Batch scan with Vuescan

I've used Nikon Scan for years, but with mixed results with traditional b&w. I haven't used Vuescan

much so far, but I want to give it a fair try. However, I can't figure out, for the life of me, how to have

the program automatically generate successive numbers for batch scans. It keeps asking me if I want to

"overwrite" existing files with the same name. I'm sorry, I just don't get it. And the "instructions" are

anything but helpful.

My scanner is Nikon LS 4000, and my system is Mac OS 10.3. I'd greatly appreciate some help.

Thanks.

Hi Bernard,

I'd say more about this but I'm not at home at the moment with my notes. In the meantime, here's the batch scanning faq: http://www.hamrick.com/bat.html

Here's the specific piece about file names:

Choosing file names

VueScan can save you a lot of time by automatically naming the files that get written. For instance, if a file name in the Output tab is something like "crop0001+.jpg", then VueScan will try to create the next file in the sequence crop0001.jpg, crop0002.jpg, etc.

If you're scanning large numbers of images, put something meaningful in the first part of the file name (like the date taken, or the venue of the images) and put "0001+" at the end of the file name.

--Phil

And, if you're batch scanning from Vuescan raw files with a series of names starting with:

roll001-01

Naming your output file:

roll001-01=

Will make the files follow that pattern. With this setup, you can jump around, the output file names are not sequential, just equal to the raw suffix number.

There is also a convention for using wild cards. I haven't used it in a while, I tend to work with one roll at a time, and have sort-of forgotten how it works. My last entry in http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00ECru summarizes my take on it.