NEWBIE BASIC ?????

[VIC]

I'm trying to use a new Epson 3200 to scan a large number of color
negative film strips. Using the PRO. option, aiming for high quality,
I'm confused as to what settings to use. For instance the option of
24 or 48 color bit? What resolution, the highest, like 3200 or more?
The help guide seems to answer some questions but assume some basics
are known, not by me. Any suggestion are appreciated. TIA

 

[Erik Maurer]

Hi VIC,

sorry, but it is impossible to give you a simple suggestion without knowing
the whole facts. I suggest to buy and read Wayne Fultons "A Few Scanning
Tips" at www.scantips.com and you will get all the answers a beginner (and
not only he) needs.

Scanning with Epson Perfection 3200 above 2300x2300dpi
(two-thousand-three-hundred) is bullshit. This is the max. measured optical
resolution of the Epson Perfection 3200 Photo by the serious german magazine
"Stiftung Warentest 8/2003" with targets for measuring optical resolutions
of optical devices. Scanning with real 3200dpi optical resolution works only
in advertisment.

Erik

 

[mkochsch]

Welcome to the world of scanning, be prepared to have to declare your
intentions. (read: what is the final purpose/use for the scan?) Are you
wanting to print at 8X10, 16X20 or 3X5 or is the scan for the purposes of
archiving long term at the best quality possible?
24 bit is a little bit less info (read: quality) than scanning at 48 bit.
Adobe Elements, which comes bundled with your scanner only works at 24 bit.
Photoshop works at 48 bit. When you get good enough to know the difference,
or need the difference, go to 48 bit. Scanning at 3200 DPI takes more time
than say scanning at 800 DPI, but 800 is sufficient for a 5X7. Hope that
helps.

 

[VIC]

Thank you for the response. Basically, using the 3200, I'm scanning
old and new color film negatives to put the better ones on CD and play
on the DVD player and perhaps send a few to those interested. All
will go into DVD and or large hard drive for storage as files. I'd
like to make minor changes when putting onto CDs to play, say remove
some dust , lighten up, crop a bit etc. Any I find worth printing I'd
send out to have done. Right now I've hit a roadblock with the
scanner, purchased 1/9/04. I'm scanning my sons wedding color
negatives taken by a pro Photographer . The first 3-4 rolls came out
reasonable, of which I cd'd and sent to him. Now the scans are
horrible, even rescanning the first roll strips. I uninstalled SW and
reinstalled. Formatted and installed XP Pro and installed only photo
related SW on it. Even read the instructions. All to no avail. The
output of the negatives are all very dark, look likes no image at all,
some are very narrow, others are missing altogether, some have the
start of two together. I've wasted too much time and frustration on
this and only now wonder if enough light is given off from the top
unit for the scans. Using it to scan a color photo gave good results.
I'm using a P4 2.8, 1000M mem, several 200Gig WD 8meg 7200 drives and
I defrag the C drive almost daily. Yeh I know, but I do it anyway. All
this photo stuff is new to me so consider me ignorant on the subject,
I've tried to do some reading but most of it seems to assume some
knowledge of photography and I get lost looking up meanings like
resolution, color bits, and other basics. Any other suggestions???
TIA

 

[SofaKing]

