single or multiple scanner profile

[morocco]

through searching photo.net, i understand the importance of creating

a profile for my film scanner (canoscan fs4000). i scan some

slides, but mainly color and black and white negatives. i have read

in many sources that it is difficult or impossible to have a color

managed environment with negatives. so...

 

if i create a canoscan 4000 profile using a kodak ektachrome IT8

target, is this profile only applicable to the specific film type,

or should/could it also be used for scanning negatives or other

makers slide film (with improvement over using no profile)?

 

digital light and color has available on their website

their "standard" profile for the canoscan 4000 (without reference to

how they generated this profile). should this be used for all my

film type?

 

i use vuescan to scan my film. with vuescan you may create and use

a scanner profile AND ALSO you can create and use a film profile. i

film couldn't be part of a color managed workflow, no?

 

somebody, please help clear this up.

 

thank you.

[steven_clark]

With a proper reference file any old IT8 target can be used to create a scanner profile. This profile should be accurate enough (in some cases films with diferrent primary dyes may be less acccurate with this profie but buying targets for everyu dye family gets expensive). This however won't compensate for the color characteristics of films or digital cameras. From here you take a picture of a camera target (Wolf Faust sells these as well as slide targets) on the film and profile that image, this is the Vuescan film profile.

[roger_smith4]

I use Vuescan with the same scanner.

 

"if i create a canoscan 4000 profile using a kodak ektachrome IT8 target, is this profile only applicable to the specific film type, or should/could it also be used for scanning negatives or other makers slide film (with improvement over using no profile)?

 

digital light and color has available on their website their "standard" profile for the canoscan 4000 (without reference to how they generated this profile). should this be used for all my film type? "

 

I've found the DL&C profile useless in that the "built-in" Vuescan profile works better.

 

If you make a profile for slide film using the Kodak target it should work reasonably well across Kodak slide films. I don't shoot much Kodak, so I bought the Fuji Provia/Sensia target and use that. When I scanned Elitechrome 100 using the Fuji profile, the colors were a little off but easily correctable, and better than "built-in".

 

When scanning negative film, keep scanner profile set to "built-in." The auto white balance does an okay job. Manually finding a neutral area (right-click) also does well to set the overall color balance.

 

If you don't know what is neutral to click on, try shooting a white piece of paper with flash. That will be pretty close to neutral mid-day sun (although possibly slightly cool). Keep those color settings and you can see what's on the film.

 

You don't need color management for B&W negatives. Just scan as film type "default color negative" and improve it in Photoshop.