Scanning black and white?

[Michael Lloyd]

I've got an Epson 10000XL. I've been using it for scanning documents for years. I bought it to scan film but then didn't shoot any film so the film scanning attachment has been in a box until today.

Very quickly I have come to realize that scanning a B&W negative is going to be another learning curve in the chain.

The manual says scan in 16 bit gray scale. Is that correct?

Resolution and Output: I am using 2400 dpi and the output is 8x10 (4x5 negative). Is that right?

Auto exposure seems like a bad choice. Curves doesn't work like Photoshop curves but I tried it anyway. The first scan was terrible...

It could be a bad negative. It looks ok on a light table but ok is relevant to the fact that I really don't know what I'm doing :cool: Yet...

Any scanner advice out there?

[sanking]

I've got an Epson 10000XL. I've been using it for scanning documents for years. I bought it to scan film but then didn't shoot any film so the film scanning attachment has been in a box until today.

Very quickly I have come to realize that scanning a B&W negative is going to be another learning curve in the chain.

The manual says scan in 16 bit gray scale. Is that correct?

Resolution and Output: I am using 2400 dpi and the output is 8x10 (4x5 negative). Is that right?

Auto exposure seems like a bad choice. Curves doesn't work like Photoshop curves but I tried it anyway. The first scan was terrible...

It could be a bad negative. It looks ok on a light table but ok is relevant to the fact that I really don't know what I'm doing :cool: Yet...

Any scanner advice out there?


Hi Michael,

Auto exposure will not give the best results when scanning B&W negatives. You need to work in 16 bit gray and turn on the Professional Mode in the scanning software.

Ken Lee has a very good tutorial on scanning. http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/scanning.php

Sandy

[Michael Lloyd]

Thanks Sandy,

I'll check out Ken Lee's tutorial.

[Greg Lockrey]

I use 48 bit Adobe 1998 color myself. It sharpens better in Photoshop because you have a green layer to work with. 2000 dpi is the limit for that lens in the 10,000xl any more is just a waste of space. 360 dpi for each inch enlargement is best with Epson printers. I use an Action in PS that will convert to B&W without losing the color space. If you want to "tone" your prints, then you can.

[Preston]

I was going to suggest basically the same idea, Greg.

I do have a question, though. How did you construct the action that converts to B&W without losing the color space?

When I convert Adobe RGB color images to B&W, I use the Channel Mixer on a layer and select 'Monochrome'. Does your action do something similar?

Thanks,

--P