Scanning 35mm Slides and Negatives
Scanning for Printing
on inkjet and/or laser printers
AUGUST 2004
Nicholas Hellmuth
Licensing Information
If you wish to distribute this report to other people within your company, please obtain a site licensing agreement for multiple copies from FLAAR by contacting Sheila Irving, sirving@bgnet.bgsu.edu. Substantial discounts are available for licensing to distribute within your company. The advantage of a license is that you can opt for automatic updates. You may have noticed that FLAAR reports tend to be updated as additional information becomes available.
In some instances a license would be available to distribute outside your company, including in other languages. To distribute this report without license violates federal copyright law. To avoid such violations for you, and your company, you can easily obtain additional copies from www.wide-format-printers.NET.
Caption for front cover: Heidelberg scanner for slides and negatives at FLAAR facilities in Guatemala.
Introduction Color Negatives
Scanning B&W or scanning Color to create B&W How Much DPI do you Need?
Scanning for the Internet, or for Home or Hobby? Toaster-Shaped Scanners for 35mm Slides and Negs
Older Scanners Canon Scanners 2004
CanoScan FS2720U CanoScan FS4000US Konica Minolta Scanners 2004
DiMage Scan Dual II DiMage Scan Dual III DiMage Scan Dual IV DiMage Scan Elite II DiMage Scan Elite 5400 DiMage Scan Multi Pro DiMage Scan Dual IV Nikon Scanners 2004
Nikon Coolscan V ED Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED
Auto-Loader (especially on Nikon scanners) Batch scanning is better than auto-loader General Information on Scanning and Scanners Scanning objects with relief, or 3-D objects Newton Rings from flatbed scanners Scanning into the film grain
Sweet Spot
Turnkey Systems or scanners as part of a package Using Scans on Stock Photo CDs
Kodak Photo CD
Other brands of scanners good enough for 35mm size Older models of scanners or used scanners
Umax
Epson Scanners
General Considerations
Heidelberg scanners and LinoColor software Other Scanners: the ones used by professional
prepress or photo labs Scanner Software
Data Asset Management Software Sharpening
Digital Imaging Software RGB vs CMYK
Storage of your Digital Images Where to Buy
Other FLAAR reports on scanning Training and Books
1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 8 8 9 9 9 10 10 11 11 11 12 12 13 14 14 15 15 15 15 16
Scanning 35mm Slides and Negatives Scanning for Printing
on inkjet and/or laser printers
This report covers primarily scanning of 35mm negs and slides. If you have medium format or 4x5 film to scan, please look at our separate report on scanning those sizes. Although that other report is also for pre-press users, it’s a good general introduction to what scanners are best for doing 2 1/4 inch medium format and 4x5 inch large format for photographers. Other FLAAR reports on scanners are listed on www.wide-format-printers.NET.
The FLAAR reports on scanners and scanning are brought to you as a public service by Nicholas Hellmuth and the FLAAR Digital Imaging Resource Center, Francisco Marroquín University. Research and evaluation of scanners is also undertaken by Dr Hellmuth and his staff at Bowling Green State University, Center for Applied Technology.
If you have 8mm film or movie film to scan; sorry; we don’t cover that. Those sizes are too small to enlarge and print at large format magnitude. Also, don’t cover document scanning.
If you need a document scanner (for scanning thousands of letter-size documents), that is an entirely separate kind of scanner where speed and efficiency is more important than photographic quality. Hence we do not cover document scanners at all.
If you need a wide format scanner for maps or architectural drawings, we have a separate report on these scanners.
Scanning, digitizing, or digital photography of paintings for subsequent giclee production or for décor is covered in a separate series on giclee. We have lots of experience in all aspects of giclee and décor, both scanning and printing.
The present report is for entry-level through pre-press level scanning of 35mm slides and negatives. This report is pertinent for printing on inkjet printers, with laser or LED printers for desktop publishing, and for scanning for offset printing as well.
Introduction
Every scanning expert once faced his first scanner and had no idea which button to press much less how to get a good scan. We all start from ground zero. You will be doing just fine after some practice. What is crucial is to select the proper scanner and even more important is to have the best scanner software.
There are two equally valid approaches to scanning. One is how to squeak by with the cheapest scanner. You can indeed get some rather good scans from an economy scanner (if your original slides or negatives are exceptional to begin with). But that is not our approach. FLAAR is non-profit so we can’t afford a million dollar scanner anyway. Thus we ignore the price and instead concentrate on ascertaining what is the best scanner for outputting your image at large format or with any digital printer. If you worry about the price that clouds the issue of which is the better scanner.
Thus don’t be surprised that your favorite scanner (that probably got rave reviews in a popular magazine) is either not included at all, or does not get such a hot review at the FLAAR evaluation center. This is because we have had an opportunity, over several years, to inspect a wide range of scanners at all the major international trade shows in Germany as well as across the USA. We also get detailed information from a myriad of sources that are not available to consumers. Scanner companies will often tell us surprising things that they don’t admit in their PR releases. Furthermore, we do actual tests with the best scanners that we find at these trade shows. If the magazine writer whose review you just read has had the opportunity to see what a Creo EverSmart flatbed scanner did with the same images, then perhaps he or she might not have been so enthusiastic about the lesser scanners that populate the reviews in popular magazines.
Another difference is that FLAAR does not accept advertising. We do welcome corporate sponsorship and appreciate it when scanners are provided to our university so we can test them. But the people who test the scanners are not paid by the scanner companies. You might also notice that FLAAR does not use company PR photos, nor do we repeat company PR releases (and definitely not the hype so popular in commercial ads). We do, however, have a definite bias towards the better scanners and are not
Silverfast software CD impressed with the output of lesser scanners. Thus we do not even review the Hewlett-Packard scanners nor other $299 entry-level equipment.
Nowadays a scanner is primarily a plastic box with glass on top and a light tube on rollers running up and down guidelines. What makes the scan brilliant and gives you a masterpiece to enlarge on your digital printer is the scanner lens and the scanner software. Good software on a cheap scanner can do as good a job as lousy software on an expensive scanner. And a really dedicated scanner operator can get a better scan from a medium priced scanner than a lazy operator on an expensive scanner who uses auto-scan and then repairs the damage with Photoshop after the scanning is finished.
Color Negatives
If you are scanning color negatives, these are tough due to the orange tone. You need either a professional scanner software such as that available on a Creo EverSmart flatbed scanner, or try SilverFast. We have used the color-neg mode in the Scitex software but have not yet tested the similar mode in Creo’s current version. Creo bought Scitex about three years ago. The scanner we tested back then was a $54,000 Scitex flatbed with Scitex software. The updated version of that scanner is available today from Creo at $45,000 since competition has driven down prices. The software today is improved over what we started with.
SilverFast is made by LaserSoft Imaging, a German company with offices in the USA. SilverFast software is not available for Creo scanners. However the two softwares are actually quite similar in many respects. If you know one it is easy to use the other.
Most good scanner software has features to assist with scanning color negatives. If you have to deal with color negatives, be sure you check the software before you buy the scanner. SilverFast, if it is certified for your new scanner, can be purchased at any time and used to overwrite the original scanner software. SilverFast is usually better than the software that comes with your scanner.
