Epson V550 Slide Scan Issue

<p>I have searched around here to see if anyone else has had this issue but do not see anything.<br /> <br />Hi guys, long time no see. I purchased a refurbished Epson V550 from Amazon and it arrived today. Just happened to have a box of slides and some film so thought it would be a great time to test drive the box. Got it all set up, easy enough, and got started.</p>

<p>My first slide scan was interesting. First slide was a full scan, meaning the entire image was visible. Second slide seemed cropped. Third and fourth were definitely cropped. Not sure what was going on. Tried the same slides but in different locations and the same result. Issue followed the slides. One slide was taken in daylight while the other three were done indoors. (Subject was my wedding in 1979).</p>

<p>I thought the scanner may have been out of alignment so I took the slides off and left the carriage on the glass and did a scan. The scan showed all four holders for the slides and they were correct. Put the slides back in and same results as before.</p>

<p>So I put the slides away and moved to the film. No issues at all (save for the dimensions were not the same for each image). Nothing that I can not live with. But the slide thing is bothering me.</p>

<p>Does anyone have a V550 or equivelant who can scan both indoor and outdoor slides to see if they have the same results? Or maybe know of a way I can get the scanner to just scan and let me crop?</p>

<p>Thanks,<br /> Brian D</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>I see you're using Epson Scan....I never had much luck with their software, and quickly got a copy of Vuescan Professional, which I find is quite versatile. I can't speak to Epson Scan, but in Vuescan's preview of slides in the holder, when you view the thumbnails, you can adjust the crop for each one individually. I suspect you can do the same with Epson's product, but you might have to find a setting which ensures you can crop individual slides prior to the actual scan.</p>

<p>Thanks Stephen for the response. So you think it is a function of the software that is causing this issue? That would be nice if it is the only thing. I do like the film results so far. I do not have that many slides but may come across more later and I would not want to be limited because of desirable cropping.</p>

<p>I looked at the Vuescan page. Thanks for that. What will Vuescan bring to the table that is lacking in the Epson software? I am sure there is something. But you mentioned that you have not used the Epson so I guess that was an unfair question.</p>

<p>Thanks again for your input.<br>

Brian D</p>

<p>Typical response, skip learning the existing software and move on to third party that has even more settings to confuse and complicate things. I have that 3rd party software and am lukewarm on it.</p>

<p>Brian, click on the configuration button bottom center of the Epson scan window. Click on the film size button and select a size at least as large as the image area of the slide or larger. The software is cropping to a predetermined ratio or size. The alternative is to manually crop each slide in the preview window and manually scan each one.</p>

<p>P.S. I just moved my V500 to backup and installed a V700 as my main scanner. </p>

<p>Epson Scan is really hard to get good results with. You have to get it into "expert" mode to accomplish anything.<br>

VueScan user interface is oddly organized. Powerful software, but strange UI.<br>

Other third-party option is SilverFast. Somewhat more intuitive, but "Germanic" at times.<br>

Demo versions of VueScan and SilverFast are both free.</p>

<p>I use Epson Scan only on both 35mm and medium format. I scan at 2400 and 48 bit. I use an Epson V600 which is pretty similar to the V550. Rotate the slides if the verticals are cropping or use Normal instead of Auto. With Normal you crop the image size you want scanned manually. Read the manual that came with the scanner or download from the Epson site. </p>

<p>I notice you checked all the auto settings. You may find that these clip especially the highlighted areas. You may want to scan flat and adjust in post processing software. Or manual adjust the settings, especially Levels before the scan. Backlighting often brings out pixilation in the shadows. I keep that setting off. I keep all the other settings off as well. I do stuff in post.</p>

<p>Also, ICE does a better job of removing dust that Dust removal. (Note that ICE won't work though on B/W negatives). Good luck and have fun. </p>

<p>Thanks guys. Just got home from work. I read some of your comments while I was on break. Now I have a chance to reply.</p>

<p>Charles, I was in config mode but did not see anything about setting film size. I will look again when next I connect to the scanner. I personally don't mind recommendations for third party software. Sometimes TPS is better than the manufacture's software. So it is worth a try.</p>

<p>John, how does one get to "expert" mode? I don't recall seeing anything like that. I will check it out on Saturday.</p>

<p>Alan, I have looked at the manual. It is written, like most manuals, very poorly. Typical engineer writing. Having worked in the Satellite business testing and installing earth stations, I know how engineers write. As for all the checked boxes, I was in experiment mode. I eventually unchecked everything. I also tried both vertical and horizontal and the cropping followed. </p>

<p>I will play again tomorrow and see what I can do. I want to keep the scanner because I like it so far. I am sure I will find out what I was doing wrong.</p>

<p>Thanks again,<br>

Brian D</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Brian,<br>

The film size selection I was referring to is for medium format, probably won't have any affect on 35mm slides.<br>

