon when I have more time.

[Jim Cole]

Thanks Kirk,

I know taking advantage of all the processing in SilverFast during the scan is advantageous. I have taken quit a bit of your shared knowledge on this forum to heart.

Mel's suggestion to keep the NegaFix window open (I was always closing it after I made my selections) did the trick. I am going to test a couple of scans today using the Negative setting and see how everything compares to doing the flip in Photoshop.

I would still like to know about deleting the settings folder when you get a chance later today in case I run into future difficulties.

Thanks,
Jim

[Brian Ellis]

I agree with Kirk, there's something wrong somewhere. I used Silverfast Ai and a 4990 for several years and never had to open anything in Negafix. In the General tab there is a choice called "Original." The choices are "reflective" or "transparency." I forget which is which because the choice is confusing, neither sounds like what you'd choose for negative film. But IIRC one does mean negative film, the other means positive. Whichever you're now using, try the other.

[Jim Cole]

Hi Brian,

I have the selection set to transparency which is the correct one. I just had to keep the NegaFix window open to get the proper negative scan.

If you haven't used SilverFast recently, this could be a new feature that wasn't in the version you used. It is specifically for color negative films, but apparently the window has to be open (and useless) for B&W.

SilverFast software is very good (except for multi-exposure), but not very user friendly. Every other adjustment window you open has to be closed after making the adjustment, except for this NegaFix window.

Thanks for your help,
Jim

[michaelezra]

Give a try using VueScan. I could never setup Silverfast right...