If you are still taking photos with color negative film, then stop, and use slide film instead. Transparencies (which are positives) are much easier to scan than negatives. Color negatives are not appropriate for digitizing. But of course no one realized this during the 1960’s, ‘70’s, ‘80’s, or ‘90’s, so lots of photographers have legacy archives of color negatives.
Scanning B&W or scanning Color to create B&W
If you want to produce black-and-white images with a digital printer, don’t use black and white film anymore. You get far superior B&W images in the digital era by starting with color, switch mode (in Photoshop) via multi-channel mode. In this manner you can work with all the color channels in black and white. If you are printing to an inkjet printer keep your files always in RGB; let the printer driver or RIP software change the file to CMYK. If you are printing to an LED light imager, it prints with RGB light, so obviously wants the file to stay in RGB.
We cover printing in B&W in our course on digital photography. One of the FLAAR Reports goes into even more detail specifically on black and white digital imaging and printing.
Ilford makes a monochrome (sic) “4 color” quad-tone black inkset for inkjet printing as do other companies. Check out www.FineArtGicleePrinters.org and www. wide-format-printers.net for all FLAAR publications. Some inkjet printers, especially with Epson piezo printheads, can’t do B&W prints well. The Epson 7500 and 9500 were legendary for their metemaric inks. They glow green in daylight. Printers with thermal printheads may do a better job reproducing large format images in B&W.
Polaroid slide scanner
1 Epson has entry level scanners which are okay for what they offer but are
not what a serious photographer ought to have. However the top models of Epson scanners are in a different league. The new high end Epson scanners combined with SilverFast software are as good if not better than any Microtek or Umax. The other advantage of Epson scanners is that they produce new models every two years or so. Umax has stalled and not really been innovative in the last three years.
However subsequently Epson came out with printer models 7600 and 9600 which work hard to reduce metemarism. If you wish additional information on how to print your B&W photographs with an improved Epson printer contact imaging@parrotcolor.com. This company (Parrot Digigraphic) specializes in fine art giclée and photographic quality printing for museums, universities, companies, as well as individuals in print sizes 13 x 19 through wide format sizes 24” and 44”. If (like me) you simply already have decades of old B&W negs that you have to scan, just don’t expect wonders, because your B&W negs only have so much information in them (its rather limited due to lack of color). There is a good information on B&W imaging in books by Jim Rich. Even if you scan in color this book is essential reading. One edition is published directly by Rich himself, “The Photoshop Grayscale Book,” Rich and Associates (publisher), fax 301 652-8665. A subsequent edition by Rich covers color in Photoshop version 6.
How Much DPI do you Need?
Scanning for the Internet, or for Home or Hobby?
Why can’t you scan your 35mm slides on an Agfa, HP, Microtek, or Umax flatbed scanner?
Because you need at least 2500 dpi on a flatbed (or 2700 dpi in a dedicated scanner such as a Nikon). Your average flatbed can produce only 600 dpi, 1000 dpi, or 1200 dpi. Nowhere near enough. Also, unless you have SilverFast scanner software, the software with cheap scanners is not adequate to produce good scans.
Scanner companies, like inkjet printer companies, excel at exaggerated and sometimes misleading specs. When you see “2400 x 1200 dpi” that really means you get only 1200 dpi. That is not adequate for 35mm slides. The only flatbed scanner under $10,000 that can potentially handle 35mm slides or negatives is the new Epson scanner available by spring 2004. However without testing this in person we are unable to certify its results of recommend it since the specs of 4800 dpi seem unlikely for a single pass scanner. The other aspect is that it takes more than dpi to make a good scan. DPI only allows you to enlarge a scan. DPI by itself is not a measure of equality whatsoever. If you are scanning 35mm slides for use on the internet, for home or hobby (which means not enlarging them more than 4x5 inches) then any good 1000 dpi or 1200 dpi flatbed is okay (Heidelberg’s LinoScan, Microtec, Umax, and entry level Epson1 are okay).
For use on the Internet you need only 72 dpi. Of course you need the 72 dpi at the final size (several inches by several inches). Your original is 35mm in size, so your scan will drop down in dpi as you re-size to your final size.
If you need to enlarge these slides to 11x17 inches, however, you need much more dpi at the size of your originals so you still have 120 to 150 dpi remaining at 11x17 size. Adobe Photoshop will do the math for you. Never “create” dpi; always let Photoshop adapt the dpi naturally as the picture gets larger. The more you enlarge your image the dots per inch (really pixels per inch) will drop accordingly. This is accomplished in Adobe Photoshop. You need that software anyway. We are unable to provide remedial Photoshop courses; there are more than enough books from Peachpit Press and IDG already (listed in our sites). Extrapolated dpi is useless; you need true optical dpi. The whole question of resolution is covered in FLAAR Reports in the Photo Series and in a report in the FLAAR course, DP 200.
Creo iQSmart scanner At every point in your decision making process, realize
that dpi is only a superficial measure of the capacity of your slide to be enlarged. You simply need a certain minimum. So if you feel a toaster-sized scanner will do the job, at least get a sample from other scanners for comparison (use your same identical slide and compare the results at an enlargement to 30 inches on a large format printer). It is unlikely your own slides will result in the same class of results that the scanner companies tweak off of their own test slides that they show at trade shows or in advertising brochures.
Toaster-Shaped Scanners for 35mm Slides and Negs
Entry level through pro-sumer scanners come in several sizes and shapes:
• Flatbed scanners
• Toaster shaped scanners
o Upright 35mm one-slice toaster scanners
o Squat toaster scanners, usually multi-format (35mm and medium multi-format)
Older Scanners
The Leaf scanners were top of the line in their day, but their day passed years ago. The older Microtek slide scanners (1990’s) are not recommended. Any 1800 dpi dedicated slide scanner (toaster shaped) is not recommended. Most people are quickly disappointed with the low-end toaster-shaped scanners such as the Nikon Coolscan III or its 1800 dpi Polaroid equivalent. We do not recommend any toaster-sized scanner under 2700 dpi.
For several years both Polaroid and Microtek offered the same or similar 4000 dpi scanner for 35mm size film (both scanners are made in the same factory; only label and software differ). Reviews criticized both for poor detail in the shadows, the result of being a low-end system. But most American’s like anything with big numbers, so Polaroid’s 4000 dpi lured lots of people away from the 2700 dpi Nikon model 2000, even though that Nikon generally gave better results (it takes more than raw dpi to produce a good image). Nikon then countered with its own 4000 dpi scanner, the Super CoolScan 8000ED. To further clobber Polaroid Nikon came out with its SuperCoolScan 4000ED. With these models available it would be not advised to use any of the earlier low-end toaster
scanners not even the original Nikon 2000 at its 2700 dpi. “Entry level” would now be the Nikon CoolScan IV ED, with 2900 dpi. However it’s dynamic range is a miserly 3.6. You know its entry level when the ad hype claims “great detail throughout a wide range of tones.” Obviously the Nikon CoolScan 4000 would seem the best technology, especially coupled with SilverFast (which should eventually be available, albeit after-market).
