LaserSoft Imaging

Hello,
I have what I hope is a simple question. I am going to be purchasing silverfast ai studio and I have a question concerning what I think you call it8 calibration. If I want to calibrate my Nikon Coolscan 5000 with your software and I am using Fuji Astia film do I need to purchase a target that is specifically for "Fuji Astia" slide film or does it simply have to be a calibration slide for "Fuji" slide film?

Dear msheppler

The IT8 calibration is a standard for calibrating scanners. For this purpose you use a Target which includes many sqares with different colors and a greyscale. You also need a reference file which tells the software, the value every field should have. According to these values, the software compares the values delivered by the scanner while reading the target with those of the reference file and adjusts the scanner to compensate the difference between the target actual readings and the values of the reference file.

It is important that the IT8 targets and the reference files are standard compliant. There are some target manufacturers which make one of them standard compliant (usually the target) and the other one not compliant. In that way they assure that their target will be used in conjunction with their own software for the calibration (I will not mention any names for logical reasons).

So, to answer your concrete question, no, you do not need an specific "Fuji Astia" target. As a matter of fact, the IT8 targets are not sold after any specific emulsion name. Just make sure the target you buy comes with its respective reference file and they are standard compliant.

Best regards

Dear msheppler
Dear SilverFast users,

As a correction or completion to my previous posting (thanks degrub), I must mention.

There is one very precise case when a specific IT8 calibration target is required.

When scanning Kodachrome slide films, a specific Kodachrome target should be used. This, due to the fact that Kodachrome is a different slide film with a quite different physical composition and chemical processing than the rest of slide film emulsions.

In such cases, is necessary to acquire a especially created and IT8 Kodachrome targets for this purpose (so called Q 60 targets) which also have their respective reference file.

Once you have your target, the rest of the IT8 calibration process goes as usual.

Greetings

Do I correctly understand then that a Kodak or a Fuji transparency target will be fine for any type of slide film other than Kodachrome?

How about target size: if I scan 35mm, 6x7 and 6x9 on the same scanner, will I need only one target (e.g., I can use the 35mm target to calibrate, then insert 6x7 or 6x9 and scan using the calibration from the 35mm)? And on the Epson 4990, I could calibrate from the 35mm target, then scan 4x5 or 5x7 film?

Thank you!

Dear Minoltasf6,
Dear SF users

You get it right you can carry out an IT8 calibration with any Kodak of Fuji transparency target for any other type of slide different than Kodachomes.

You can also calibrate your scanner using a 35 mm slide and then scan bigger transparencies. You must wonder "then why bother spending more money in bigger targets?"
The reason for that is: the bigger the target, the more emulsion (smaller grain) for every color square's surface you have. It means the bigger the area in the CCD you will cover, hence more precise.

Another valuable tip is to warm up your scanner before calibrating it, let say 5 minutes prescan and endscans (for warming your scanner up). After this time, your scanner should be warm and the light source has reached the ideal working temperature. Then you can carry out your IT8 calibration.
Please, make sure you use the same conditions to reach the best quality when scanning your valuable material.

Greetings