My Epson 3170

[zxcvbob]

I bought this scanner last July during the $50 rebate and have been very
happy with it for scanning documents, doing OCR, etc, but I hadn't tried
it for scanning film until a few days ago. I'm using the Epson Scan
software that came with it.

I scanned a few 35mm mounted slides and had one of them printed into an
8x10 and was surprised how good the print was. I think it could have
been blown up quite a bit larger before the image would start falling
apart. I also scanned some 5 year old slightly underexposed 35mm
negatives and got some nice computer wallpaper out of them; I don't know
how they would print.

When I tried scanning some medium format negatives, it detects the
borders of the image OK, but all I get is a very dark almost black
image. If I play with the contrast and brightness, I can kind of almost
see a few details of the original, but nothing usable. I tried scanning
it as a positive and it scanned better (it was late at night so I don't
remember the details), but there was nothing in the Photoshop Elements
software to reverse the image and remove the orange mask. Perhaps it
could be done manually, but I don't see how.

My computer is running Windows 2000 with 1 GB of memory installed, so I
don't think the software is running out of memory. Only a 2GHz Celeron
processor, but that should be adequate. No other tasks running except
AVG firewall. Is this an Epson Scan bug, or do I need to find a
better-exposed big negative to play with? (this one was kind of light)

Maybe I should use that $50 rebate to buy VueScan? I'd like to give
Epson Scan a fair chance first, in case I'm doing something stupid,
since it did such a good job with the 35mm. I have about a hundred
6x6cm negatives I'd like to scan.

Best regards,
Bob

 

[-]

Try manually cropping the MF frames down to just the parts of the film you
actually want as part of the file (definitely don't include andy of the
holder or gaps between the film and holder if there are any). That will
help the auto exposure software to work better. If that still doesn't work,
turn the auto exposure off and manually set your expsure (white point, black
point, etc.). You might also want to update to the latest version of
EpsonScan.

Doug

 

[zxcvbob]

Try manually cropping the MF frames down to just the parts of the film you
actually want as part of the file (definitely don't include andy of the
holder or gaps between the film and holder if there are any). That will
help the auto exposure software to work better. If that still doesn't work,
turn the auto exposure off and manually set your expsure (white point, black
point, etc.). You might also want to update to the latest version of
EpsonScan.

Doug

I was looking at your film holder and I think I figured out my problem.
I was trying to scan from an uncut roll of negatives, and the extra
film was draped over the calibration window in the back.

I need to find my film storage sheets before I cut these (so I cut to
the right length), but I bet that was the problem. I'll try to find a
good negative at the beginning or end of a roll and see how that does.

Thanks, and best regards,
Bob

 

[CSM1]

I was looking at your film holder and I think I figured out my problem. I
was trying to scan from an uncut roll of negatives, and the extra film was
draped over the calibration window in the back.

I need to find my film storage sheets before I cut these (so I cut to the
right length), but I bet that was the problem. I'll try to find a good
negative at the beginning or end of a roll and see how that does.

Thanks, and best regards,
Bob

Yes, covering the calibration slot will do it!

 

[Dave]

I bought this scanner last July during the $50 rebate and have been very
happy with it for scanning documents, doing OCR, etc, but I hadn't tried
it for scanning film until a few days ago. I'm using the Epson Scan
software that came with it.

I scanned a few 35mm mounted slides and had one of them printed into an
8x10 and was surprised how good the print was. I think it could have
been blown up quite a bit larger before the image would start falling
apart. I also scanned some 5 year old slightly underexposed 35mm
negatives and got some nice computer wallpaper out of them; I don't know
how they would print.

When I tried scanning some medium format negatives, it detects the
borders of the image OK, but all I get is a very dark almost black
image. If I play with the contrast and brightness, I can kind of almost
see a few details of the original, but nothing usable. I tried scanning
it as a positive and it scanned better (it was late at night so I don't
remember the details), but there was nothing in the Photoshop Elements
software to reverse the image and remove the orange mask. Perhaps it
could be done manually, but I don't see how.

My computer is running Windows 2000 with 1 GB of memory installed, so I
don't think the software is running out of memory. Only a 2GHz Celeron
processor, but that should be adequate. No other tasks running except
AVG firewall. Is this an Epson Scan bug, or do I need to find a
better-exposed big negative to play with? (this one was kind of light)

Maybe I should use that $50 rebate to buy VueScan? I'd like to give
Epson Scan a fair chance first, in case I'm doing something stupid,
since it did such a good job with the 35mm. I have about a hundred
6x6cm negatives I'd like to scan.

Best regards,
Bob

Bob,

Just a quick FYI, in Elements 2 at least, Ctrl I (or
Image/Adjustments/invert) will invert your negative (just did it to
confirm).

To remove the orange mask I would sample an area of "clear" film base
and fill a new layer with that color, invert the color, set layer to
"color" rather than "normal" and adjust the opacity to the point where
the orange is eliminated. Then flatten the image.

I hope this helps.

Best,
Dave

 

[zxcvbob]

Bob,

Just a quick FYI, in Elements 2 at least, Ctrl I (or
Image/Adjustments/invert) will invert your negative (just did it to
confirm).

To remove the orange mask I would sample an area of "clear" film base
and fill a new layer with that color, invert the color, set layer to
"color" rather than "normal" and adjust the opacity to the point where
the orange is eliminated. Then flatten the image.

I hope this helps.

Best,
Dave

Yes it does help. I knew how to do the invert, but not how to eliminate
the mask.

Thanks,
Bob