It is our understanding that both Nikon scanners (4000ED and 8000ED) had a few weak points or glitches. Nikon announced their replacement, their models 5000 and 9000. Since Nikon can’t afford to have unpopular or faulty products, and as second-generation equipment has the opportunity to correct the mistakes of earlier models, we recommend checking out either of the new Nikon models, 5000 and 9000. If you find the earlier models 4000 and 8000 on e-bay, probably best to skip them. Nikon would not have replaced them so quickly if the earlier models had been flawless.
Although SilverFast may be bundled with the Polaroid you can also get SilverFast for the Nikon (www. silverfast.com) so again, that evens out the two scanners. But with our Scitex we have enlarged a 35mm slide and printed it at 42 x 36 inches and it was museum quality. At trade shows Creo is now exhibiting enlargements of about 36 by 48 from a 35mm slide. Plus you can do batch scans of 40 slides in a sequence on the Creo EverSmart flatbeds. We realize that most home users prefer the under $2000 toaster-variety of 35mm scanner rather than the $14K to $45K Creo but since most popular photography magazines don’t often tell you about the really good scanners we felt our reviews were a good opportunity.
make matters even more confusing, we asked a friend who had both a Polaroid and a Nikon 4000 which he preferred. He said he got better scans from the Polaroid. The only way we can decide for sure is to get both scanners side by side in our own lab at the university and test them both. Unfortunately this will have to wait until we get some grants to cover the costs. In the meantime of course Polaroid went bankrupt and its scanners are no longer easy to find. Summary so far: for home use, or hobby, for printing up to tabloid size, a toaster-shaped scanner is better than a cheap flatbed scanner. The reason is that the toaster-scanners can produce 2700 dpi but the cheap flatbeds only 1200 dpi. A flatbed scanner, however, is just fine for scanning for the Internet or sending a snapshot to friends or relatives (your computer monitor does okay at 72 dpi).
But if you need to print with a 1200 dpi color laser, or a 1440 dpi inkjet, at tabloid size, then you need the 4000 dpi toaster-like scanners. A flatbed scanner that can produce 4000 dpi costs over $12,000 (Creo iQsmart3) with the really good ones at about $42,000
(Fuji Lanovia C-550 Sprint, Creo EverSmart Select and Supreme). The downside of scanners in the $10,000 to $20,000 range is that they may lack anti-Newton glass. You need anti-Newton glass if you intend to consistently produce scans of professional quality.
Several years ago, if you intended to enlarge your images to 36 inches or more, then you needed to scan with equipment better than any of the toaster-shaped scanners. You needed sophisticated software also, such as you get with Fuji, Heidelberg, and especially with Creo (Scitex). The better flatbed
FujiFilm Lanovia Quattro scanner at GraphExpo 2003
scanners offer 5000 dpi. Drum scanners offer up to 10,000 dpi. Today (2004) the new general of Nikon toaster-shaped scanners and even the upcoming flatbed from Epson offer the possibility of considerable potential for reasonable cost. Although most pre-press professionals will stick with their heavy iron, the normal user at home, even the pro-sumer level, can today have scans from under $3,000 that four years ago cost over $50,000.
Canon Scanners 2004
CanoScan FS2720U
This is their entry level toaster-shaped scanner. Canon makes excellent products but the most recent generation of Nikon scanners is a newer model. The CanoScan models are now several years old. Still good, but Nikon had the opportunity to fix the weak points in their earlier models.
CanoScan FS4000US
16 bit quality can now be handled in most aspects on version “8” (Adobe Photoshop CS). But Photoshop LE is not what you want.
Unclear whether it has been updated for Mac OS X. SilverFast is not mentioned as a bundle opportunity but www.silverfast.com reveals that this software is indeed available as an after-market add on for Canon scanners.
Konica Minolta Scanners 2004
DiMage Scan Dual II 12-bit file size, 2820 dpi.
3.2 density is very honest, and not adequate. This is probably why other manufacturers inflate their numbers.
DiMage Scan Dual III
KonicaMinilta are more honest about their specs than Nikon. They admit their dynamic range of 4.8 is “computed.” For this model they do not admit that you get with a single pass.
DiMage Scan Dual IV
Although the size and shape of the unit is the same as medium format scanners from Polaroid, Microtek, and Nikon, the Minolta unit handles only 35mm. 3200 dpi is about the limit before you scan into the film grain.
misleading advertising claims (which are not in Nikon’s long range interest), the three new Nikon scanners have the best pedigree of any toaster-shaped 35mm slide scanners available today. But don’t get tempted by the lower price of the previous models IV, 4000, or 8000. There are apparently several good reasons why these scanners were replaced so quickly.
Auto-Loader (especially on Nikon scanners)
If you have thousands of slides to scan, don’t get lulled into believing that an “auto-loader” on a toaster-shaped dedicated 35mm film scanner is much help. Yes, it “works” but it ain’t very practical. Most people who made the mistake of buying the Nikon auto-loader (including us at FLAAR) are not impressed. Many people complain it’s not as automatic as they were led to presume. This is because such an auto-loader is not intended for serious professional use. The Nikon LS 2000 is, however, nice for occasional use for single slides.
To scan an entire slide archive you need a tabloid sized flatbed that holds 40 to 48 slides at a time to do batch scans.
Of course you can also use a letter-sized flatbed and batch scan 20 at a time….if your small scanner software supports batch scanning (not all do).
Batch scanning is better than auto-loader
With a Nikon or Polaroid slide scanner you have to handle each slide one by one. What scanner can you use if you have to scan thousands of negatives or slides?
With a tabloid-sized flatbed scanner you can scan 40 slides at a time in frame holders, or 48 slides if you put the slides directly on the glass (as you see above). The first really good scanner we had was a Scitex EverSmart Supreme, in the FLAAR office, (at Polaroid 35mm slide scanner DiMage Scan Elite II
16 bit, 2820 dpi.
DiMage Scan Elite 5400
An unusual dpi, 5400, and an unusual size and shape (small, essentially similar to 2700 dpi scanners).
DiMage Scan Multi Pro
16 bit, 4800 dpi, Ultra SCSI (and oldie but goodie), and FireWire. Multi-format, 35mm and medium format.
DiMage Scan Dual IV
3200 dpi. Again honest advertising; states you need to sample the scan up to 16 times. Does not reveal the total scan time, but even admitting the number of scans required is a good first step.
Nowhere is scanner software seriously discussed; SilverFast is not mentioned in the basic brochures.
Nikon Scanners 2004
Nikon Coolscan V ED
Even though the size and shape is typical of scanners with 2700 dpi this model offers 4000. Offers 14 bit analog/digital converter. To get full 16 bit requires the model 5000 ED. All Nikon scanners work with Mac OS X.
Nikon Coolscan 5000 ED 16 bit A/D converter.
Nikon advertising has tended to verge on slightly misleading. The first warning signal was about two years ago when Nikon claimed their scanner was close to as good as a drum scanner. Sorry, no toaster-shaped scanner is even close to a drum scanner; not even the Imacon which costs a dozen times more than Nikon.
