black/white point = 0?

[Alan Chan]

I have found tweaking the black/white point a very time consuming process. I
would like to know if I'll miss anything if I just set them at 0 for all
colour negative scans? Would the end result be identical (loss of data?) if
done by Vuescan or Photoshop (level/curve)?

 

[CSM1]

I have found tweaking the black/white point a very time consuming process. I
would like to know if I'll miss anything if I just set them at 0 for all
colour negative scans? Would the end result be identical (loss of data?) if
done by Vuescan or Photoshop (level/curve)?

I don't think you want the white point at zero. On my scanner the white
point is 255.
Black point at zero may be OK.

 

[Robert Feinman]

I have found tweaking the black/white point a very time consuming process. I
would like to know if I'll miss anything if I just set them at 0 for all
colour negative scans? Would the end result be identical (loss of data?) if
done by Vuescan or Photoshop (level/curve)?

In scanning you want to capture all the detail in the image, so in
Vuescan it pays to set the clipping percentages to 0.
Then in Photoshop you can use a curve adjustment to move the black and
white points inward to improve the contrast. If you set image markers
at points you want to be blackest and lightest you can watch in the
info panel until they reach a suitable value.
For inkjet prints I suggest something like 10-20 and 250-252 as the
limits. Making the lower limit darker doesn't put any more ink
on the page but makes all the adjacent tones too dark. Going to 255
usually makes the highlights look somewhat washed out.

 

[Jeff Randall]

I have found tweaking the black/white point a very time consuming process. I
would like to know if I'll miss anything if I just set them at 0 for all
colour negative scans? Would the end result be identical (loss of data?) if
done by Vuescan or Photoshop (level/curve)?

No difference, assuming your scanner works internally with 12-, 14,-,
16-bits and you save your VueScan image in 16-bit and work in 16-bit
in Photoshop.

Jeff Randall