BEST TECHNIQUE/WORKFLOW in scanning a BW negative with SILVERFAST & EPSON v700?

[l2oBiN]

I have a BW 4x5 Acros Negative that I would like to scan for maximum quality using the Slverfast software and Epson v700 scaner with standard epson carriers. I would like to print a 30x40 print.

For example,

Which settings & profiles do I use in SILVERFAST? (eg Profile, Optimisation, HDR, multipass scan, effects like sharpening, Curves, Levels, noise reduction.. etc..)

I just need the best possible quality out of the scanner for printing this image digitally..

Thank you in Advance

[Joanna Carter]

Out of interest, I use the Epson software, make the minimum of adjustments at the scanning stage, and do the rest in Photoshop. I find that far more controllable and accurate than doing it all at the scanning stage.

[John NYC]

Out of interest, I use the Epson software, make the minimum of adjustments at the scanning stage, and do the rest in Photoshop. I find that far more controllable and accurate than doing it all at the scanning stage.

I agree with Joanna. In the epson scanning software, I try to get as wide of a range of tones as I can without hiding detail in the shadows or having any blown out or thinly pixelated skies or bright areas, then I do the rest in photoshop. The scan itself is kind of drab when you do it this way, but the tools in ps are better for contrast etc. So that is where you make it look good.

[edtog]

I use Vuescan (to produce a flat looking scan) and do all the corrections in Capture One, with a final small tweak in PS.
The B/W presets are really good in C1 :)

I haven't used Silverfast but I guess if it's similar to Vuesca/Epson software then all the adjustments are best done in PS??

[mrladewig]

I scan color, not B&W, but I'd take EpsonScan over silverfast for B&W too. The controls are simple but extremely effective.

However, I try to get the global adjustments of the scan near where I want them with curves, levels and the other bits at the scanning stage before sending to photoshop and use photoshop primarily for fine tuning color and local adjustments.

Unless I wanted to use the film profiling capability of silverfast to either make scans somewhat repeatable or make scanning multiple images faster, EpsonScan has produced better end results in my experience. It just takes a bit more time for each image.

[Jim Cole]

As another who has used just about all the software available on my 4990, I've decided that the Epson Software gives me the best and easiest results. I gave up on Silverfast about two years ago.

I turn everything off and then use only the histogram adjustment. Make sure you open up the output sliders to their max positions as the Epson Software defaults to some clipping on each scan. I also adjust the input sliders for each color channel to leave a little room in the shadows and highlights (usually 5 wider in the shadows and 5-10 in the highlights). Set the middle slider to between 1.5 and 2.0 depending on the imnage. I set the film type to B&W Negative, 48-bit color and 2400 dpi. That's it.

Any slight color cast can be taken care of in using channels layer in Photoshop where I tend to use 80% Green and 20% Red with the monochrome box checked.

This works really well for me. For that special neg, I use wet mounting.

[Lightbender]

The silverfast SE software that came with my epson v700 drives me friggin nuts. The epson software does a much better job.

Anyway, to answer your question:
There is no one setting which will give you the 'best' results. All negatives will have different contrast, grain, sharpening, color balance, saturation, etc.

Scanning, editing, and printing all require thought and skill. There is no default setting.
That said, I usually concentrate on scanning for maximum tonality only. Then all other adjustments are done in processing.

[Graham06]

Do people scan a negative or as a positive and invert in Photoshop?

(I have an epson 4990 and like it and like the epson software too. Didn't like the Silverfast version I got with the scanner. I scan at 4800dpi and then immediately reduce the image width/height and sharpen with a radius of 2 with the FocusMagic plugin)

I'm not happy with the way I get the levels right. I scan as a negative, with a few tweaks and then try fix further in PS. It takes a long time and I get ugly muddy scans very often. I'm looking for a way that doesn't take years of practice.

[Ken Lee]

You might find this article, entitled Scanning Tips (http://www.kenleegallery.com/html/tech/scanning.html) to be helpful.

It covers the Epson 4990, but the v700 would be roughly the same.

[paulr]

I use an older epson scanner (4870) and wet mount to float glass that sits on shims above the scanner glass. Figured out the actual focal plane through trial and error.

I scan at the full sampling rate of the scanner (4800) and let vuescan sample down to 2400. This is still slightly higher than the scanners optical resolution (somewhere around 2200). The downsampling averages 4-pixel blocks and reduces noise slightly. Vuescan saves the file as a 16-bit tif.

I go for a soft scan ... no clipping. All the edits i do in photoshop, besides rotation (to correct for the camera or the scan not being straight), are non-destructive. Most of the heavy lifting is done on one or more curves layers.

[Daniel Scott Smith]

Can I continue this thread a little and ask for the people working in Photoshop, do you make any use of the adobe image management products like Bridge or Lightroom?

I should probably post this question in another forum, but I just purchased a Epson 4990 and it should arrive in a few days. I have a lot of family 35mm slides and then a lot of art-type scans of materials to do for fun.

Thanks,
Dan

[Daniel Scott Smith]

Oh yes, forgot, if anyone could point out how best to "clean" slides I'd be grateful.
Do you just blow them off with compressed air? I assume it's probably not wise to physically clean them with any kind of solution or anything...

Thanks again,
Dan

[Peter De Smidt]

I use a zone VI electrostatic brush to get rid of dust. These brushes can be kind of hard to find. You could also use a DSLR sensor cleaning brush.

[Preston]

Oh yes, forgot, if anyone could point out how best to "clean" slides I'd be grateful.
Do you just blow them off with compressed air? I assume it's probably not wise to physically clean them with any kind of solution or anything...


I use a Staticwisk brush from Kinotronics and canned compressed air to blow them off. If the film is very dirty, I use PEC-12 fluid and PEC pads to gently clean the film. I use it rarely, and very sparingly, but it does work, and I've not noticed any damage to the film. The stuff has a strong odor, however, so use it in a well ventilated area.

--P

[urs0polar]

Can I continue this thread a little and ask for the people working in Photoshop, do you make any use of the adobe image management products like Bridge or Lightroom?

I should probably post this question in another forum, but I just purchased a Epson 4990 and it should arrive in a few days. I have a lot of family 35mm slides and then a lot of art-type scans of materials to do for fun.

Thanks,
Dan

Dan,

I use Bridge as it runs through and makes previews of a directory once. Lightroom drives me nuts with large scans as it does this "loading..." crap forever when all you want is to look at something a little bit bigger before opening in Photoshop.

IMO Lightroom is for DSLR/Digital/Raw files (even a little annoying with the Canon 5D's 12mp raw files on a mac pro with 12GB of RAM) while the bigger scans need something else.

[D. Bryant]

Can I continue this thread a little and ask for the people working in Photoshop, do you make any use of the adobe image management products like Bridge or Lightroom?

I should probably post this question in another forum, but I just purchased a Epson 4990 and it should arrive in a few days. I have a lot of family 35mm slides and then a lot of art-type scans of materials to do for fun.

Thanks,
Dan

Bridge isn't an image management software product but rather an image browser and file manager.


Don Bryant

[Kirk Gittings]

I use Lightroom for managing digital capture files (largely commercial work) and Bridge for scans (mostly very large .5-2GB b&w many layered scans.