Next Nikon advertised a 4.2 to 4.8 density range without fully stating how they reached this unreal total number. Apparently it takes many passes to reach this range. That means longer scanning times. Thus we are skeptical of Nikon ads that claims 38 seconds for the V ED, 20 seconds for 5000 ED and 185 seconds for the 9000 ED. It is not fair to claim high speed and high density range, because you don’t get the high density with a single scan at 20 or 38 seconds. Inkjet printers do the same subterfuge (claim high dpi and high speed; but to get the high dpi requires multiple passes which lowers the speed to a crawl). Despite
Creo EverSmart scanner at PMA 2004 that time) in Essen-Werden, Germany. This model is considered the best flatbed scanner available today (best also in its software capabilities). Scanners of comparable quality would be the Screen Cezanne Elite and the 5000 dpi Fuji FineScan model. Today we have the updated Creo version of the same Scitex EverSmart Supreme. We just finished scanning over 1,000 4x5 chromes over the summer. Results were spectacular.
General Information on Scanning and Scanners Scanning objects with relief, or 3-D objects
If you are scanning objects (3D) or anything with relief or texture, you need a Heidelberg (LinoColor/ LinoScan) or a Umax scanner for entry level or Heidelberg Nexscan, Fuji Lanovia for high end. Most other prepress scanners such as the excellent models from Creo are not designed to focus past the glass plate and hence are ideal for transparencies or photos but not good for woven items, leaves, etc. Unfortunately finding anyone who sells Fuji brand scanners is a challenge. Now the problem will be finding someone in three years who can still service them.
Heidelberg, however, no longer makes the Circon or 2400. Curiously our Linoscan 2400 was unable to focus on 3-D objects. But we scanned 3-D objects acceptably with the Linoscan Saphir Ultra (a rebranded Umax). Best 3-D scans were from the Fuji Lanovia scanner.
We do not have any Microtek scanners at either university so are unable to comment on how or whether they can handle 3-D objects.
We do not have any Epson scanners, so are not able to state how they handle scanning 3D objects.
Scanning into the film grain
When you scan past 3000+ dpi (about 3500 dpi) you are scanning into the grain of the film. There are various software tricks to hide that fact but you are nonetheless stuck with some graininess. Now you know why digital scan backs are better than film…and why 35mm slides are not the way to go. If you were scanning 4x5 size you would unlikely scan into the grain because the larger size of the film allows you to scan at less than 3000 dpi.
You can see the results of scanning into the grain almost every time you go to a trade show. Companies display their beautiful new printers, but the image they use looks all grainy and bumpy in the background, especially in areas of solid color. Sometimes the graininess is lousy dot pattern (any piezo printer at 360 dpi; any older Encad printer; any new Encad printer at fast print modes). But often the sandy pattern is because the stock photo was an inadequate scan to begin with.
How to avoid film grain? Avoid using 35mm originals, or use a software that eliminates at least a portion of the graininess. Or, get a really good book on Adobe Photoshop and learn a few of the advanced tricks on how to get rid of film grain. The better scanner softwares are gradually recognizing the problem of film grain and are producing filters to minimize it.
Software for removing Grain or Digital Noise
In our course on digital photography we discuss each brand of software that is useful for removing film grain and/or digital noise. You can download the course contents abstracts at no charge from any FLAAR web site.
Sweet Spot
Beware that entry level flatbeds from Umax and Microtek only scan at full resolution down their sweet spot, a more or less 4” path down the middle. On either side of that sweet spot they scan only at 800 dpi or whatever their true dpi really is. This fact is rarely indicated in advertisements. Even in the brochure you have to understand the mumbo-jumbo to realize that the acclaimed dpi is only for a small portion of the scanner surface.
We are unsure of the sweet spot of Imacon scanners (since we do not have one). It has been suggested that their sweet spot on some models is for 35mm slides and that you do not obtain full resolution on transparencies of 4 x 5 inch size.
Don’t be fooled by interpolated dpi, that’s just air pumped into your image. It has no value other than pumping up the numbers in an attempt to impress potential buyers.
To escape the limitations of the sweet spot you need an XY or other sophisticated scanner such as a Heidelberg Nexscan, CreoScitex EverSmart, Fuji Lanovia, etc. The FLAAR Photo Archive spent several years searching for a really good flatbed to handle its 50,000 slides. We first settled on the CreoScitex EverSmart Supreme and Fuji high end models. This information is primarily for handling 35mm slides. If you do 35mm sometimes and medium format other times then you are in a pickle because whereas a 1200 dpi flatbed is okay for medium format (if you need to enlarge the medium format to 5 x 7 inches for example) that flatbed is totally useless for scanning 35mm for serious prepress use unless you need only a 3 x 5 inch enlargement. For under $2000 the only scanners that can handle 35mm for entry level prepress are the dedicated slide scanners at minimum of 2700 dpi.
35mm slides from the FLAAR photo archive being scanned by Scitex EverSmart Supreme, 2000, Essen-Werden,Germany. Where possible our reviews are based
on actually using the pertinent scanners.
Turnkey Systems or Scanners as Part of a Package
If you have been sold a system package (printer plus scanner plus other items) you almost certainly ended up with a low end scanner. Why?
First, most people who sell printers don’t do any printing. They only sell equipment. How often have they actually scanned a 35mm slide and enlarged it on the equipment they are selling you?
Second, if they included the scanner you really needed then the price would be so high you would not have bought their printer system. If you ever have to scan a single 35mm slide and print that on a large format printer, then you realize that the average flatbed scanner is totally useless for a 35mm size. 1000 dpi at the size of a tiny 35mm slide is barely good enough for the Internet or a postcard to your parents for Christmas. Perhaps okay for a family album for your kids. But if you are attempting to sell these as fine art prints, the competition will eat you alive if they find out you are using a low end scanner. The reality of capitalism can be rather rough on your start-up expenses.
Although we recommend that you purchase your scanner at the same place you buy your printer, if they feature Microtek scanners, that’s sort of a warning it’s low-end, low-bid. If the place you buy your printer features Screen, Fuji or Creo scanners, then you know you are dealing with a company who caters to professional printers, photo labs, and prepress shops who can tell the difference in the final scan.
Using Scans on Stock Photo CDs
It is unlikely that you will be able to achieve museum quality large format prints from stock photos you get on a cheap CD collection. The average image we use is about 190 MB for a 36 x 36” image and that is only printed at 600 dpi. If you print at 1200 or 1440 dpi you will need a larger file. An entire CD could hold only 3 such images. Yet people buy CD’s with thousands of images and dream about printing and selling the resultant prints. Of course if you are only printing at letter size you can get away with a smaller digital file (18 to 50 MB helps). Sorry, we don’t have enough thousands of staff to provide training on how to scan and prepare the files for printing. You need books by Peachpit Press and IDG Books for that.
