What flavoring of SF to buy

[heinz]

I have some 60's/70's era Kodachrome slides and negative strips I want to digitize.

I simply want to peserve them and have them look as good (or as bad) as they do in their original format. I want to use the images for some printing but expect I'll use them mostly in slide-shows that will be viewed on a 50-60" HDTV and also on my 23 and 30" Apple display monitors, I.e. 2560x1600.

Have scanned some with Nikon Scan 4 and also bought Vue-Scan. Then I ran accross SilverFast, can't even recall where, and my spirits have lifted dramatically. Have only done one close scrutinity comparison sofar but am very encouraged. Will be doing some re-scanning this weekend to see if I can improve on the original Nikon scans.

My equipment is a dual G5/Tiger with the Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED.

I have basically 2 questions: size to save my images in with SF and which SF to buy. I'll only be scanning to disk right now but I want the image to be sufficient so that I can use it in future for what might come up. I know I can't cover the unknown of the future but am looking for a reasonable compromise.

I was thinking of 400dpi and a size of 2560x1600 pixels, safed as tiff. Am I anywhere's near the right track? Hard disk space is not an issue. (Within reason).

Even though I consider myself a beginner, or worse, I do appreciate quality, which sofar has eluded me. I don't need to spend additional extra money but also want to be sure I spend enough not to be dissapointed again )

Do I need SF Ai Studio? SF Ai? or will SF SE Plus give me what I need? I.e. I only want to scan once if possible.

Sorry to be so long-winded but I'm currently rather discouraged, I.e. my transparancies look better when projected on the wall then when displayed on my Apple display after being scanned with Nikon Scan

Thanks in advance for comments and suggestions.

Heinz

P.S. Not knocking Nikon Scan, just looking for/hoping for better.

Update:
Been doing more reading and I think I found my answer to the "what to buy" question. Seems the Super Coolscan is only supported in Ai/Ai Studio. Now I just have to convince myself to risk $400 more in my quest to digitize my early years

[RAG]

Hallo Heinz,

Before you spend anymore money on equipment, I recommend spending a little money on the "SilverFast: Official Guide". It will provide you with information on resolution that will help, and tell you what sorts of things you are able to do with SilverFast. Once you understand these things you will be able to pick a scanner with more confidence.

Hope this helps!

[heinz]

Scanner I have, I.e. Nikon Super Coolscan 4000. I'm now after what I need to get best possible scan with/from my transparencies. The software included by Nikon is not bad, but not great either as lots of fussing is required and that's where I lack experience so I'm hoping for SilverFast to in effect provide some of that experience through automation.

Hopefully I'm on an acceptable track, but please tell me if I'm totally off base/off my rocker.

Heinz

[RAG]

heinz,

The book will help.

[heinz]

Okydoke... on order

Bug yah later.

[RAG]

Heinz,

Let me know if you find the book as helpful as I did!

[heinz]

Haven't read all of the book yet but looks encouraging.

Almost ready to plunk my money down. Last pre-buy question. Do I need the manual or quick-start hard copy extra? I assume it'll be in electronic form with the software?

Thanks

[degrub]

Do a search in newsgroup archives of Comp.peripherals.scanners with search terms nikon and kodachrome. Look particularly for posts by Kennedy

KC is tough on Nikon scanners (i've done a few). IT8 profiling helps, but is not a panacea. THe problem is the spectral response of the KC to the Nikon LEDs. That is why NikonScan has a special KC setting. Also, sometimes ICE does not work well on KC (i have only had a few problem slides). Plan on spending some time tweaking curves in PS or using expert settings in SF.

[heinz]

Thanks to all for the help. Placed my order, including the docs, just in case

I know there'll be lots of learning to do, hopefully there'll be patience and understanding when I come back with newbie questions.

[heinz]

Thought I'd take a moment to close this thread by saying thank you for the quick delivery. Got my SF6 Studio today.

Now I just have to find the time to "play"

[johndoe1962]

I am newbie and asking for advice. I applied as recruiter manager at JobQueen, they promise to pay $87,000.00/year. I would like to know how can I get quality sales reps in China. So if you want to help me out please contact me direct at my email: kimwongshu@yahoo.com

[RAG]

I am newbie and asking for advice. I applied as recruiter manager at JobQueen, they promise to pay $87,000.00/year. I would like to know how can I get quality sales reps in China. So if you want to help me out please contact me direct at my email: kimwongshu@yahoo.com

johndoe1962,

I fail to see what your question has to do with any of the subjects on this forum.

[graphics1design]

Hello,

I thought your questions and situation necessitate some direct answers on resolution quality that's appropriate for offset printing. Offset commercial printing is the highest quality medium to use for any scanned image. The rule of thumb is, 300dpi AT FINAL SIZE. So, if you ever expect to use this scan in say, a magazine, you need a 8.5x11 scan at 300dpi. If you expect to use it as a poster, 28x40 @ 300dpi, etc. Below 300 dpi, you will notice you cannot carry the detail that's available in printing.

Now also, if these are 35mm slides, or 2x2 etc, unless they are large transparencies. As these get scanned at higher and higher resolution, the graininess will begin to show you a point of no return. Where more resolution will accomplish nothing more. Generally, for magazine size, I would archive at about 45MB uncompressed Tiff. As you say disk space is no matter, then scan and archive in TIFF. I would not use Jpeg, especially if you ever edit from original scan. If you use Jpeg to archive, use highest quality possible and if ever edited, save as Tiff, never Jpeg save a Jpeg. You will degrade it allot and it's not worth it with important images you want to archive for a long time. Good luck, HTH.