How do you scan a ULF?

[Hugo Zhang]

Pretty soon I will have prints from my 10x20 negatives. Currently I have an Epson scanner for 8x10 prints. How do you guys scan your ULF work? Thanks.

[Donald Brewster]

It's called a contact print! ;) Epson Expression 10000XL or a Microtek 9800XL would work.

[Ron Marshall]

10x20 is a wonderful size for contact prints.

You could scan it in sections on a 4990 and stitch together in PS, but you would have to have a very capable computer.

[sanking]

I scan 12X20 and 7X17 negatives with a Microtek 9800 XL. You have to scam 12X20 (or 10X20) in two passes, and then stitch the layers together. I can just barely scan a 7X17 in one pass, with may a hair of image losss on the long end.

There was a thread about doing this some months ago and several people posted useful information about their techniques. You might want to look it up. Some people stitch manually, while some who use the latest versions of Photoshop CS2 appear to have access to an automatic stitching system. But the manual way has worked well for me.

Sandy King

[foto-z]

Large drum scanners can handle this size. Not cheap though, so perhaps you can find a place to give you cheap rates when the scanner operator is not so busy.

[Ted Harris]

The Cezanne and Elite scanners from Screen will handle that size with ease ... the bed can handle up to 20x23.

[David A. Goldfarb]

If you have a digicam or camera with a digital back, you can photograph it on a copy stand with a light box. If your camera doesn't provide enough resolution, you can do it in sections and stitch them.

[sanking]

The Cezanne and Elite scanners from Screen will handle that size with ease ... the bed can handle up to 20x23.

I probably don't want to know the answer, but have to ask anyway. What is the retail price of a Cezanne Elite scanner?

Sandy King

[Ted Harris]

Sandy ... sit down and take a deep breath. Retail list new is a bit over $25,000. Refurbished from the fatory but you can sometimes negotiate a it ... say 3-5k if they have one made and sitting around, remember that, while they don't build these to order, they are manufactured in very small numbers. Refurbished from the fatory run $12,000 to $15,000. Now, I paid $4,000 for mine including shipping. It was a demo that was barely ever used, only fired up a few times at shows by Screen's national ale Manager ... I bought it from him and Screen checked it out, made sure it had the latest software, etc. Did I get a deal, yup no doubt about it bu there are otheers like this to be had. I decided early in 2005 to make the investment in a high end scanner. Further decided, after a lot of discussions with companies and owners, not to buy one on eBay unless it was stupidly cheap. Spent the next year combing sales in th prepres industry, the printing industry, networking same, working with brokers, etc. Found this one in March and saled the deal in May afr testing onr at Dartmouth Printing up the road from my studio.

Happy to pass on my contact list.