Kodak Photo CD
In the 1980’s thousands of photographers had their slides scanned into the Kodak Photo CD system. I had lots of my transparencies put on this system. Today the weak points of Kodak Photo CD scanning are better known. We no longer would send anything for a Kodak Photo CD. We do not recommend the Kodak Photo CD system. Kodak itself is a perfectly reliable company, it’s just that their Photo CD system was developed many years ago before most photographers realized they could get much better scans with their own equipment in their own studio. If you like the scans and are happy with them, we are pleased for you. But the Kodak Photo CD system was originally made so John Q Public could view snapshots on cheap home TV monitor. This failed to capture anyone’s interest a decade ago, but photographers quickly figured out it was an effortless way to get their images scanned by someone else. Nowadays most scanners are better quality than what Kodak offered. You are better off scanning your images yourself. The Kodak PhotoCD system is not the ideal way to scan because too much data is thrown away by their compression scheme.
The Kodak “image pack” concept is especially useless nowadays because even students know how to resize an image in Adobe Photoshop. Takes 15 seconds. So it’s a waste of space to store countless different sized resolutions on a CD disk as perpetrated by the antiquated Kodak system.
Furthermore, images on Kodak Photo CDs are hard to open properly to get at what little data is captured by the unusual and long outmoded Kodak process. If you are stuck with Kodak PhotoCD scans you did earlier (such as us and everyone else who did not recognize the low-end nature of that process), use SilverFast to open them. Kodak attempted to make proprietary software, to “encourage” people to use a complete Kodak solution. Of course American’s don’t accept proprietary schemes, so the Kodak system was left isolated, with few users.
Why the Kodak scans are weak is a technical question. Get the Peachpit Press book on the Kodak Photo CD system and you will then understand. It’s out of print; no, we don’t know where to get a copy, but if your library has one, it’s worth reading (if you need to be convinced why not to have your slides done in this system).
Since Kodak promotes their Photo CD system, we are leery of any scanners or scanner software that they offer. The Kodak Photo CD scanner systems I first saw in 1996 were about $125,000 work stations, grossly overpriced (they used a Sun Sparcstation computer, somewhat of overkill). The price has dropped and today you are better off with a basic Mac or PC clone anyway.
With respect to the Kodak RFS 3600 Film Scanner. At Photokina the Kodak booth had too many thousands of people so I skipped it. I do not have experience with that model but no Kodak product has ever excited me. It’s usually “too little too late.” It will probably take several months to catch up with the new models and dissect their claims.
If you are spending your hard-earned money on a scanner get one directly from a company which is devoted full-time to scanners. Creo, for example, is definitely devoted to scanners. Their reputation is on their scanner line as much as on their other equipment.
Other brands of scanners good enough for 35mm size
Other brands of professional quality scanners do exist but we see them seldom at tradeshows oriented to photographers. These other brands of scanners tend to be shown exclusively at tradeshows dedicated to prepress for offset printing.
As we expand our coverage of scanners we will include some of the other top brands. But since you are going to buy only a single scanner, and since Creo is the only company I know of that makes scanners specifically for photographers who wish to do inkjet printing at large sizes, these are the ones we recommend you select from.
Notice that we do not select just one single scanner brand: we list all brands that we know from experience or word of mouth from other users are the top contenders (Creo, Fuji, Screen). To say that only one single brand is good would be inappropriate of an independent testing facility at a university. Our job is to weed the wheat from the chaff, sort out which scanner ads may employ misleading statistics, and offer a wide palette of choices to the end-user.
The Umax 3000 was rated by users as very slow. We hear this problem every time we find someone who had this vintage scanner. It gets the primary claimed dpi only down the sweet spot, a 4” band down the middle. The ads make shameless claims that it’s as good as a drum scanner. Such a claim is usually a yellow flag that suggests there is nothing special about the scanner so they have to engage in hype to try to sell it. These are all good reasons to avoid a used Umax 3000 if you find one on e-bay.
In the last three years Umax has all but disappeared from trade show presence. They appear to have dropped any pretense of high end models (so the Umax 3000 disappeared). They have continued to crank out the same old “Umax III” relabeled as the PowerLook 1120. They claim 3.7 Dmax but I take any of their claims with a grain of salt. Scanning is only 14 bit, not full 16 bit. However price of $1199 with SilverFast Ai version 6 is acceptable. Just realize that such a flatbed is totally and absolutely inadequate for scanning anything as small as a 35mm side for serious use printing. About all you would get from a 35mm slide is an image to use in e-mail or on the Internet.
Whereas such a flatbed is okay for larger size film such as medium format or large format, a flatbed usually lacks enough dpi for something as small as 35mm, unless you don’t intend to enlarge your slide past postcard size. Umax does not make any toaster-shaped dedicated 35mm slide scanner. Thus whereas Umax and Heidelberg are good for books, photos (large prints, not small negatives), for enough pixels enlarge a 35mm size images you need more horsepower.
Older models of scanners or used scanners
Avoid most older scanners. Its mechanics may still work but its software will be obsolete. Today’s software is so superior to older scanner software there is no comparison. If you take the same scanner, and use two different scanner softwares, the best scan will come from the better software. Yes, a bad software will result in a lousy image. Might as well be direct and not mince words. SilverFast, Heidelberg’s LinoScan, and Scitex EverSmart software are the best three we have experienced so far.
Remember that all Agfa rebranded Microtek scanners are no longer available from Agfa. All Heidelberg LinoScan models rebranded from Umax are no longer available from Heidelberg. So it will be tough to get repairs on such discontinued products. Fuji was still selling scanners as of DRUPA 2004 but it is our understanding that they are no longer manufacturing the Lanovia C550 and sooner or later it is probable that tech support and service may be difficult to find.
Umax
I have two Umax PowerLook scanners, the original dating back to about 1996 and the model III. In their day they cost about $3,000 with transparency adaptor. Good quality for large objects for a reasonable price (probably under $1,000 by now). You could get the same scanner with better software as the Heidelberg 1400, with LinoScan scanner software. We prefered the Heidelberg variant. You can get SilverFast for both the Heidelberg and for the Umax.
35mm color slide negatives
The Umax PowerLook 2100XL offers 800 dpi over a 12 x 17 inch area. They do not indicate whether or what size the sweet spot is. 800 dpi is not adequate for anything but scanning something postcard size. Forget doing 35mm at 800 dpi. 3.4 Dmax is not what professional prepress needs either. I do not know what earlier model this is a descendant of. The ad talks about winning an award in 2001. That is typical of Umax of 2004; they are living in the past, selling off what they designed many years ago. Here is where Epson is ahead. Epson comes out with new models at least every two years.
Umax offers Binuscan software, a popular scanner software in Europe. Another Umax scanner software offering was borrowed from Howtek. We do not know if Umax still offers that. Howtek software has not impressed me. We were told that one of the Howtek drum scanner softwares came from the same place as ColorByte RIP. We have several end users who really like that and several even more vocal users who were bitterly disappointed and went to another RIP. Neither of the softwares offered by Umax has won enough accolades in reviews in independent professional magazines. Notice that we distinguish a PR review in a trade magazine from an independent review, which are scarce in both trade magazines and commercial magazines that must survive by paid advertising. The best software for your Umax is from SilverFast.
