Scanning hell (p me)!

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jaimiepeeters

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Hi guys

I own a Plustek 7400 and have used Silverfast SE plus 8 on my Lion 10.7 iMac.

Tried Vuescan yesterday and I did get some clearer results, the results were not consistent.

It frustrates me to the bone that

1. I am not sure if the scan I'm making is what the images on this particular film actually looks like

2. I am not able to get consistent scans that allow me to make them all look nice in PS.

It would make me ecstatic to be able to use film photography a lot more often than digital, because when i DO get good results, I find it far more beautiful than digital.

If you would like to see examples of images that worked and not worked for me, I will post them.

Guidance, tips, bashing, anything that helps me succeed in great scanning is welcome!


What do I do?

with Silverfast:

preview scan
2400dpi
no film type selection
automatic CC on
if the scan is a bit too red or so I use the colorcorrection to adjust
scan to tiff
edit in PS

with Vuescan:

preview scan of clear film
lock exposure
preview scan of clear film again
lock film base color
scan a full image
adjust black/white points and dark/light curve and brightness (more like fooling around with them, because I get confused 2 tries in)
save as tiff 48bit

I spent from 8pm to 2am on trying to learn AGAIN how to properly scan, so I have tried believe me.. I spent many hours into the night some time ago as well.. I thought I had it down with Silverfast, but the Vuescan scans seem clearer, though inconsistent.

So help me out of this scanning hell please!
 
which film are you using?

ad 1. impossible to say. That is like saying I want the image to look like the original RAW file! A RAW file will aways be processed by the RAW converter. A Negative will always be either scanned or printed, and both are processing steps where you make decisions that affect the final print/scan.

What I do for color images:

48 bit tiff scan (non inverted) in vuescan and convert it to positive color in photoshop with the colorperfect plugin. That gives superb results everytime for colorfilm.

with black and white I do it mostly in vuescan.
1. I always output bw as jpg
2. do a prescan, draw the rectangle, adjust the histogram white and black points as far as possible
3. scan
4. open in Photoshop
5. press command M (on the mac) to adjust curves. Adjust black and white point, maybe add an S curve for more contrast

thats it 🙂
 
Here's how I set Vuescan to scan with my Nikon scanner. Notice that it gives very flat, lifeless scans. This is ok, that means the scanner captures all the detail and tonal range in the film...you then edit it in Photoshop (or whatever editing software you like) to bring up the contrast to normal. I have examples of the scans right from the scanner, and after editing to show what I'm trying to describe.
 
I have to admit that I find these scanning threads excruciating reading. Partly because I as well as most posters have been in the OP's hell. There is so much contradictory advice because there are so many different ways to get results.

My method with color negs in vuescan (for what it is worth), is like the routine in the first post with the exception of the colortab adjustments.
1. Set to Color negatives under Input tab.
2. Preview clear leader or frame gap.
3. Lock exposure, then preview again.
4. Lock film base color.
5. Leave Color balance to None. (don't set white and black points etc.)
6. Output Raw dng or tiff (either works).
Set Raw output with: Save, and Raw save film (this way it reverses the image and applies IR cleaning).
7. Open in ACR or LR. The image will be very blue, but white balance and contrast adjustments should be fairly simple.

I haven't used any plugins, but I think the standard Adobe tools are powerful enough. I batch scan like this, and get very consistent results. I output a dng and then reprocess it in adobe dng converter (I know that is double), as the later dng versions apply lossless compression which reduces file size by 20%. A tiff is easier to open in PS bypassing ACR, so choosing tiff or dng mainly depends on post processing preferences. I have also made 'camera profiles' with Dng profile editor for each of my scanner/film configurations that shift the white balance into the ballpark so images look better when I import. The final result is not different from a white balance with the 'embedded' profile.

Hope this helps.
 
jaimiepeeters said:
Is it possible to share the plug in if I'd pay 50% of the cost?
Click to expand...

There is a trial version, so you can see if it works for you.

If somebody offered to give me $20k Noctilux + Leica M or $60 ColorPerfect plug-in... I would pick ColorPerfect.

But others obviously get by without it and get good results. I'm not that good so I have to use ColorPerfect (and I use it for c-41, e-6 and bw film).
 
Colorperfect is only available as a plug-in -- Photoshop, or Elements or Photoline. If you do not have the first 2, then the third one is a good and cheap option.

You need to place the plugin in a "correct" folder, as far as I can remember.

It is the very best investment in color film photography for me. Fuji Reala, Rolleiflex Automat

8126310023_4a77006b83.jpg



jaimiepeeters said:
I downloaded the trial version, but I get confused about installing it... any tips? regarding colorperfect
Click to expand...
 
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