Expert Mode is jargon for Professional Mode.<br>

Too many times responses say go to 3rd party software when the packaged software will produce results the person seeking help will be satisfied with. I have a dedicated 35mm scanner and have all my 35mm that I consider worthwhile scanned. I used the V500 primarily for 120 and 4x5 formats. I apologize if I misinformed you. I learned to scan on a Microtek 8700 with Silverfast AI software. While Epson Scan is basic and lacking in adjustments it can produce very good results if you take the time to test scan a known good slide or negative varying one setting at a time in small to moderate units then in conjunction with other settings to see how they interact. Once you know what the settings will do you will find they will transfer to other software. Silverfast AI and Vuescan allow more fine tuning than lesser versions and basic software. <br>

Silverfast AI is probably still the best scanning software, Vuescan next, Silverfast SE+, Silverfast SE, then manufacture's scan such as Epson Scan. I do not use batch scan. </p><div></div>

<p>Scan flat and do all or most of your adjustments in a post processing program. Epsonscan is perfect for that. Click the COnfiguration button on the bottom and then shut off auto adjustments on the next screen.</p>

<p>Getting involved in doing adjustments before the scan creates many problems whether you use Epsonscan or second source software:</p>

<ol>

<li>You have to learn a new processing program to adjust before the scan. You'll still have to use a post processing program for final adjustments anyway. For me, using Lightroom in post to adjust is enough.</li>

<li>You have to re-scan if the results don;t come out right if you make your adjustments before the scan. If you scan flat, you'll only have to scan one time because your adjustments come later in post. Scanning takes a lot of effort and time. </li>

<li>You'll be paying for additional software with its own glitches and problems.</li>

</ol>

<p>Good luck in whatever you decide.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Charles, I saw that when I was in config mode. I was surprised there were no other options. But that gives me an idea. I just might try that on 35mm slides. All my cropping and post work is being done in PS CS6 anyway.</p>

<p>Alan, yeah, I totally agree about scanning flat. As I had mentioned above, I was playing around. I just got the scanner yesterday and wanted to see what it was all about. That is when I discovered the cropping of dark slides instead of giving me the "whole picture" if I may. </p>

<p>One more thing I forgot to mention. In preview mode on the normal screen where one sees all four slides in the holder, the images are correct. Only in the thumbnail mode are the images cropped. Might have to call Epson about that.</p>

<p>My scanning introduction was on the Frontier scanners. Nice but not the highest resolution as I remember.</p>

<p>Thanks again,<br>

Brian D</p>

<p>Update: Although I have not tried this yet (house cleaning day - LOL) I found this on youtube. A guy using a V700 has the same issues with auto crop. See the video at the 3:10 mark and he describes my issue and the solution.<br>

<p>With that, I want to say thanks for your comments. I will try this later and also try some of the software you guys recommend. Such a wealth of knowledge here that I do not always tap into.</p>

<p>Brian D</p>

 

<p>Just 2¢ from someone new to Photo.net. I have used a V700 extensively for slide scans and prefer to do individual slides rather than batch. Mostly because I have had somewhat the same problems with cropping inaccuracies. I find the software provided has some great presets, but limited in other ways - mostly to do with poorly exposed slides.<br>

About two years ago I converted to a used Nikon Coolscan L5000 - which I use along with VueScan software exclusively. It took some getting used to, but I use it because I get a digital negative file that is easily adjusted in ACR. This speeds up the actual scan as there are no adjustments made in the actual scanning.<br>

VueScan has its quirks. It is a bit dense and non-intuitive, but is extremely powerful once you learn it. And coupled with the older Coolscan, the sharpness and resolution are great.<br>

<br />Thanks for listening!</p>

<p>I use the Epson Scan software when scanning 35mm transparencies on my V500 and get perfectly fine results. I use Epson Scan in Professional Mode, Document Type = Film, The 'Film Type' choices include 'Positive Film' (slides), 'Color Negative Film' and 'B&W Negative Film'. The default Target Size is 'Original'. When I use the supplied slide or negative holder and click on the Preview button, I get a set of identically sized preview images. An Epson flatbed scanner is never going to produce the same results as a dedicated film scanner, but I've gotten some pretty impressive scans from sharp transparencies.</p>

Scanning flat and doing the post processing is absolutely the way to go. You save a lot of time if you don't have to re-scan an image because you don't like the adjustments that you made in the first place.

This is why we have established a RAW data concept for our workflow in the SilverFast Archive Suite. You can scan your images as 64bit HDRi RAW files that do not only provide the full color depths and information but also the information from the infrared channel of your scanner. In SilverFast HDR Studio, you can process your image after the scan without any loss of quality; you can even do the dust and scratch removal afterwards.

The Archive Suite is a solution that is based on the idea of bringing slides, film and photos back to their original quality without the necessity for a Photoshop license.