Epson Scanners
In many ways Epson has taken over the lead from Umax in scanners for entry level at reasonable prices.
My experience with advertising claims for printer dpi and Nikon claims for Dmax make me wary of scanner claims for 4800 x 9600 dpi, but the Epson Perfection 4870 Photo has tempting specs. But only a trial run, and direct comparison, would reveal its actual capabilities. I am guessing the count is based on multiple scans. The Epson Perfection 3200 Pro is 3200 x 6400. 3.4 Dmax is modest but at least they are honest there. Most Epson scanners offer SilverFast software. Be sure to get the full-version. Lite versions are often just a trial version.
The Epson Expression 1680 offers 1600 dpi, 48-bit. That is nowhere near enough for scanning a 35mm
slide, but is adequate for medium format or large format, if you are on a limited budget. The scanner is $1,399 list price.
The Epson Expression 1640XL Graphic Arts version is only 42 bit but offers a 12 x 17 inch scanning area. The 3.6 Dmax is an honest appraisal. Although all scanners need independent certification (of which none is available for any brand that I know of), at least Epson does not claim the unacceptable numbers that Nikon touts.
General Considerations
Although Epson may be a viable alternative to Umax, neither Epson nor Umax should be considered if your main item to scan is 35mm. If you are a library, museum, photo studio or professional in any field, you need a Fuji or Creo flatbed scanner. If you have to scan 4x5 or larger you need anti-Newton glass too. These are the little things that the scanner ads don’t mention.
Be aware that a flatbed requires a transparency adapter or some other adaptation to handle slides. Otherwise a flatbed scanner is intended to scan solely flat objects, like paper prints, post cards, etc.
Heidelberg scanners and LinoColor software
If your originals are medium format (6x6 cm) or 4x5 then the Heidelberg Linoscan 1400 is okay if you just intend to print no larger than 8x10. Just be sure to do a sample scan and then a sample print to make sure your systems work.
We have two different Heidelberg Linoscan scanners and get great results with both of them. The LinoScan software of 2002 is greatly improved over their software of several years ago. For our test evaluation of the new version of LinoColor we provided a test person with the model 2400 scanner. He had never scanned anything before in his life. He did not even know fully how to use Photoshop (we wanted to emulate a typical newbie). His scans after the second day were excellent. After we explained a bit about image dpi vs printer dpi (two totally different forms of measurement) he was accomplishing professional scans. Indeed his scans were so good that he never even had to use Photoshop to tweak them.
Binuscan software displayed at DRUPA 2004 trade show In addition to the discontinued desktop models,
Heidelberg made a 5000 dpi high end model. Although we have experience with the Creo and Scitex EverSmart Supreme, the Fuji Lanovia C-550, and the Agfa XY-15, we have not yet had access to Heidelberg’s top of the line model, Nexscan. Newcolor 5000 was evidently the newest and last Heidelberg scanner software solution. This scanner would be good for 35mm size. You need at least 3500 dpi and excellent software to bring out all the quality within a 35mm slide (presuming you want professional results).
Since Heidelberg and Agfa scanners are no longer manufactured (Heidelberg is reportedly totally out of the scanner market for two years; Agfa is mostly out of the market), we naturally recommend a company which is fully into the market for the long run. That would be Creo.
Other Scanners: the ones used by professional prepress or photo labs
We review Creo, Imacon, Screen, Aztek, and drum scanners in separate reports in the FLAAR Series on Signs, in the FLAAR Series on Printers for Photos, and in the series on Giclee. There are indeed a few scanners that we have a buyer advisory on ( a polite way of saying we do not recommend them).
Scanner Software
Please recognize that if you make the effort to learn your scanner’s own software your scans will be so good you won’t have to use Photoshop to do anything but resize the image. If you are using Photoshop to repair or fix up your images, then you are not taking advantage of your scanning software. Creo is the best for the high end.
Heidelberg Linoscan scanner
Aztek Plateau scanner at PhotoPlus 2003 trade show The last LinoColor scanner software (before they withdrew from the scanner market) is also good and obviously coordinated directly with the Heidelberg Linoscan equipment. We like the then new version of LinoColor much better than what was available three years previously.
The Creo software of the CreoScitex EverSmart scanner series is an excellent scanner software and easy to learn. Besides, you can usually wrangle a day of training into the deal when you purchase a Creo scanner.
Binuscan software is popular in Europe. During the 1990’s I was skeptical, because reviewers in the US magazines were rough on it. But at DRUPA 2004 I had an opportunity to visit the software engineer who developed Binuscan. Frankly we feel his approach is valid, and definitely worth the effort to check it out. Binuscan offers a slightly different approach, but if you are in synch with this philosophy of digital imaging, you might enjoy the process, and the results. So at least try it out. Binuscan now also makes color management software, another reason to consider this brand.
Heidelberg 35mm slide scanner tray SilverFast is effectively the international default standard for scanner software. We have this at the university and find it comparable in many respects to that of Scitex, used in Creo software. However SilverFast is not cheap; in some instances it may cost as much as the scanner (for $300 scanners that is). However an expensive scanner with lousy software is potentially worse than an entry-level scanner with outstanding software.
SilverFast is available from LaserSoft Imaging for the following scanners:
• Canon
o CanoScan FS2710 o CanoScan FS4000US • Epson (almost all models) • Microtek
o Most ArtixScan models o Most Scanmaker models • Minolta
o DiMage Scan Elite 5400 o DiMage Scan Elite II o DiMage Scan Multi II o DiMage Scan Multi Pro • Nikon
o Most models including 5000 ED but the model 9000 is not yet on the list, but since they include the Nikon 8000 surely the 9000 will be added shortly. • Polaroid
o SprintScan 120
o SprintScan 4000 and 4000Plus o SprintScan 45 Ultra
• Umax (most models)
SilverFast works on Umax and Heidelberg scanners (it’s after-market). So don’t worry that SilverFast is perhaps not bundled; you can always buy it later. No, it’s not cheap, but do you want a cheap scanner software? The software is more important than the hardware especially in low end and mid-range scanners.
Aztek drum scanner software has a capable digital imaging expert behind it, but the sample scans we received so far from their drum scanner were unconvincing. Since we were not present while the scans were done (at Aztek headquarters) we don’t know what caused the problems. This is why we rely either on evaluating equipment in our own facility or end-user reports. Real people using actual scanners in everyday pre-press work. However now Aztek has a completely new and different scanner, the Plateau model flatbed (the model tested previously was the drum scanner). However until we can test it ourselves, we reserve judgment.
It’s basic mathematics, if your scans are superior to the work of your competition then your company can acquire more clients (especially taking them away from your competition if they are attempting to use some cheap scanner). Assuming that you don’t have a quarter-million dollar LightJet or Durst printer, the best way to show off the superiority of your scanner is to enlarge your images on a Canon, ColorSpan, Epson, Hewlett-Packard DesignJet, Mimaki or other comparable professional inkjet printer. If it’s a Creo or Scitex scan then you can enlarge your 35mm slides to 42 x 36 inches or larger or your middle format transparencies to 54 inches and your 4x5 even larger. If it’s a cheap scanner then you will get pixelation and be able to see all the other defects.
