Digital BW, The Print

Hi Dave,
I made a mask for the negatives and am scanning them as a Positive.
I also found that I greatly improved the quality of a darker negative by covering the 'calibration' area of the transparancy scanner mask with a slightly dark material - kevlar tape actually. 
I plan to call Microtek tomorrow and see what they recommend. 
What IS a scanner that can properly sample negatives ??

Best,
Alex


> 
> I have an Epson 1600 scanner which is similar to yours.  I tend 
> to agree with your experience.  There are a couple of things I do 
> w/VueScan or SilverFast Ai:
> 
> 1) Get the Stouffer tp45c step wedge to use as a reference scan.
> 2) Scan as a positive.  I can never get the negative mode to 
> produce something any good.
> 3) Try to set the black point to be around step 15 (2.2du) 
> because the highlights on the negative probably aren't any 
> darker than that.
> 4) Get black illustration board to block off any uncovered areas of 
> the scanner bed.
> 5) Use your scanner to proof the negs and send the few 
> excellent ones out to be professionally scanned.
> 
> Dave G.