LaserSoft Imaging

I have an Epson Expression 1600, and I purchased both IT8 targets, transparency and reflective. I calibrated with both, and calibration is enabled on both settings, but I'm not sure if Silverfast is using both calibrations or just one of them. I couldn't find anything in the manual or online that tells you how to calibrate if you use the calibration for both reflective and tranparency. Does anyone know about this?

Very simple, if you are in the SilverFast CMS dialog (Options-button > CMS) you select "scanner->internal = calibration"; with this entry you only instruct the software that you want to use the existing SilverFast IT8 calibration profile. SilverFast recognizes by itself which of the profiles to use, because in the SilverFastAi Window > General > "Original" you determined whether you scan with the reflective or with the transparency unit.

Kohler,

Thank you for your prompt response. I assumed Silverfast was intelligent enough to do this, but since it wasn't in the manual, I just wanted to confirm. Thank you,

Ian

How good is, or how bad it can get, the IT8 calibration using Kodak's Q60 Ektachrome target in case Silverfast v5.x is used for scanning Kodachrome 25/64 slides?

My own experience, and I use Nikon Coolscan III, is utterly disastrous if the slides are slightly underexposed. On the other hand, Nikon Scan v3.1 produces passable scans, even though this software is generally inferior to SF.

Another question, previously submitted to info@silverfast.de and to which I got no reply:

why my attempts to calibrate SF v5.2.1r08 for Nikon Coolscan III do end in failure?

On a new HP Vectra VL800 1.3 GHz Win 2K Pro machine with 640 MB of Rambus memory, I first install the original SF v5, from the CD-ROM, then I upgrade the installation using the downloaded SF_E-5.2.1r08.exe. Next I attempt IT8 calibration, but it fails while scanning the gray scale, reporting, and showing, incorrectly placed selection border (the left-hand marquee border is aligned with the left edge of the brightest square of the gray scale); after I click Cancel, the marquee, strangely enough, jumps back to the proper position that was initially selected. Several subsequent attempts to calibrate fail in the same way.

Let me add that calibtations of SF v4.x and v5.2.0r01 on my old Win 98 machine went smoothly.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Tomaz Klinc on 2001-08-03 10:27 ]</font>

I'm not sure about your questions, but the IT8 upgrade is definitely worth it. As well as calibrating the colors, it really seems to make the scans more detailed especially in the shadows and highlights. I guess the calibration makes the software more able to recognize the subtle differences in the same color. It makes the biggest impact when scanning film, especially negatives.

When making the frame selection for calibration, please make sure to exclude the brightest and the darkest square of the grayscale bar. Also, make sure you do not have the gray border of the target inside your frame selection (you can even cut a little bit into the colors). If this still does not work, please e-mail us a screenshot of your target in the pre-scan window and your frame selection.

Okay, I'll do it and send you a screenshot if it doesn't work.

Another question: NegFix, launched with great fanfare the other day, seems not to be available for Nikon Coolscans. Does this mean that LasetSoft is still struggling with scanning negatives with Nikon scanners?

Tomaz,
We are not struggling with Nikon, we are still working on several brands of scanners. Have no fear that we will have your scanner fully supported very soon.

Paul, as you know, in SF for Nikon scanners, up to the latest available version 5.2x, the Film Type and Exposure drop-down menu, described on p. 118 of SF Manual,is disabled, without a word of warning in Nikon Supplement documentation.

SilverFast Ai 5.5 for Nikon LS2000, LS30, LS4000, LS40 will be released within the next few days and the the new negative function (NegaFix) full active!

Mr. Prez, is there or not a bug in SF_E-5.2.1r08(NikonM).exe that prevents me to perform IT8 calibration? If it is, do you plan to fix it, or should I rather follow RogerMilerPhoto (see his today's post in IT8 Calibration error thread) and upgrade to v5.5?

Hi Tomaz
Like you I am using my Coolscan III with SF_E-5.2.1ro8; see my posts in this forum on the cropping and focussing bugs that this "upgrade" have introduced into what was my stable and productive system which I use commercially to prepare hundreds of slide scans each year for catalogue work.
Why should we have to pay to upgrade to 5.5 in order to remedy bugs introduced by 5.2.1ro8?
I like the product a lot but judging by the experience of other posters to this forum I am beginning to wonder whether it is worth sticking with it.
John

JRenton, I agree; if there's a bug there, they should fix it first, before asking to pay for another upgrade. It's strange that nobody from LSI bothered to answer above questions. I'm not a pro, only an amateur, but I know what I'm doing, and not about to throw money away.

John,


If you have not already deleted the previous version for the Nikon it might be worth reinstalling it so that you can get back to normal productivity levels; at least until LaserSoft have identified the source of your problem.

Ian



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ilyons on 2001-08-10 19:38 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ilyons on 2001-08-10 19:40 ]</font>

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: ilyons on 2001-08-10 19:42 ]</font>