Why is the software for Nikon and other scanners not the best available (even when the scanner hardware is)? Just remember, Umax, Microtek, Polaroid, Nikon are all hardware manufacturers or distributors. In most cases the insides of the scanners are made in Taiwan and simply packaged and branded by the camera companies. Camera companies have no past history with developing software. SilverFast, in distinction, is exclusively dedicated to software for scanners. Hence the people at SilverFast have to come up with a great product or they will cease to exist. Nikon will not go out of business just because its Nikon Scan is a bit elementary.
Data Asset Management Software
The other software you might enjoy having is Canto Cumulus. This software archives and keeps track of your digital image files. Portfolio is a comparable data asset management software, but more at entry level, from Extensis. The international standard is Cumulus.
Sharpening
The auto-sharpening features of even the best and most expensive scanners tend to be excessive. To get around t his situation, just turn off auto-sharpening, and make your own sharpening profiles. The CreoScitex scanner software has excellent options for generating your own sharpening levels. I would guess that other good software does also, but I have more practice with CreoScitex.
If you prefer after-market softening software, try nik Sharpner, from nik, a produce of technical software in Germany. Nik makes a variety of other digital imaging software you should try out too.
Digital Imaging Software
For digital imaging software Adobe Photoshop is the world standard, ver 6, version 7, or version 8 (“CS”). Version 6 is more than adequate, a polite way of saying it is much improved over version 5.5. Here at FLAAR we do have some of our workstations updated to ver 7 but don’t feel it necessary to update our people who are doing Photoshop work for the Internet.
Nik Sharpener software CD and manuals
iCorrect Edit Lab CD by Pctographics
After that everyone has their own preferences for the software for the various other tasks. If you are good at handling things on your own you can squeak by the minimalist manner or you can have a pertinent kind of software to handle each individual task as we do. For layout software we find Adobe PageMaker the easiest though early versions allowed inkjet prints only up to 44 inches (QuarkXpress can’t go larger either). But PageMaker and FrameMaker have both been dropped by Adobe as they concentrate on InDesign. You can achieve larger sizes print from Photoshop or Illustrator. Adobe InDesign allows up to 18 feet but has a steep learning curve. People who need to make giant signs use special sign software. Adobe Version CS (available now) probably allows larger sizes. Most people use Photoshop to “clean up” their scanned images. Scores of books tell you how to do this. These books neglect to mention that using Photoshop to clean up a quickie scan is the worst way to handle your workflow. If you have a good scanner that implies you have an excellent scanner software (such as from Creo, Fuji, or Screen). With these scanners your scanned image is perfect out of the scanner; it can go direct to printing with no tweaking. At most you need to remove dust-and-scratches that are inherent from any flatbed (or dirty slide).
If you have to tweak the colors in Photoshop then your scanner parameters are not set correctly and you are not using the full features of your scanner software. Most good scanner software is much better than Photoshop. This is why we do not recommend Microtek or rebranded Microtek under the Agfa brand; because SilverFast, LinoColor, and Creo software is better.
Although you may have visited www.flatbed-scanner-review.org don’t forget the additional information on
www.cameras-scanners-flaar.org
Canto Cumulus is the best professional data management archiving software.
Where to Buy
For Fuji scanners, we have given up trying to figure out where they are sold. There are two different divisions of Fuji companies: one makes the Fuji FineScan; the other makes the Fuji Lanovia C-550.
For CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-RAM, DVD-ROM, hard drives, and RAID systems to store your scanned images, contact rgroover@dcdrives. They sell only digital storage….no scanners, so please don’t ask about scanners or printers there. But do ask about storage. Dirt Cheap Drives is the same company as what used to be called MegaHaus. Both are where FLAAR buys all our DVD-RAM and hard drives. For books on scanning and digital imaging (also on traditional printing): look at the offerings of Peachpit Press. The Photoshop Grayscale Book, is available directly from the author, Rich and Associates (publisher), fax 301 652-8665.
AGFA has great books on digital imaging, with the best illustrations of any publisher. Unfortunately AGFA is not dedicated to publishing so their books are virtually impossible to find.
Technical books on digital color and color management are available from GATF (Graphic Arts Technical Foundation).
SilverFast scanner software is an excellent product of LaserSoft Imaging. This is by far the best scanner software. Contact Paul Buckner, paul@silverfast. com.
Creo and also Nikon scanners you can buy from
imaging@parrotcolor.com. The SilverFast software is worth its added price (if you aspire to make good scans and prints that are photo-realistic in quality). You still need Photoshop but only to resize the image
to reach the 120 minimum; 150 maximum dpi that most printers prefer for up to 300 dpi for 1200 to 1440 dpi systems. Or, you may need Photoshop to repair the scans that everyone else does who are using primitive TWAIN connections rather than doing all the scanning corrections inside the original scanner software. The less you need to use Photoshop the more professional you are. If you are a flawless scanner operator, you will never need to touch Photoshop except to resize your images.
iCorrect from Pictographics is another digital imaging software you might wish to check out.
RGB vs CMYK
If you are scanning to eventually print on any large format inkjet printer, leave your images in RGB mode. Do NOT turn your images into CMYK. And never take a CMYK image and re-convert it back to RGB. Yes, of course your inkjet will print CMYK, but you get better results allowing the printer software or RIP software make the conversion from RGB.
The older traditional scanner software presumed you were going to use an old-fashioned four color press so automatically converted all scans into CMYK. Be careful not to allow your scanner software to do that. Keep one original version in RGB (or LAB mode). Books on scanning, on printing and books on Adobe Photoshop by Dan Margulis Wiley & Sons publisher) can explain what LAB color space is.
If you are scanning photographs (not negs, not transparencies) you will get a better scan if you use the original transparency (and a transparency is usually better than a negative).
Storage of your Digital Images
Once you scan, you will need to store your images. Best source for DVD-RAM, CD-R/CD-RW, RAID, etc (for best price) is Dirt Cheap Drives. They handle solely storage equipment, not scanners. So don’t send your scanner questions there, but yes, you can get what you need to store your scanned images. This is where we buy all our storage equipment for digital images. Contact Robert Groover, rgroover@dcdrives. com.
Other FLAAR reports on scanning
If you need to scan artwork, such as paintings, that are too large to fit onto a tabloid flatbed, then you need the FLAAR Report on “Scanners and Digital Cameras for Digitizing Paintings for Fine Art Giclee Printing.” There are plenty of means of scanning large objects if you can afford the equipment; all is explained in this report. This scanner report is in the FLAAR Series on giclee. If you need a wide format scanner to scan maps or other sheets, then we now have a “FLAAR Fast Facts on Sheet-fed Large Format Scanners.” This is available in the CAD-GIS series.
We do NOT cover any questions on repairs, nor on where to get scanner drivers. We are unable to recommend any commercial place to scan your material. If your questions are covered in one of our standard reports, please download the report. Otherwise, we are not always able to attend to unique questions. However every incoming e-mail is actually read. Most of the features of our reports are based on requests by our readers. Most readers said they preferred to pay for reports rather than fill out a new inquiry form every time they wanted new titles. Hence we spent 6 months building an entire new web site where you can use your credit card to obtain the reports directly (www.wide-format-printers.NET).
