Tips for scanning on an Imacon 848

[julia_edwards]

My local pro photo shop has an Imacon flextight that can be rented by

the hour and the price for the hour has just been halved so I thought

it might be a good time to take in some slides I would like to have

scanned. The scanner "guru" is apparently away for a few weeks so I

was told I will be on my own with some basic instructions. Does anyone

have some tips or hints to help me maximize my time? Are there any

settings I should be aware or careful of?

I'll be scanning a couple of hundred 35mm Velvia slides.

Thanks all.

[beepy]

The only tip I have is that it is generally considered good form to turn off sharpening in

scanner and to do sharpening post-scanning in, say, Photoshop.

<p>

Interestingly, the Imacon software (FlexColor) setting of '0' does not turn off sharpening:-)

While not near my scanner, I believe a value of '-200' turns off sharpening.

<p>

At least you want to be aware of this to not "capture sharpen" twice.

[marco_buonocore]

Julia,

 

As beepy? mentioned, turning sharpening off is important. I find the flextight software a bit arcane, and finding out how to turn in the sharpening off is controlled by clicking on a green arrow and then on the on/off symbol. Ask someone at the shop if it doesn't jump out at you.

 

Also note that every time you switch film profiles, the sharpening is reset to 'on'. I guess the resolution is also reset back to 300dpi.

 

Other advice would be to ensure you don't clip the shadows or highlights. Adjust the histogram sliders so you get all the detail. For me the goal is to grab as much information as possible, and then adjust contrast, etc... in Photoshop at home.

 

Take the time to dust your negs/slides. I use compressed air, but do whatever works. It pays to be thorough. I'm in the middle of an epic healing brush campaign on a 3200dpi scan on a 645 neg right now, and it's god awful. It'll save you heaps of time if you're careful when you scan.

 

Consider at what resolution you want to scan at. I routinely scan my personal work at the highest resolution, as I like to make big prints. But if I'm doing headshots, do they need more than 11x14? Probably not. Also, do you need to scan 16bit? For my own work, it's a resounding yes, but for an 8x10 headshot? Up to you, I suppose.

 

I rent by the hour as well, and I'm pretty broke all the time, so I want to maximize my time. I have my negs organized in a binder before heading off to the shop, in order of importance. Every time I have a full CD worth, I'll burn it while I'm waiting for a scan to finish. Make sure you've got enough storage media with you. It doesn't hurt to open up important scans in photoshop before assuming the scan went swimmingly. Make sure you're scanning at the resolution you think you are.

 

Anyways - sorry for the blathering nature of this post, but my head is fried from photoshop at the moment. Kind of wish I was in the darkroom, as a matter of fact.

 

Good luck!