Quality question????????

[Darryl Baird]

no, it's not the same

by "target" I'm referring to a ppi output of the printing device (Epson is either 240 or 360 ppi output for low to high fidelity photo quality)

Upon deciding how big to print, you multiply the print dimensions by the ppi (resolution per inch) to determine file size or (your ppi method) whatever the needed pixel count in each direction (ppi). For the good Epson setting (240), try 3840 X 4800 ppi or the higher quality (360) would be 5760 X 7200 ppi.

your example would produce a larger (good) print of 32.4 X 53.3 inches

I use the "new file" command in Photoshop to perform these calculations... a built-in calculator... I'm no math genius, which others might demonstrate here shortly;-)

Is scanning at a certain ppi the same as putting in the print size you want? If I want a print 16x20 I would set the target size in pixels as opposed to print size. 7785 ppi x12800 ppi. Then I scan all my negs to that ppi setting.

[Frank Petronio]

It's the quantity of pixels that counts. 1200 pixels per inch at 4x5 inches = 300 pixels per inch at 16 x 20 inches.

In terms of using Epson Scan software, set the crop on the film to be scanned and just scan it at 2400 pixels per inch and have the automated exposure set the values. Either 48-bit color or 16-bit grey. Turn all the other crap off.

In Photoshop do a more accurate crop (set the size for the crop tool).

Make an auto curve adjustment so you have a solid black and a white white. Then fine tune the curve to suit your taste.

You can adjust color in the curves too.

Fine tune color with the Hue/Saturation adjuster.

(You can stop using Brightness/Contrast and Levels by the way.)

Clean up the dust with the clone and healing tools.

Do one pass of light Smart Sharpening, like 70% at a low radius, like 0.9 pixels.

Save this as your master file to archive.

With a working copy (use "Save As") do whatever Photoshop tricks you like.

Make sure you attach an Adobe RGB 1998 (for rgb) or Gamma 1.8 (for grey) profile.

Page Set up -- do printer and paper size.

Print - "Let Photoshop determine colors" turn off the auto printer crap. Select the printer profile.

You should easily make a beautiful 16x20 from even a mediocre 4x5 film.

[mccormickstudio]

Alan's advice is excellent. He said, "...Then do all of your adjustments at that resolution, and save the entire thing as a layered PSD". This will be your 'Master' file.
-P

Why keep the layers? I agree with editing at hires and then downsampling to print size, but why not flatten the image? My 8x10 negs often have 500-1000 layers of edit.

[Kirk Gittings]

1000 Layers? Why? How big are your files before flattening?

[Preston]

Craig wrote: "Why keep the layers? "

I keep the layers because I may want to make changes to a specific attribute in the future. I work with 8 bit files, and my psd files contain a maximum of 10 to 15 layers.

-P