Digital BW, The Print

----- Original Message -----
From: "frankg_photo" <frank@...>
To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 14, 2002 9:01 AM
Subject: Re: [Digital BW] tips please -SprintScan120


> Martin,
> Thank you for the guidance on using the SS120.
>
> I willl be bringing the unit home and hooking it up to my PC
> (Windows98SE) - I have a SCSI card so the hook up should be fairly
> straight forward. Although I agree that the better part of a day will
> be getting it alll straightened out and up to speed. Fortunately,
> they will let me have the unit for a weekend at a one day rate (about
> Canadian$120). I should be able to get a good deal of scanning done
> if I work around the clock :-)

Great! That is ideal situation and the price sound really reasonable,
especially over a weekend.

> Regarding a few of your comments:
> 1.Upgrading Silverfast to 5.5
> If the supplied CD only has 5.2 - and I install the 5.2  - is the 5.5
> an easy download from the Silverfast site and will it install over
> 5.2 or would I need to uninstall first ?

Download the upgrade and just install that without using the disks.
Silverfast's tech support has always recommended uninstalling previous
versions before installing new ones. To get the upgrade you will need the
serial numbers for Silverfast and Silverfast HDR which should be on the disk
packaging or provided by whoever is renting the unit and the name and
business name. Silverfast will then e-mail you a user name and password to
get the downloads (different one for each). When you start Silverfast and
again when you start Silverfast HDR the program will prompt you for the
serial numbers.

> 2. RGB vs Greyscale.
> If the larger file size and rental time is not a great concern, would
> it be qualitatively (is there such a word :-) be better to scan a B&W
> neg in col ?

Well I develop my negs in a staining pyro developer and scanning in RGB
makes sense to me in this case since I get significantly different
information off each channel, particularly the blue. With a standard B&W neg
I see little difference between the channels and suspect that the difference
has more to do with the scanner than the neg. One of the three channels may
be sharper than the others, probably the blue so that may be of help. This
is probably one you are going to have try for yourself.

> 3. Raw scan .
> You mention that with 5.2 you can only get a raw scan or a HDR scan -
> what does this mean ?

Silverfast 5.2 has lots of controls but only for an 8-bit scan. If you want
16-bit you need to do a raw scan. This is not an issue with version 5.5. A
raw scan is simply the raw data output by the scanner with no manipulation.
Scanners only put out raw data. Everything else that the scanning software
looks like it is doing to the scan is simply a software manipulation of the
raw scanner data either on the fly or done post scanning.

You can make a good argument for just doing raw scans because then you have
exactly the data the scanner produced and can go back and play with it. This
was my method for a long time but I have started to use the Silverfast
controls because sometimes the raw data is compressed into a narrow range in
the 16-bit space close to one end of the range and is very hard to work
with. So I have been setting my end points to make sure things easier in PS.

If you get a scan that is jammed up into the black or white the gamma
setting can be used to move the data back to the center a bit.

> 4.Is it better to use the software's controls, or to do the editing
> in PS later and just scan everything at default settings ?

Well I guess I answered that mostly above. I don't think it makes a quality
difference but doing some work with the scanning software will make the job
in PS easier. Don't try to correct everything in Silverfast, Just make a
first levels adjustment conserving your important black and white points

> To ask it another way, since I'm scanning a neg and viewing it prior
> to Inverting and seeing a positive in PS, how can I "see" or "know" I
> have a quality scan ?

You set Silverfast to transparency and negative. This pops up a "NegaFix"
window that is mostly full of color adjustment files for different films.
There are three boxes in "NegaFix" from top to bottom they should be
<other>, <other> and monochrome. This will give you a positive grayscale
view of your neg on screen so you can see the effects changes made using
Silverfast.

Also check out Ian Lyon's Silverfast Tutorials at:

http://welcome.to/computerdarkroom

A very big help in getting started with the software. The manual is not much
help at all.

Oh, on the "Frame" tab of the main SF control panel and make sure you have
the "Q-factor" set to 1 and the "Filter" box set to None.

