Silverfast 8 Ai, flat scan?

[Landberg]

Hi!

Is there a way to scan a flat image from a negative? No adjustments at all? As close as a raw file as possible. I have noticed that the software sometimes destroy the IQ when i play around. I guess its better to to it later on in LR.

 

[Larry Cloetta]

Hi!

Is there a way to scan a flat image from a negative? No adjustments at all? As close as a raw file as possible.

Hello,

If taking full advantage of the capabilities of this software, it probably actually is not better to fix it later in Lightroom.
I am someone better than I will weigh in, but you can scan to obtain a flat file with nothing but, essentially RAW data, from the scan, using Silverfast 8ai. Set the program to produce the 48 Bit HDR file or the 64 Bit HDRi file if intending to use their other software for dust removal. Their nomenclature, not mine. These files are, in essence, RAW data from the scanner ,saved as a very large TIFF file. These are somewhat proprietary file formats however, and you really need Silverfast AiHDR to process them, and get everything out of them, the Silverfast HDR program being the other part of the Silverfast Archive Suite. (Confused yet?) you can process the raw files in Lightroom, but not nearly as well as using the Silverfast HDR, at least that's how it has worked for me, transparencies especially really need the Silverfast HDR program to process the 48 bit or 64 bit files to look good, again in my somewhat inept experience.
Best thing is to spend a few hours looking at their instructional videos (RTM!),
Or better yet, buy the huge Mark Segal manual from them.
I know all this sounds like major work, but you asked. Extremely steep learning curve imo, but probably no other scanning software allows you to glean as much DR from a scan.
If you don't want a flat, RAW scan, it is a lot easier. Just set for 48 to 24 bit in scan settings, in the Silverfast8ai program and adjust look in preview, scan as a TIFF, and adjust in LR or PS if desired. Would not need the SilverfastHDR software for that approach. Results more like what you can get with something like Vuescan, in that case, more limited, but might suffice.
Or, just shoot digital🙂

 

[Filzkoeter]

Yes, it's possible. As Larry said, select the 48/64bit "HDR" option. But you'll need a good inversion technique for linear raw scanner data to get it look nice... but it is totaly worth it. ColorPerfect is a nice plugin for photoshop that does a nice job. I'm actually using a free script (negfix8, google it... it can also batch process many files at once) that also does a nice job with converting linear files to a workable gamma without any clipping or destroying image quality.

My workflow:
1. scanning linear (gamma 1.0) negatives, 16bit for b&w, 48bit for color
2. batch-converting the scans with negfix8
3. lightroom or photoshop

it's fast, effective and I don't have to deal with scanner settings or weird scanning programs, full control over everything, full IQ. Works great with b&w or color negatives.

 

[Landberg]

Thanks for the tips!

 

[Landberg]

All scanned files gets to dark. Way darker then the original negs? So when i invert them they are so bright that they can't be saved?

 

[Larry Cloetta]

All scanned files gets to dark. Way darker then the original negs? So when i invert them they are so bright that they can't be saved?

I have no experience with the other option mentioned by Filzkoeter, so cannot speak to that, but, if you are using Silverfast 8 Ai Studio and scanning to 48 bit HDR RAW, what you see will look very dark, darker than the negs. There is a huge amount of data contained in that scan, but you need to process it with Silverfast HDR8 to get the most out of it. You can't just invert the file in LR, that's for sure (though Perhaps I am misinterpreting what you are doing).
Open Silverfast HDR 8, click on the VLT button, it will open the file, which will still look a little dark, but not too bad. For quick start, then click on the Auto CCR button, this will make it look nicer than you can ever get in LR, pulling out very large DR and decent color. Then adjust with sliders to taste, then hit "process". This converts it to a nice TIFF file which is half the size of the RAW file. You can do additional processing in LR or PS at this point to taste, but you now have a very robust file as a starting point.

 

[Filzkoeter]

All scanned files gets to dark. Way darker then the original negs? So when i invert them they are so bright that they can't be saved?

Yes, that's the point why you need a good conversion workflow going. The scans are gamma 1.0 and unsuitable for viewing on screens, they need to be converted to gamma 2.2. But they contain all information that the scanner is able to scan.

Linear scan:

converted with negfix8 script (+ "auto levels".. it's called contrast-stretch with the script... no clipped whites or blacks). This would be your 'real' raw file, ready to be loaded into lightroom/photoshop:

some quick adjustments in photoshop:

 

[Landberg]

converted with negfix8 script (+ "auto levels".. it's called contrast-stretch with the script... no clipped whites or blacks). This would be your 'real' raw file, ready to be loaded into lightroom/photoshop:

Im not the best at computers, i have read the site but don't get it at all?

 

[Landberg]

Cant download the software.

 

[Landberg]

ColorPerfect works great! Thanks for that tip.

 

[Filzkoeter]

Yeah, the whole negfix8 is really confusing at first. It took me some time to figure it out (I'm also not that good with computers and especially not with command-window controls).

ColorPerfect and negfix8 do more or less the same thing (once you figured negfix8 out)... but negfix8 is really no fuss, no controls, nice for batch converting files for further processing. ColorPerfect gives you plenty of controls to even get a finished picture. ColorPerfect is easier to set up 😉

 

[Landberg]

I bought the ClorPerfect! Works great! Thank you man! 😉