Best Scanner Settings for PL4

[Joanna (Joanna Carter)]

@mikemyers

In VueScan’s support information, it said most problems go away be setting VueScan to the “default options”, so I tried that. I also changed the Options from “Professional” to "Standard, dropped the scan resolution from 3200 to 1600, and made sure B/W negative was selected. I don’t think I did anything else - I just wanted to see if VueScan worked at all. It took forever, and eventually created JPG scans in my main “Pictures” folder.

So, I did it all over again, directing the new images to go into a “Negative Scans” folder under neath my “Pictures Folder”. I set the file type to “TIFF”. This time the scanning went much faster, and while it made two files each for two of my negatives, I was pleased I got that far. I never tried to crop the preview scans - I will do that next time.

Well, I got out my (unregistered) copy of VueScan to see how I would set it up.

First, I use the Professional mode and here are my Input settings for scanning a 5"x4" neg…

The output settings are equally important…

For a 5"x4" neg, at 2400ppi, this gives me a file size of 196MB and is the equivalent of a 98Mpx digital camera! For printing at 240ppi, this gives me a possible print size of up to 50" x 40" without interpolation.

And, of course, the higher the resolution, the longer it takes to scan, because it seems that VueScan does the whole scanning area, not just the cropped area

@mikemyers

What is the best way to clean off negatives? I think I will try a brush. I think that’s what I used a lifetime ago, when I was a kid. I vaguely remember “a special lint free cloth”, but that doesn’t sound right. Or I could use a spray can of compressed air?

Cleaning negs is always a nightmare unless you live in a vacuum or in the shower room with the shower running. Even the dust from your hair can find your way onto the neg after you have cleaned it. Don’t used compressed air cans because they can contain propellant which can come out in microscopic droplets. I use a rocket blower and lint-free cloth myself.

Best to just anticipate long hours spent spotting the scanned files.

For scanning 35mm film, here is a table of scanning resolution, digital equivalent and possible print size without interpolation…

@mikemyers

Is 1600 dpi too small? My gut feeling is to do 3200 universally

By the way, dpi is a term only properly used for printer resolution. For computer manipulation, it should always be ppi, even though a lot of software uses the wrong term.

Resolution	Mpx equivalent	Print size
2400	8.5Mpx	15" x 10"
3200	15Mpx	20" x 13"
4800	34.5Mpx	30" x 20"

I don’t know what the file sizes are likely to be but, needless to say, with a 16bit TIFF file, they are not going to be as light as RAW

@mikemyers

Am I correct that once I make the images into TIFF images, PL4 will have no idea what camera was used, but will it accept TIFF images if it balks at DNG? Or will it refuse to open them, as it’s looking for a supported camera?

PL balks at some DNG files because they are not “real” RAW files, just containers for a TIFF or other format.

With the settings I show in my screenshots, I got a (large) positive and reversed TIFF that PL opened without any problem in PL4.

@mikemyers

I’m sure Joanna’s view camera isn’t in the supported camera list…

What! they don’t support a Rodenstock 210mm lens?

Anyway, here’s a screenshot of PL4 with the resulting scan, just to prove it does work…

Now, let the spotting begin

[mikemyers]

@Joanna

And, of course, the higher the resolution, the longer it takes to scan, because it seems that VueScan does the whole scanning area, not just the cropped area

My settings are very much like yours, but set for 35mm negatives. One thing though VueScan is supposed to scan ONLY the image area, not the surrounding area - according to the PDF file explaining how to use it. Somehow I got that wrong, as my images were all surrounded by “extra” stuff.

I suspect I need to set the file size for the scanned image to 24x36mm, or a tiny fraction larger, but I haven’t yet tried that - maybe I’ll do it right now.

@Joanna

Cleaning negs is always a nightmare unless you live in a vacuum or in the shower room with the shower running.

Last night I used one of those micro-fibre cloths for cleaning eyeglasses - worked fine. Hardly any “debris” left.

@Joanna

PL balks at some DNG files because they are not “real” RAW files, just containers for a TIFF or other format.

Somehow I fixed that - I should copy my settings here. PL4 then accepted the TIFF files I created.

[mikemyers]

Which led to this - I had to manually set the crop area:

And after scanning:

So I clicked “Save”.

And got this:

2021-02-25-0001.tif (33.1 MB)

[mikemyers]

Oops, after all that, it failed. Somehow it created a ‘dog’ and not a standard ‘TIFF file’.

Back tp the drawing board…

[mikemyers]

Fixed - somehow “Professional Mode” got turned off. I turned it back on, and put a check next to Tiff File, and it worked.

When it’s all done, I guess I don’t need to click on SAVE - I’ve been doing that, with the result being that I get two saved copies of the same image.

Joanna, the crop area is now pretty close to what I wanted. I selected 24x36 for image size, but it changed that.

Ignore the image - I cut it off the negative strip, and it was destined for the waste basket, but I figured I would use it for today’s testing.

Hopefully there is a way to save my settings, so VueScan doesn’t change them on me. Need to search for a way to do that.

Added later - while I intended to dump the negative in the garbage, I figured why not play with it for a while. Now it really does look like something I photographed when I was a kid!

