Scanning for maximum quality

[Guest]

Could someone help me with the concept of "scanning for maximum quality printing". I have a Nikon LS-2000 which is advertised at going up to 2,700 dpi. I have therefore assumed that if I am to scan at maximum quality without any interpolation, I scan at 2,700 dpi, set the Q Factor at 1.5 and lock the output size to the same size as the 35mm original. My calculation therefore is that the maximum print size possible with the LS-2000 (without interpolation but with maximum resolution) is:

2,700dpi (capacity of scanner) x 1.35" (approx. length of inside of mounted slide)= output of 3645 pixels length and divide this by the best dpi for printing (eg. 3645/300 = 12.15").

Does this sound right?

Regards,

Eric Lawrie
http://www.andeanimages.com
eric.lawrie@andeanimages.com

[ilyons]

On 2001-09-18 19:29, Anonymous wrote:
Could someone help me with the concept of "scanning for maximum quality printing". I have a Nikon LS-2000 which is advertised at going up to 2,700 dpi. I have therefore assumed that if I am to scan at maximum quality without any interpolation, I scan at 2,700 dpi, set the Q Factor at 1.5 and lock the output size to the same size as the 35mm original. My calculation therefore is that the maximum print size possible with the LS-2000 (without interpolation but with maximum resolution) is:

2,700dpi (capacity of scanner) x 1.35" (approx. length of inside of mounted slide)= output of 3645 pixels length and divide this by the best dpi for printing (eg. 3645/300 = 12.15").

Does this sound right?

Eric,

You don't want to set the Q factor to anything but "1". It's a multiplier and is of more importance when scanning for Press output and you have a predetermined line screen value, etc. For a film scanner just choose 2700. Your calculation is based upon the assumption that Q=1.

Ian

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ilyons on 2001-09-18 19:45 ]</font>

[EricLawrie]

Ian,

Brilliant. Thanks for your quick reply. I will adjust the Q factor. Other than resetting the Q factor, I assume that the concept of scanning for maximum quality is correct.

Ian, I find your web page really excellent too. You should write a book (and sell your ideas)!

Eric Lawrie

[Reinhard Adomeit]

Does this mean: Set scale both to 100, quality to 1 and adjust the dpi-value with the control bar to i.e. 2700?

[ianders1]

Reinhard,

Yes, that's exactly right, and this applies to any version of Silverfast, at any scanner's maximum resolution. The only thing to be careful of is that Silverfast will often let you double the max resolution (using the slider) which does introduce interpolation. If you need the max resolution, though, it's much better to let Silverfast do the interpolation than to resize in Photoshop.

-Ian A.