Training and Books
There is a good book on B&W imaging in a new book by Jim Rich, The Photoshop Grayscale Book. Even if you scan in color this book is essential reading. However please recognize that if you make the effort to learn your scanners own software your scans will be so good you won’t have to use Photoshop to do anything but resize the image. If you are using Photoshop to repair or fix up your images, then you are not taking advantage of your scanning software. Scitex is the best scanner software for the high end. SilverFast works on Heidelberg, Epson, Agfa, Umax and other brands of scanners (SilverFast is after-market from LaserSoft Imaging).
Since most people ask for where to get training, which books to read, we have the following suggestions. First, check the index of every FLAAR site for Book Reviews, for Magazines (trade magazines), and for Training. The key six A to Z indices (of six different FLAAR sites) are hot-linked at the bottom of every single page of all those sites, way down at the very bottom. Every site is different. The time you spend checking out our indices will save you umteen times the amount of time you will loose floundering in color management, ICC color profiles, and all the other digital pitfalls that await you (don’t worry, just do some reading, some basic practice, get an easy-to-use and very forgiving printer such as an HP DesignJet and you will be producing museum quality prints).
Training, books, and articles are listed in each index of every pertinent FLAAR network site under “Training” “Book Reviews.” magazines or trade magazines. Hot links to each index are at the bottom of every single page so you can skip from one site to another. Peachpit Press, IDG, and Agfa have the best selection.
The FLAAR training courses for digital photography are listed in www.digital-photography.org.
We cover books and websites on scanning in a separate FLAAR Report.
Advisory
We are quite content with the specific scanners and printers we have in the two FLAAR facilities at the two universities. We would obviously never ask for a scanner that we knew in advance would not be good.
But we can’t guarantee or certify any make or model because we don’t know the conditions under which a scanner or printer might be utilized in someone else’s facility. Heat, humidity, dust, experience level of your workers (whether they are new or have prior years experience): these are all factors that will differ in your place of business as compared with our two universities.
Actually you may have people with even more experience than we do, since we deliberately use students to approximate newbies. FLAAR is devoted to assisting newcomers learn about digital imaging hardware and software. This is why Nicholas Hellmuth is considered the “Johnny Appleseed” of wide format inkjet printers. Just remember that every machine has quirks, even the ones we like. However it may be that the specific kind of scanning you need to do may never occasion that shortcoming. Or, it may be that your scanner was manufactured on a Monday and has defects that are atypical, show up more in the kind of media you use which we may not use as often during our evaluations. Equally possibly a scanner that was a disaster for someone else may work flawlessly for you and be a real money maker for your company.
Proprietary rights notice: Copyright FLAAR 2002; updated August 2002; updated November 2002, updated February 2004, last updated September 2004
Thus be sure to test a scanner under your own specific work conditions before you buy. Check with other people in your area, or in the same kind of print business that you do. Don’t rely on references from the reseller or manufacturer (you will get their pet locations which may be unrealistically gushy): find someone on your own.
Although we have found several makes and models to work very well in our facilities, how well they work in your facilities may also depend on your local dealer. Some dealers are excellent; others just sell you a box and can’t provide much service after the sale. If you pay low-bid price, you can’t realistically expect special maintenance services later on. Indeed some low-bid internet sales sources may have no technical backup whatsoever. Most of the readers of the FLAAR Reports look to see what scanners and printers we use in our own facilities. Readers realize that we will have selected the equipment that we like based on years of experience and research. Indeed we have met people at trade shows who told us they use the FLAAR web site reports as the shopping list for their corporate purchases.
Yes, it is rather self-evident that we would never ask a manufacturer to send a product which we knew in advance from our studies was no good. But there are many scanners which are great but we simply do not have them in our facilities.
So again the suggestion: be sure to ask around in other print shops, with IT people in other corporations, at your local university or community college. Go to tradeshows…. but don’t use the booth…ask questions of people in the elevator, in line at the restaurant, anywhere to escape the smothering hype you get in the booth.
FLAAR’s scanner review program
Our scanner information is based on a program funded by Japan’s National Museum of Ethnology where FLAAR was asked to provide a plan for scanning their 35mm slides which they had obtained from the FLAAR Photo Archive (of Maya antiquities and art). FLAAR subsequently received a $100,000 grant to work out a program of how best to scan the slides of various sizes in the FLAAR Photo Archive.
We figured it might be nice to share this information and spare you the trial-and-error that we went through before we found what were the appropriate scanners.
Acknowledgements
We have received SilverFast scanner software from LaserSoft Imaging scanners for evaluations from Heidelberg and Scitex. This means obviously that we know more about the pros and cons of these scanners. When we have the scanner in-house we can photograph it in action too. However no scanner manufacturer pays FLAAR or the university for the evaluations.
Parrot Digigraphic provided FLAAR with sponsorship to help upgrade the design of the scanner websites several months ago. If you knew our earlier site format (which had lots of content but zero design and poor navigation) we hope you have noticed the new design of www.flatbed-scanner-review.org.
Other than assistance in improvement of navigation of the web site, FLAAR does not receive any outside funding for our reports on scanners or photography. Thus we do not receive any commission on sales, nor any funding from any scanner manufacturer. We recommend the scanners which we feel are best for the job at hand (usually printing at wide format sizes). Our information is based from what end-users tell us plus what is widely known in the industry (such as the tendency for scanner specifications to be unrealistic to the point of being misleading). We have also used the Seybold reports on scanners as a useful reference.
We realize that each scanner manufacturer is proud of their scanners but they need to realize that some of their end users feel disillusioned, especially when they know the full story. If an ad claims 6000 dpi and you get that only with a 35mm slide size, and not with the size of a 4x5 chrome, that may be much more than merely misleading. When an ad is considered misleading that violates a host of federal regulations.
If any manufacturer feels their scanner needs more detailed scrutiny in order to document its features, when time allows we can put the scanner through its paces at our university.
All brand names, model names, and/or company names are registered trademarks of the respective companies.
www.flatbed-scanner-review.org www.large-format-printers.org
www.flatbed-scanner-review.org www.wide-format-printers.NET
Please realize that all reports are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. The reader software is free from
PDF files are intended to be read on your computer monitor. Naturally you can print them if you wish, but if the photographic images within the reports were high enough dpi for a 1200 dpi laser printer it would not be possible to download them. So the images are intended to be at monitor resolution, naturally in full color. FLAAR itself makes the files available only in PDF format because that is the international standard. We have no mechanism to print them out and mail them. Obviously if you have downloading problems we will try to help, but please realize that we assume you have a 56K modem (or better) and capabilities to handle a basic PDF file.
www.fineartgicleeprinters.org www.digital-photography.org
www.FLAAR.org
www.ctpid.ufm.edu.gt
www.wide-format-printers.org www.laser-printer-reviews.org
CLICK HERE TO VIEW EACH FLAAR NETWORK SITE
www.cameras-scanners-flaar.org