OK. Scanning and getting good results can be a hard road some days, some
days it gets worse before it gets better. If your scans are looking
significantly different from the proofs your photog provided then its
probably just a setting on the software of the scanner. Just ensure the
"blue" light on the lid is coming on (and is plugged in) when you scan and
you're in "transparency" mode and "color neg" mode also.
Try downloading VueScan from www.hamrick.com . It's defaults are pretty good
right off the bat. You will have to tell it that you're scanning negative
tranparencies. It is very difficult to master sometimes though, be
forewarned. Epson recently updated their software to 1.25a I believe make
sure you're using that one (although I've recently been frustrated trying to
use it to scan 2.25" negs myself, bugs?).
Is your monitor calibrated? The bad results you are getting are they on the
monitor or the printer? I've been scanning my own wedding (Aug 2000) I
started in November of 03 just after I got my 3200 and on a good day
(working for two hours) I might get three rolls of 120 (30 pictures) done,
corrected and saved as tiffs, uncompressed, scanning at 1600 DPI. If you're
saving for DVD you may want to scan at much lower resolution. Someone else
may have experience of setting DPI for DVD I don't. Sorry.
As for dark pictures. Is "Auto Levels" turned on or off? When you do a level
correction in Adobe Elements (Ctrl+L) does the problem go away. A dark'ish
neg is considered "normal" by some until the levels have been corrected. Are
you using Epson Smart Panel BTW? If you are use it in "Pro" mode. Way better
control. 35mm or 120 format? Your computer is plenty fast. I'm using a PII
300 with a 120 G drive no problems.

 

[VIC]

Thanks for the comeback.

I have the scan Epson scan sw on 2 separate "C" drives, one dedicated
to photo items. The other is my everyday/most stuff drive, makes no
difference. Does it with version 1.0 or 1.25A. Blue light is on.
Transparency, and color neg is selected in pro mode along with 64 bit
color and 3200 resolution. I'm using a 19" lcd. And if it means
anything the negatives are Kodak 400NC. I don't know where auto levels
are, only "unsharp mask filter" is checked , whatever that is. Target
size is Original.
I just did a single scan as you indicate some people consider dark
normal, and it turned out quite dark on the thumbnail again. Opened
Paint Shop Photo and only chose quick fix. It lightened it to the
point of being acceptable. I'm new to this so don't know what to
expect from the scanner and expected the scans of today to be the same
as 2 weeks ago. I'm also getting completely missing frames and some
compressed to 1/3 size. Wondering if there is a option to set light
source a bit higher. My voltage input is 118.
I tried calling Epson about this and was put on hold to speak to
second tier spokesperson for over ½ hour before having to leave.

 

[SofaKing]

I don't know where auto levels

are, only "unsharp mask filter" is checked , whatever that is. Target
size is Original.

In pro mode there are four "Adjustment" buttons in the middle of the panel
right above where "Unsharp Mask" is checked off. Scroll down a bit and hold
the mouse over each button. There should be one for "Auto Exposure",
"Histogram", "Tone Correction" "Color" etc. Leave Unsharp Mask checked for
now. It's basically tries to do a little bit of sharpening to the photo to
offset an inherant blur introduce to ALL digital image capture.

I just did a single scan as you indicate some people consider dark
normal, and it turned out quite dark on the thumbnail again. Opened
Paint Shop Photo and only chose quick fix

Paint Shop should have its own "Level" or "Auto Level" adjustment. If you
missed this step in Epson Scan the control in Paint Shop should do the same
thing. The only difference is, if you do it in Epson Scan the step is
performed prior to editing. Some people prefer this for control reasons but
it doesn't make a lot of difference at this stage.

It lightened it to the

point of being acceptable. I'm new to this so don't know what to
expect from the scanner and expected the scans of today to be the same
as 2 weeks ago. I'm also getting completely missing frames and some
compressed to 1/3 size. Wondering if there is a option to set light
source a bit higher. My voltage input is 118.

I'm in Canada our voltage is the same 115~120. I'm not sure about the
missing frames, the compressed ones sound as if you have a Height X Width
problem. 35mm negs are 24mm X 36mm therefore your selection marquee
(selection box) should be about that big. If you are in Pro mode just scan
one frame at a time for now. FYI: VueScan allows you to physically change
the exposure of the CCD sensor if you have a thick negative (over exposed)
but it's definately a topic for the advanced class.

I tried calling Epson about this and was put on hold to speak to
second tier spokesperson for over ½ hour before having to leave.

Talked to Epson! Oh my God. I never knew they spoke to anyone anymore ;^)