Plustek 7600/SilverFast 8 scan softness?

[David_Manning]

My scans from the Plustek 7600i and the previous version of SilverFast (6.6 maybe) seemed much sharper than scans I'm getting from the same scanner and SilverFast version 8. Is it my imagination?

Also, iSRD seems to really suck now...it doesn't seem to "see" fine scratches for correction (I watched the Help video and played with the sliders).

Anyone else with these experiences?

 

[David_Manning]

Has anyone compared sharpness or scratch removal between SilverFast 8 and Vuescan?

 

[David_Manning]

Okay, I'm getting sharpness dialed in again. The new version 8 just changed how it sharpened (to give more control, I guess).

Still, anyone having luck with iSRD and scratches?

 

[bitfeng]

cannot get 8 running on my winxp. still using 6.6.

Okay, I'm getting sharpness dialed in again. The new version 8 just changed how it sharpened (to give more control, I guess).

Still, anyone having luck with iSRD and scratches?

 

[grantb]

I upgraded to 8 right away so I can't compare sharpness. I've been disappointed with iSRD so far. It doesn't seem to work quite like "magic" as seen in demos.

I'm no expert though.

Does anyone know how to reset all settings to defaults with SF8?

 

[Ken_Watson]

I've just bought the Plustek 8200i bundled with Silverfast 8.
Without spending much time looking at the manual I've had a play around with it today.

The first scan I did was using the automatic settings on the 'workflow pilot'. The result was a very flat, soft scan with bad colour control.

When I looked at the extensive manual settings, I thought at a glance that it was going to be a very complex setting up process but it actually turned out to be very straight forward. Very intuitive and not dissimilar to using post processing software.

After making some adjustments to the output settings and tweaks to the image scan, including a bit of unsharp mask, I seem to have produced quite a nice colour balanced, contrasty, sharp image. I'm really pleased with the results.

It took me 10 scans of trial and error to figure out the settings that produce the preferred end results for me.

The scratch removal system seemed to work well on my negative too.

Perhaps with a bit of experimentation you'll be able to achieve the end results that you are looking for? The kit seems more than capable of producing the goods.

If you want to compare notes, drop me a line.

Regards,

Ken.