Speed

[jdpmus]

When I scan slides of similar quality (lighting, etc.) it sometimes takes a brief amount of time for the scanning process to finish (under 2 minutes). However, I also have issues with some scans from the same batch taking up to 3-4 times as long. They are in the same orientation and nothing has been changed in the software between scans.

Am i doing something wrong, or is this normal.

I'm using a Mac with 4GB memory, OS X 10.10.3, and saving to a SSD.

Thank you

[LSI_Ketelhohn]

Dear customer,

The scan time itself only depends on the set resolution.
If the scan itself is slower it would point towards a slow connection.

The time of the processing depends on the chosen tools and the available memory.
Additional tools will cause a longer processing time.
It is also possible SilverFast could be running out of memory.
In that case it would swap to the hard drive which is slightly slower.
This especially can be the case if other load intensive software like other imaging software is active.


Kind regards,
Arne Ketelhohn.

[jdpmus]

Thanks for the response. Let me be more specific.

I'm using only two plug-ins from SilverFast: GANE and the infrared dust elimination. I do any manipulation externally in Photoshop. The scanning resolution is always set the same, 3600 dpi saving as psd files (I have the same problem when saving to either TIFF or JPG). I do a pre-scan first in order to set orientation, cropping, etc. As for equipment, i have a 7200 rpm hard drive that is fairly new and I save to an external SSD. The "processing" and "saving" times seem to be the same. My issue is with the initial scan and the subsequent scan for the infrared. Sometimes the scan graph runs very quickly and other times it is very slow.

Any help or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.

[LSI_Ketelhohn]

Dear customer,

If the scan itself is slower then it probably is a connection issue of some kind.
The scan speed only depends on the scan resolution.
If it suddenly is slower it must be due to an issue delivering the data.
Either the USB connection or writing the cache data to the hard drive is slowing down.
Make sure the scanner is connected directly to your computer.
Do not use a USB hub or extension cable.
Make sure the bus is not under heavy use, for example because the target drive is connected to the same USB bus.

Kind regards,
Arne Ketelhohn.

[jdpmus]

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'm not using a hub; the PlusTek scanner is connected directly to the computer via its USB cable. I will try plugging the scanner into the other remaining USB port and see if that makes a difference.

The SSD I am writing to is connected to the FireWire port on the Mac. However, I will plug it directly into the FireWire port rather than having it in sequence with another external drive and see if that helps.

Thanks again.