A bit off topic but something I find invaluable for scanning is the digital color meter.. I use it as I would the info pallette in PS. this meter can not only tell you where to place your significant density for highlight and shadow , but it will also help you determine colour issues. I also have not found many good books on scanning I have a few but the DCM opened the floodgates so to speak for me .
This meter runs on your desktop and is independent of the scanner software, whichever one you use and will work with any program.
I use Macs and cannot tell you how to find it for PC
Applications- Utilities-Digital Colour Meter.
I set it up for LAB , but if you are not comfortable with that then a more clumsy RGB setting is possible.
I set the apeture so as to read about a two - five pixel reading.
hope this helps some
There is a lot of good but basic information at http://www.scantips.com/.
Problem is every scanner and software has its own set of gotchas, making anything based on generalities pretty slim. There's a lot of good info in the back pages here-
http://www.hutchcolor.com/
Strad,
Like you, I have lots of experience ( all formats, V700, BSH, Wet Scanning) but "knowledge" is a subjective parameter. Over the last 2 years I have attempted to read ( but often not understand) everything I can find about scanning negatives. I found Steinhoff to be useful in this respect.
I have to say that I learned by going to someone's place, someone who knew how to scan very well, and paying for an hour of their time, or doing a few scans with them while I was allowed to watch. Of course, it helped if I had the same scanner I was trying to learn on.... however, the real key was trying to understand what they were after. it took me a while, but once I had the destination in my mind, I kept trying until I was able to reproduce the effect.
I don't think this can be written up in a book. There are plenty of youtube's out there (even one of mine) showing someone how to mount film on a drum. There are others that show liquid mounting on a flatbed.... That's the easy part. The harder part is looking at the different tones in a preview, and using the curves to separate them a little so they can be pulled out in a scan, and give the person the opportunity to adjust them individually in PhotoShop. It's best if you know what kind of print they want to make.
I have shown many people this, it is best done on one of their negs, right on the monitor. They see it happen right before their eyes and they know what to do... or at least what the goal is...
That's my 2cents...
Lenny
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