[zkarj (macOS, PLe+FP+VP, Pentax)]

@Joanna

I don’t know what the file sizes are likely to be but, needless to say, with a 16bit TIFF file, they are not going to be as light as RAW

Looking at my recent work (all 16-bit samples with Zip compression):
4800 dpi B&W ~= 39 MB
4800 dpi colour ~= 110 MB

The colour ones are highly variable going up to 171 MB in a couple of cases. Busy scenes will not compress as well as sky vistas!

[hintoneast (Ken @ Canadian Rockies)]

Yes, I also scan my old slides using 4800 dpi. The files average 156 megs. I don’t want to ever have to go back and rescan, clean and size - if I want to print one. So, I’m almost done my 4,000 slides.

Epson 4990 Photo scanner
Always saved to 16 bit Tiff’s

[sarahtmonroe]

I think that it is great that you found on YouTube video that can guide you through the process.

[mikemyers]

Assuming you are talking to me, much of what I now understand about scanning has already come from @Joanna.

I don’t know that I am looking for a replacement for VueScan - I need to set it up again, and if it works, I don’t know why I might want to use something different.

I have my film cameras, and I have film, but people in this forum seem to feel I would be distracting myself from what I really need to be doing, accomplish my best with digital.

Whether or not I feel I have a good handle on “the basics”, I may not ever feel that way. When I do the best I know how, and post images here, there are always good suggestions on how to improve those images. While I appreciate the help, I also wonder why I didn’t notice this for myself.

I do want to be able to scan again, and my old software didn’t work the last time I tried. Maybe a better option for me would be to replace my Epson Perfection V500 Photo scanner. Maybe.

[stuck (Canon, PL7 on Win 10 + GTX 1050ti)]

@mikemyers the two posts from ‘sarahtmonroe’ have all the hallmarks of a spammer / spambot.

The first one is a post to an old topic that doesn’t make any sense in the context of the topic as I don’t think anyone in the topic mentioned finding a YouTube tutorial.

The second post more on-topic but its sole purpose is to advertise ‘Smart Engines’ since I don’t think anyone in this topic has actually said they were looking for an alternative to VueScan.

[mikemyers]

Thank you - oops, I fell for it. Things did seem a little strange.

I guess I’m too trusting…

Thanks!

[Joanna (Joanna Carter)]

@mikemyers

Maybe a better option for me would be to replace my Epson Perfection V500 Photo scanner

Why? it’s a perfectly good scanner, only made better by the addition of a Better Scanning mount Film Holder Holders and Products for the Epson V500.

As for software, I have never had a problem with the Epson software.

[cohen5538 (Doron)]

@Joanna

As for software, I have never had a problem with the Epson software

Same for me
Epson Scan & Epson V700 scanner.
I’m not sure how much it’s superior over the V500… the V700 native resolution is about 2300 dpi. Although you can scan in higher resolution, effectively you will not get better resolution in the file (just bigger file) see here:
https://www.filmscanner.info/en/EpsonPerfectionV700Photo.html
The claimed maximum resolution of 6400 dpi is higher than in most film scanners. But how much does the Epson Perfection V700 Photo really reach? In a test scan of an USAF test chart the horizontal lines of the element 5.3 and the vertical lines of the element 5.5 can yet still be differentiated. The result is therefore an actual resolution of only about 2300 dpi. That’s less than 40% of the cl…

aimed resolution. The scan of a 35mm-slide or

[mikemyers]

For ages, I used the V500 with Epson software, on my Windows computers, then on my Mac. All was well.

Then when Apple went to 16-bit software, Epson never updated their software, so I switched to VueScan and life was good again.

Something broke, so I’m back at square one. I have downloaded the latest VueScan software, but it didn’t seem to be connecting to the scanner - if I remember correctly, I need a new ‘driver’.

I’ve been putting this off, but I will try again to get things working as they should. Yes, I like the V500, and Epson really screwed a lot of people by not updating their software for the new Mac OS.

For image scanning, I use my Plustek Scanner, which I think is still working. Haven’t used it in a while. But I also need my flatbed scanner every so often - I’m tired of taking photos of things with my iPhone and importing those images into my computer.

[Prem (Win11, Sony a99, PL, FP, VP.)]

@Mike, if you go into your browser and enter: “Epsom Perfection V500 downloads” there are several software updates. The latest, being August last year. Hope that helps.

[mikemyers]

Thank you! …but I just got off the phone with Epson Tech Support, and they tell me the V500 is incompatible with the new Apple OS, but the V600 is. I have a relative with a V600, not being used.

In the meantime, my plan is to get the V500 to work again with VueScan.

I pretended to be a lot more upset than I really was. VueScan is a better software product.

[Prem (Win11, Sony a99, PL, FP, VP.)]

Sorry @Mike. Being a Windows man I wasn’t sure.

[Sparky2006 (Chuck)]

Have you contacted the VueScan people for support?

[mikemyers]

Yes, I did get VueScan to work with my Plustek, but now I want to scan some paper documents on my Epson. I just need a free evening, to go through the whole process again, starting with the V500. I need to make it more of a priority.

[Joanna (Joanna Carter)]

Try using the macOS Preview app or Image Capture, which can import from scanners.