LaserSoft Imaging

I am using an Epson Perfection 4990 photo scanner, with silverfast se to scan x-rays. Initaily it worked fine for the first few images. Now all I get is either a solid black or blue image with a white-out area; or a similar image but with alternating bands of black/blue and white, much like a bar code.
I don't know what film type the imaging centre use as there are many centres around.
I read the information on scanning negs using Negafix, but this was in reference to HDR. The CMS in the options window has "internal" only desplayed, with no other option.
Setting the preferences for neg transperancies in either colour or B&W does not make any difference.
Any suggestions?

Don,

Are you saying that even if you set the scan to B&W you are getting these colors?

Hi sorry for the delayed replie.
No the colour (blue) only happens in colour mode. In B&W the images are black.

Don,

Do you scan them as negative or positive transparencies?

I have tried both ways with the a similar result.

I wish I could get my hands on an x-ray to give it a try since I have the same scanner!

Got any friends with x-rays?

The funny thing is that I can scan certain x-rays; from the size of a 'thumbnail' to a long envelope 14cmx30cm with no problems usually (occasionaly it will take a few tries).

But the larger ones (the ones I need most), 24cmx30cm won't scan. I even tried to physicaly cut them down in size; turned them over, upside down, "sideways", inside out, but with the same result, a big black picture.

Don-

I have encountered a similar problem using the 4990 to scan xray films. In my case the problem arises when trying to scan a large film, or a large area of a film. Initially things are fine but then the scanner and/or software ends up generating a preview that has a double vertical line (near the centre of the scan) separating an area with appropriate contrast and and area that has such high contrast so as to be useless. No amount of fiddling about with settings can make this revert to normal. Fortunately I rarely need to scan the whole film, and by creating a cardboard mask for the area of interest I can avoid the problem (when I do that the double vertical lines and the high contrast areas are not generated). I would be interested to know whether you find the same thing, which might suggest a design flaw somewhere in the system.

Have either of you tried scanning the x-rays with Epson Scan? Doing so might help determine if the problem is hardware of software related.

dgray,

Interesting!

Can you elaborate more on your "card board mask" method. I would like to try somthing similar.

RAG,

Yes I have tried using the Epson scan softwear, it made no difference.

Sorry for the delay in responding - I have been out of town.

Before I elaborated for you on using cardboard masks I thought I should run a few most tests, and it would appear that it is not the masks that help but something rather more trivial. It seems that things go badly when the x-ray film extends all the way to the 'top' edge of the scanner surface (nearest the hinges), but if there is a gap of even half an inch or so the scanner correctly assigns the background hue of the film (in my case, the film has a blueish hue). When I was fooling around with masks I must have had a gap up there, because the mask does not help without it. The story is the same whether I use the SilverFast or the Epson software.

I would be very interested to know if introducing a gap also works for you.

Doug

dgray and Don,

I had not thought it before now, but if you look at the film holders that came with your scanners you will see a notch at one end. That notch is the registration/calibration area for the transparency unit and it may not be blocked. Don your scanner came with a flimsy full size frame that you may use as a guide. Give that a try and see if your scans aren't better.

DGRAY & RAG,

Hallelujah!

Using the film guide gives the gap and it worked just fine. Thanks guys for all your help and participation in resolving this problem.

By the way just incase anyone else is reading this; I discovered that with both silverfast, and the epson softwares, that the x-rays will NOT scan if set to black & white. The images scaned if set to transperency, positive, and colour or any of the shades of grey, but not B&W.

Don