Martin
>
>
> > Frank,
> >
> > Right off the bat ask them to upgrade to the current version of
> Silverfast
> > for the 120 which is version 5.5.2r20 for Windows, 5.5.2r08 for the
> Mac OS
> > or 5.5.2r11 for Mac OS X. These are free upgrades and the 5.5 will
> be very
> > important for you. With the 5.2 version you cannot scan directly to
> 16-bit.
> > You can only get 16-bit with version 5.2 by doing a raw scan or what
> > Silverfast refers to as a HDR scan.
> >
> > So if you are working with Silverfast 5.2, under options set the
> gamma to
> > 2.2 (to match PS 2.2 grayscale), check the "for HDR output" box,
> scan
> > everything to 16-bit HDR Grayscale. Scan at 4000 dpi to get the
> most info
> > out of the negs. This will give you raw tiff files that you can
> edit in
> > Photoshop. They will look rather compressed but will expand out
> just fine.
> >
> > If you have version 5.5 also set the gamma to 2.2 but scan directly
> to a
> > 16-bit grayscale file and use Silverfast's level's command to set
> the white
> > and black points just outside the data range. This will save you
> time in PS
> > and will translate the scanners 14-bit data over a broader portion
> of the
> > 16-bit space of the file. You could use the other functions in
> Silverfast
> > but time will be money and you can do the same things later in PS.
> >
> > The solution to perfect flatness with the 120 is to use the glass
> carrier.
> > If it doesn't come with one, I would not be concerned in regard to
> flatness.
> > The problem with the medium format carrier and, to a lesser extent,
> the 35mm
> > carrier is that they are not full frame. On my medium format negs I
> lose
> > about 1mm on the sides. This may vary depending upon the camera you
> used
> > since not all camera have the same frame width.
> >
> > Definitely scan in 16-bit! You can switch down to 8-bit later in
> the process
> > but you want to do as much as you can in 16-bit at the start.
> >
> > As to scanning in grayscale or RGB there is debate. Since you are
> on the
> > clock the grayscale route would seem to be the way to go. An RGB
> file is
> > three times as big as a grayscale file.
> >
> > What are they going to charge you to use the scanner and how long
> is the
> > "day"? You will probably find that you will use the first day just
> getting
> > acquainted with everything. After you have taken your scans home
> and worked
> > with them you may find you want to rescan some of them.
> >
> > Do your math. If you really have a mountain of negs be sure you
> don't wind
> > up paying for a substantial portion of a 120 bit by bit.
> >
> > Also, how will you get your files home? You will need to burn them
> onto a CD
> > and this takes time as well. A 4000 dpi grayscale scan of a 6x6 neg
> will be
> > about 160 MB so at best you will only be able to get 3, maybe 4
> scans on a
> > single CD.
> >
> > Of course if this is a rental you can bring home and hook up to your
> > computer it will be a much better deal or if you have a lap top to
> take to
> > the scanner to transfer files.
> >
> > Martin Wesley
> >
> > http://www.borderless-photos.de/guests.html
> >
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "frankg_photo" <frank@f...>
> > To: <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@y...>
> > Sent: Saturday, July 13, 2002 2:55 PM
> > Subject: [Digital BW] tips please -SprintScan120
> >
> >
> > > I cannot afford to purchase one of these Polaroid 120 film
> scanners
> > > but a local photo equip rental house has a unit with Silverfast
> 5.2
> > > available to rent on a daily basis - I have a mountain of black &
> > > white 120 & 35mm negs to scan.
> > >
> > > Can you offer any pointers to help me get the very highest quality
> > > scans possible ?
> > >
> > > One thing I searched the archive for but I didn't turn up any
> > > results  - apparently there is a way of keeping the film flatter
> > > (particularly the 120 negs) for a sharper result ?
> > >
> > > I guess I should scan 16 bit not 8 ? Comments ?
> > >
> > > Should I scan in 256 greyscale mode ?
> > >
> > > I'm using Photoshop6 & Windows98SE
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > > Frank
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, Bookmarks,
> Polls and
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> > >
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> > >
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>
>
> Please visit the Group Homepage to check the Files, Bookmarks, Polls and
other resources as they are often being updated. The page is at:
>
> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint
>
> Please follow these basic guidelines:
> - Include your full name with your message.
> - Include the address of your website, if you have one.
> - As threads develop, trim off excess portions of earlier messages to keep
them short.
> - As the topic of a thread changes remember to change the subject header.
> - Good manners are required at all time. No personal attacks or
"flames."
> - Complete your Yahoo profile.
> - Before posting a question, search the message archives and the various
resources on the homepage.
>
>
>
>
> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
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