Digital BW, The Print

re: Vuescan Vs pos>inversion

Helen, you've pursued the pos>inversion process far more intensively 
than I have, but as a former-longtime-silver-printer (FLSP) I 
prefere Vuescan (or Vuescan Pro). I'm lazy.  

Vuescan makes superb B&W scans VERY easy: fewer steps, no 
manipulation other than the usual post-processing for 
dust/scratches, USM, contrast/density etc. I'm amazed that Nikon 
didn't bundle my Nikon V with VueScan...

A doubt:

Comparing black-only enlargements from Vuescan TIFFs to inverted 
Nikonscan TIFFs of the same B&W neg, inverted TIFFs *noticably* lose 
sharpness, despite allegations that TIFFs are inherently lossless. 

I don't understand lossy TIFFs, but I don't understand much of this 
stuff anyway. Vuescan can be downloaded free for a trial run (browse 
Vuescan or Hamrick software)...it's watermarked but useful for 
testing...

Djon

> 
> All the methods I've read about export a negative image from
> Nikonscan, 
> then invert later in Photoshop or whatever. It is easy to scan as 
a 
> positive and invert in Nikonscan by applying a reverse RGB curve.  
> Best,
> Helen
>  rbara