Imagine this

[DrTang]

say you had a 8x10 "negative" and you achieved a proper scan with it

you took down all the settings from the histogram and such


so now.. if you want to make consistant contact proofs from other negatives.. you first put in that Negative.. then adjust the settings to your standard setting.. then remove that negative and replace it with the one you want to proof

that way you could tell from that scan how under or over or over developed your negative was and could modify your process

now imagine if that original standard negative was a 8x10 sheet of acetate with designs printed on it so as to render a good test exposure when used in the above way



-- just trying to figure out a way to use a scanner to proof negs like one did with an enlarger and proof frame


did that all make sense?

[koraks]

To some extent, yes. Two factors that could spoil the thing are exposure of the negative (obviously) and more importantly non-linearity in the scanner itself. I don't know how bad the latter is though.

[polyglot]

Yes, you can calibrate your scanner. Fix the exposure, scan a step-wedge and record all the readings. Scanners are merely high-resolution densitometers.

[Tin Can]

How

[Ken Lee]

if you want to make consistant contact proofs from other negatives.. you first put in that Negative.. then adjust the settings to your standard setting.. then remove that negative and replace it with the one you want to proof

that way you could tell from that scan how under or over or over developed your negative was and could modify your process



I do this often enough using Epson Scan software, particularly when looking for best development times, film speed tests, etc.

If you use VueScan you won't be able to do that since it adjusts its scanning parameters automatically, in addition to whatever settings you specify. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

[IanG]

I'm mostly (over 99%) analog. I don't do contact sheets because I can read a negative better.

However I can use my Scanner to give me a very accurate idea how my negative will print, that's either using the Epson software or Silverfast. I don't scan very often before I've made wet prints but when I have my wet prints aren't very different to the scans, and vice versa I find it very easy to emulate my wet prints through negative scans and similar tweaking in terms of dodging and burning.

Ian