[SilverFast SE] scanned B&W negs come out black

[A.Translator]

Can someone point me to a good tutorial on scanning B & W negatives?
The manual and help seem to concentrate on colour.

I am trying to scan old B & W negs, select the film in the window that pops up (mostly Kodak Tri-X and Ilford fp 4), and scan the selected frame.

But when I open it up in Photoshop, all I see is a pitch black rectangle.
All help will be greatly appreciated.

--
Regards, Adriana.

[RAG]

Check out Ian Lyons tutorial on scanning negatives. His example uses a film scanner, but other than that the process is the same for B&W negatives. It is recommended that you scan them as color because it provides you with three channels of information Vs one if you scan as B&W.

Ian Lyons - Scanning negatives using NegaFix
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/sf5-ne ... egafix.htm

Other tips and tutorials
http://www.silverfast.com/show/sf-onlin ... ws/en.html

[A.Translator]

Check out Ian Lyons tutorial on scanning negatives. His example uses a film scanner, but other than that the process is the same for B&W negatives. It is recommended that you scan them as color because it provides you with three channels of information Vs one if you scan as B&W.

Ian Lyons - Scanning negatives using NegaFix
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/sf5-ne ... egafix.htm

Other tips and tutorials
http://www.silverfast.com/show/sf-onlin ... ws/en.html

thanks very much!

Just the scanning as color tip is useful in itself.
I will check out the tut's.

[A.Translator]

Check out Ian Lyons tutorial on scanning negatives. His example uses a film scanner, but other than that the process is the same for B&W negatives. It is recommended that you scan them as color because it provides you with three channels of information Vs one if you scan as B&W.

Ian Lyons - Scanning negatives using NegaFix
http://www.computer-darkroom.com/sf5-ne ... egafix.htm

Other tips and tutorials
http://www.silverfast.com/show/sf-onlin ... ws/en.html

thanks very much!

Just the scanning as color tip is useful in itself.
I will check out the tut's.

I had a look at the tut's, but they are all about colour negs as well.

Perhaps I had a start if someone could tell me what causes my scanned negative to be turned out as completeley black? What could cause that?

[RAG]

What type of scanner are you using, and did you change the settings on the general tab to "transparency" and "negative"?

The basic steps for scanning B&W negatives are the same as those for color.

Are you saying that color negatives don't show up as solid black when you scan them?

[A.Translator]

What type of scanner are you using, and did you change the settings on the general tab to "transparency" and "negative"?

The basic steps for scanning B&W negatives are the same as those for color.

Are you saying that color negatives don't show up as solid black when you scan them?

I am using a Canon Flatbed 8400F.
I had set the general tab to transparency and negative.
After that a negfix windows pops up, where I choose the film used.
The negs show up all right in the preview window, but after they get scanned and saved in tif format, all I see is a black rectangle.

I have not tried colour negs (haven't got any!) and the same black and white negs get scanned all rigth with Canons own software - but since I hear SilverFast is so much better, I want to learn to use that.

Thanks for your time.

[RAG]

Have you downloaded and installed the latest version of SilverFast for your scanner?

[A.Translator]

Have you downloaded and installed the latest version of SilverFast for your scanner?

I am using the SilverFast software that came with the Canoscan 8400F.

I have the feeling the problem is in the NegFix feature and will experiment some more today.

[RAG]

Using the serial number from your version you may download and install the latest update of SilverFast SE for your scanner. You may find the new version has performance updates.

[A.Translator]

Using the serial number from your version you may download and install the latest update of SilverFast SE for your scanner. You may find the new version has performance updates.

I updated without problems to version 6.4.3r9. The first preview did not show anything until I pushed the NegFix slider al the way to the right. this was with the preset film profile (Kodat Tri-X). The scanned result was better in the sense that a picture was produced, not just a black rectangle.

The films were developed too 'hard', with too much contrast, perhaps that causes the problem.