Dark scans from Epson V750

[scott_gardner7]

<p>I recently bought an Epson V750 Pro-M flatbed scanner, and I'm having an issue that I suspect is "user error" that hopefully someone can help with:<br>

Scanning B&W 120 film using Epson Scan in "Professional Mode". No color correction, ICE, dust removal, unsharp mask or anything like that selected. The negatives look nice; not too thin, not too dense, with good contrast. I select "film with holder" and "B&W negative", do the preview scan and then the actual scan. I'm scanning at 3200dpi and 48-bit color, and saving as a .TIFF<br>

The resulting scans look dark and have low contrast. When I open them in Photoshop, the entire histogram is down in the 0-60 range, rather than occupying most of the 0-255 range. <br>

If I adjust the levels in Photoshop (and sometimes add a little bit of contrast), the end results are actually very good, so I think the information is making it from the negative to the scan. I'd just feel better if the scans weren't so dark, with everything compressed into the bottom fifth of the histogram.<br>

Any ideas? I'd like to play around with the "auto exposure" feature of the scanner, but for some reason, that button doesn't always seem to be available.</p>

[custom film holders for fl]

<p>Simple stuff to start - Do you have the white insert removed from the lid of the scanner? Do you have the film holder correctly placed on the scanner and not riding up on the sides or turned 180 degrees wrong? Are you sure you are keeping the calibration gap/cutout at the top of the holder completely clear (no excess film flowing over, etc.) so that the scanner can calibrate correctly? Have you gone into Professional Mode, unchecked thumbnail and then manually drawn the cropping marquee to just the area you want scanned?</p>

[scott_gardner7]

<p>Thanks for the reply. First off, I should have mentioned that I'm using one of your adjustable film holders with the ANR inserts (I'm assuming you're THAT Doug Fisher :) ). I'm careful to keep the holder aligned correctly, and since the Epson Scan can recognize and properly frame the images, I think I have that part right. The white insert is out of the lid. The film strips I'm placing in the holder are only 2 or 3 exposures (6x7) long, so they fit completely within the channel with no overhang.<br /><br />I haven't unchecked "thumbnail" and drawn my own marquees yet, since I've been happy with how the software is recognizing and framing the individual exposures on its own. But if it could make a difference, I'll give it a try.</p>

[custom film holders for fl]

<p>Ok, just to emphasize that it is real important you have the calibration gap toward the top of the scanner bed (hinge end) and that you keep the side of the film holder lined up straight with the top and side of the bed of the scanner<br>

Here are more detailed instructions on manual cropping:<br>

http://www.betterscanning.com/scanning/batchscanning.html<br>

Also, auto calibration seems to work best when you have your first frame of your film lined up at the top of the film channel. Some people just stick the film anywhere in the film channel (e.g. the middle so there is a large blank space on either side of the film) but that blank space can throw the software's "guess" off a bit.<br>

Email me directly if you continue to have issues. Thanks.</p>

[bwbob]

<p>Uncheck your thumbnail and use the marquis tool to outline your negative. The image should brighten up. Then press Zoom for final cropping prior to scanning. That works fine for me on a V500. Good luck</p>

[jmlphotography]

<p>I'm new to this as well, but shouldn't B&Ws be scanned with the 16 bit grayscale setting? I've also been told to use 2400dpi. But as I said, I'm just learning.</p>

[scott_gardner7]

<p>Making some progress. I found that the reason none of the adjustments were available (autoexposure, histogram exposure, etc) was that I had "no color correction" selected. I switched over to using the .icc profile I had created for the scanner and those adjustments became available.</p>

<p><br /> Also, I think the negatives may have been slightly underexposed and/or underdeveloped. I scanned some older negatives using the same settings as the problem negatives, and they had a much wider dynamic range. So my "problem" might not have been entirely with the scanner or software in the first place.</p>

<p><br /> I could scan in greyscale, but right now I'm scanning in RGB, picking which of the three color channels is sharpest and then discarding the other two. So the image still ends up as 16-bit greyscale after all is said and done.</p>

<p><br />2400dpi is probably plenty but I haven't had time to sit down and compare the results, so I'm erring on the side of caution right now and scanning at the higher resolution.</p>

<p>Thanks for all the replies - there's definitely a learning curve, but I'm getting there.</p>

[ellis_vener_photography]

Try this: when looking at the histogram in the scanning software you are using, drag the endpoint a down to just about 5

points beyond the end of the "mountain range" shape. Doing this simple step will uncompress the dynamic range so that

it goes across the entire across the entire dynamic range of your chosen bit depth. By keeping the end points at 0 and

255 you are filling a lot of the scans bit range with no data. Do not touch the midpoint slider. Also you want to not do any sharpening at the scanning stage.

 

You do want to output with 16 bits per channel stead of 8 bits.

 

It's okay if your scan looks flat when you initially open it in Photoshop: you can add contrast later. At the beginning and for as long as possible you want to conserve and preserve as much information as possible for as long as possible.