Double images on 4990?

[Michael Graves]

All of the sudden I'm getting this type of thing with my Epson 4990 scanner. Has anyone else seen this? Is there a fix? New user perhaps? I checked the negative with a Toyo loupe and it's definitely not that way on the neg.

[Jim Ewins]

I was getting black scans on my Mac- same scan on the window was OK. Uninstall and reinstall. I needed Epson's help to get all the files out to complete the uninstall. Call your tech help.

[Michael Mutmansky]

Are you multi pass scanning?


---Michael

[Michael Graves]

I'd already tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers. That was about the third thing I thought of. However, I did notice that I still had it set for film holder when I was scanning a 5x7 neg flat on the glass. One wouldn't think that would cause a double image, but rather make it out of focus. However, that seems to have solved the problem. Thanks for all the super quick responses.

Just out of curiosity....I'm pretty new to scanning. Been around computers for a long time, just not scanners. How does one do multi-pass scanning and when do you want to do it?

[Michael Mutmansky]

Michael,

It depends on the software. I don't think the Epson software will permit multipass scanning, but Silverfast will, as will Vuescan.

I generally don't recommend that people multipass unless there is a particularly problematic shadow zone (in chromes) in the scan. This is useful for chromes, and some people will argue is useful for negatives as well, but the benefits are much less with negative films for a variety of reasons.

Multipass scanning can kill the sharpness of the scanner, so it is not only a penalty in time that is paid using that feature. Anyone who has been at a recent scanning workshop can attest to that, as we have done the comparisons to see the results.


---Michael