LaserSoft Imaging

Im new with silverfast Plus 8
Im trying to scan multiple films some of which are much darker than others.
When I scan the darker ones look completely white washed.
It s almost as if the automatic adaptive exposure is not set.

Hi norris

Some pictures might help illustrate, also information like: the scanner you are using, material scanned (slides, negatives, reflective), as well as the SilverFast version and operating system could help us understand a bit better the situation.

Cheers

Sorry . I use V700 Epson with Silverfast Plus 8.0 ( 64 bit )
My negatives are mid format and around 40 years old.
They look almost black. ( opaque )
Im sure they have color shifted over the years and that the dynamic range has shrunk considerably.
I have uploaded two scans here ( Originals were TIFFs - picasa converted them to jpegs ) : https://picasaweb.google.com/rajesh3456 ... directlink
What is the best way to scan such negatives in Silverfast ?
How can I change teh Hardware exposure in Silverfast so as to match the dynamic range of the negatives ? ( rather than letting software part of silverfast doing it )

Hi Norris

I've seen the pictures. In fact the negatives must be almost black, which make look you images as fading away.

norris_watkins wrote:How can I change teh Hardware exposure in Silverfast so as to match the dynamic range of the negatives ? ( rather than letting software part of silverfast doing it )

The hardware exposure can only be changed in industrial drum scanners and just very few professional scanners. However SilverFast provides a tool named Multi-Exposure.

If you activate Multi-Exposure and scan your negatives in 48 bit HDR, you will be able to obtain the maximum dynamic range of your scanner and might be able to rescue some faded details.

Bear in mind that this type of files are scanner raw files, it means, they are unmodified files. You will have to open them in an editing application and apply a gamma correction as well as the rest of the tweaking to darken the result.
SilverFast HDR automatically applies the gamma correction, so you just have to make the rest of the adjustments with the histogram.

Cheers

Thank you Alejandro :

Will you please confirm that Silverfast controls teh scanner exposure only in HDR mode ( and not in regular mode ) ?
Also how will I know if Silverfast is able to controll my scanner exposure ? ( Will Silverfast disable ME, if teh scanner does not allow software to change its exposure )

Here is my pre scan in stages
https://picasaweb.google.com/rajesh3456 ... directlink
As you can see it is all white washed and useless. How exactly am I supposed to scan these ? ( after first controlling histogram )

What is totally surprising is that, yesterday after reading you post, I did some ME scanning, and it came out very well ( even at prescan ). I mean initially it came white washed just like teh above one. But when I clicked 'Auto CCR' after zooming each frame, picture just jumped out. And the final scan was also much better than an earlier scan I had done by changing the Shadow slider at teh Histogram

Thanks once again for the very knowledgeable answers

Hi norris

norris_watkins wrote:Will you please confirm that Silverfast controls teh scanner exposure only in HDR mode ( and not in regular mode ) ?

It's not completely correct. You can activate Multi-Exposure also in regular mode.

norris_watkins wrote:Also how will I know if Silverfast is able to controll my scanner exposure ? ( Will Silverfast disable ME, if teh scanner does not allow software to change its exposure )

You are the one who manually turns Multi-Exposure on and off by clicking the button for that purpose.

According to the screenshots you have sent, you are still scanning in 8 bit greyscale (16-8 greyscale), and are not using Multi-Exposure.

Since SilverFast is designed to save time in the prescan, you do not actually see exactly the same as if you had prescan with Multi-Exposure active.

For that you will have to open the "preferences" dialogue / "special" tab and activate the option "Multi-Exposure preview"



Accept and close the preferences dialogue.

Now activate Multi-Exposure using the button at the vertical toolbar, the left of the preview window.

After that you will have to make a new prescan, and make your adjustments with the new prescan.

Kind regards