Jon Mitchell wrote:
> ....
> My plan is to batch-scan all my negs / slides at screen-resolution.
> This is to enable me to basically catalogue and see them on-screen.
> Then I will spend the time doing "proper" hi-res scans of the shots I
> really want to do something with. Same goes for the couple-of-thousand
> family slides I have just inherited that my parents would like to view
> on their PC / TV.
>
Without a stack loader, that's a long, ugly process. Unless you are
pretty sure that the majority of slides will justify a 'real' scan, I
suggest an alternate weeding out process. I upgraded my decades old
slide sorter to a nice new one A Logan folding metal one that will
accommodate 40 (I think?) slides at once. With that, one of those cheap
little color balanced light boxes and a loupe, I can go through a roll
rather quickly, separating the sheep from the goats. Most can be decided
right on the sorter, with a few needing a closer look. It's all very low
tech, but somehow satisfying to me. And I find it much faster and more
satisfactory than sticking them all in the scanner.
>
> I guess what I am looking for is the ability to get the scan as close as
> possible to the desired result on first pass. My reasons for this are
> two-fold - first, less work for me, and second, less manipulation in
> photoshop should mean less degradation of image quality.
Yup, I agree. That's why my workflow outlined below involves just one
look at each image to ready it for a multi file output.
> I tried the
> Minolta software and, whilst it is better than the Epson software, it
> still isn't quite "there" for me. What I am looking for is something
> like the function in Photoshop which, when I open a DNG file, allows me
> to adjust the white balance by selecting something white and/or black in
> the image, then tweaking it slightly if required.
>
Have you actually tried this on a high rez film scan? The problem for me
with clicking the image is that grain means the apparently neutral area
is really a mixture of tiny points of various colors. Tiny movements of
the mouse can result in wildly different WBs. I've had the same problem
with scanned film images in PS.
>
> So I downloaded the VueScan demo from the hamrick site. This seems to
> be even closer to what I am after. However, I couldn't see a way to
> select which area of the photo should be called "white" or "black" as a
> reference, as I can in photoshop. Found the manual setting, but what do
> I do to select the area I want to be white or black ?
As far as I know, there is no way to select a white or black point on
the image itself. You can set WB by right clicking on a neutral color in
the image, but as above, I find that problematic. I generally set black
and white points in the little settings boxes and set color balance to
Neutral rather than right click the image.
Also, be aware that any of the WB options but None and Manual evaluate
the whole preview image, including pure black or white areas outside the
image area. So you have to set your bounding box/crop area correctly or
you can get bad results. Generally not a problem with mounted slides,
but a good thing to remember.
> Then I noticed in the help file that you can save the raw ccd data - however
> I can't seem to find the option in the downloaded version.
On the Output tab, there is a box labeled RAW. Click on it and the
set-up options will appear.
> Is this disabled in the demo ?
No idea. I've not had a demo version in many years, if ever.
> I thought the only restriction was the "$" all over the image
> when saved ? And the other question is, I suppose, if I save the raw
> ccd data does this then negate the need to do my initial processing
> stage in the vuescan software ? ie: Does the raw file data come from
> before this stage of processing ? At the moment I am thinking that the
> raw file is the way to go as I can then treat it exactly as I do the
> files from my e330. Any comments on this way of thinking ?
>
The physical scanning is, to my way of thinking, the most annoying part
of the whole process. So I scan a whole roll or batch to RAW (Which is
stored in TIFF format, but looks horrible if you try to view it. Oops, I
see he added a DNG option while I wasn't looking.) at once. With the RAW
images on disk, I go back into VueScan, point it to them and go through
the previews to check and adjust (hint, turn infrared clean off to speed
this up, but remember to turn it on for the 'scans').
I haven't scanned any film for a few months, and Ed is always changing
VS, so this may no longer apply. Last time I was scanning, I found that
the settings I made for the first preview image carried through as
defaults for all the rest. So it was useful to chose an image that was
reasonably representative of most on the roll to adjust first, even if
it is out of order. Then, depending on the subjects, many frames will
require little or no adjustment. This is only as issue within one VS
session and input directory.
Having gone through to check adjust framing, color, brightness, etc. on
all the frames, I set VS to scan them all as a batch, which it is happy
to do without further intervention from me. You should know that VS can
do multiple outputs at once from one scan. so you may, for example,
output reduced size JPEGs as the same time as full size or less reduced
TIFFs.
>
> That's enough for now. I'm sure I'll have more questions once I get
> some responses, and once I've had more of a play with VueScan. I'll
> email Ed Hamrick as well, but I'd appreciate your collective thoughts
> first.
>
The the User's Guide. It's way too terse, but rewards careful,
thoughtful reading.
Moose
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