Digital BW, The Print

My purpose in creating a contact sheet is to have a quick, positive reference of my negs.
> 
> It appears you are scanning in raw mode, 

The Epson driver doesn't have a raw mode, I set it to auto-expose and scan in 16 bits reflective with the white cover installed.

> ...you read that into Photoshop and set your setpoints and adjust
> your tonal curves in PS, right?  

Yup, what seems to be garbage can become quite usable because with the high bit depth the information is there.

> You should (if your scanner driver allows
> it) be able to do the exact same thing in the scanner driver, 

I've yet to find scanner software as quick, easy, or powerful as PS.

>and get 8 bit
> data out of it, as the scanner scans in high bit mode (which isn't 16 bits,
> but something like 12) no matter what mode you select.  

The 2450 is 16 bit, I have a 12 bit film scanner which generates 16 bit files, and I do notice greater leeway with the Epson before I get combed histograms.

> 
> It's really got nothing to do with "16 bit scans", but whether you can do
> setpoints and tonal curves in your scanner driver, and I can't imaging a
> scanner driver that wouldn't allow for that.
> 

If need be I can adjust each image individually in PS.  If I did this with an 8 bit scan they would fall apart instantly.  This is a down and dirty method, but delivers usable contact sheets quickly with one scan and two minutes in PS.

Your points are well taken, but I find this method works well for me.  I can scan a page of 9 6x7 negs and click print in just a few minutes.

Be well,

-Gabriel Regalbuto

> > -----Original Message-----

> > I have an Epson 2450 and at first I was just scanning my sleeved
> > 6x7 negs one row at a time with the transparency adapter.  Lately
> > I have just put the cover on the transparency unit and scanned
> > the full sheet reflectively.  Then I take the image into
> > photoshop and adjust the levels, often individually using the
> > marquee tool.  With 16 bit I get enough info in the image for
> > making a contact, and scanning the full sheet is much quicker.
> > There is some ghosting which probably has to do with stray
> > reflections from the sleeve, it would probably be a good idea to
> > remove them.  We are talking about contacts here, though, and I
> > find this works fine.
> >
> > > How's that?  Why not just use a transparency adapter?
> > >
> > > Austin
> > >
> > > > 16 bit scans will help here.