Digital BW, The Print

David,

I have a 120 also and I have used both the Silverfast and the Polacolor
software with it. I know what you mean about some of the raw scans. They can
get so bunched up and close to one end of the histogram it is impossible to
accurately adjust them in a single levels move.

With the Silverfast you can adjust the gamma of  the raw scan spreading out
the data over a broader range and now with the new version you can finally
output a 16-bit adjusted scan.

With Polacolor I would suggest doing a levels adjustment and then outputting
it to a 16-bit tiff file. Polacolor will scan and then apply the adjustments
automatically in a post scanning mode. You will then be starting with a file
closer to where you want to be. Go for what is the best scan for your work
and don't worry about whether it is raw or not. I often wonder just how raw
our raw scans really are.

In your PS workflow you can take all of your 8-bit adjustments and apply
them in 16-bit mode to protect the image from degradation.

If the negs are that contrasty, perhaps you might try upping your exposure
and reducing development a bit.

Martin




----- Original Message -----
From: "David Myers" <dmyers@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2002 9:53 AM
Subject: [Digital BW] workflow with Polaroid Scanner


> For the past few months I have been working with a Sprintscan 120 to scan
my
> 6x7 b&w negatives.  So far, I have been using the raw scan option with no
> setting of black or white points at the initial scan.  All tweaking of the
> images is then done in PS.  In recent studio work with black seamless
> backgrounds--images with much contrast (nudes against black seamless), I
am
> getting scans that require severe curve adjustments.  I do this in 16 bit
> mode to avoid posterization.  After the initial work in 16 bit mode where
I
> get as close as I can, I then move to 8 bit and use adjustment layers.  In
> most cases with the studio work on the nudes, I have to apply several
layers
> with softlight and 100% opacity layers to build up enough density in the
> image (another approach I use is to have a curve adjustment layer and set
it
> to "multiply" instead of "normal" to build density).
>
> Am I doing something wrong?  The negatives are constrasty, but they look
> about right visually. Should I not use the raw scan? Should I set the
tones
> within the scanner (I am using the Polacolor scan software for the
> scanning)?
>
> Thanks in advance for any assistance.
>
> David Myers
>
>
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