Digital BW, The Print

Recently I have been making negative scans -- HDR scans in Silverfast-- with multiple passes (8). I believe this is the same a "raw scan" or "flat scan". All the controls are off and a very flat negative image is opened in Photoshop. After inverting, I work these files up slowly, starting with an empty curves layer set to multiply mode, which builds density as you move up the opacity slider. I'm mainly looking at the shadow areas as I do this, building up density until a good black is approached (don't go too far). Next is a levels layer, where the shadow and highlight end points are set, as well as a reasonable mid-tone contrast. Then a global curves layer for finer overall contrast adjustment. The file should look pretty good at that point, needing only local contrast adjustments. I have  found that starting out with the multiply layer makes the levels and curves layers more efficient. Of course, at the end of the process you can go back and iterate for a better balanced image.

This technique has saved a number of image files for me since I switched to it. I did not realize how much over adjustment the scanning software was imposing on my "problem" images.