Vuescan

[JeremyLangford]

Is it just me, or is Vuescan really slow and hard to understand? I am trying it out on my mac, but I feel like I will just stick with my Epson V500 software instead.

[Bob Michaels]

Vuescan does let you control a large number of variables which you cannot do in most scanner drivers. Hence it can appear hard to understand.

Simply try using the default settings, then vary only those that need improvement. It is very easy to overcomplicate Vuescan.

Always remember that many of the Vuescan variables are for those who will never use an image editor but want good final files right out of the scanner software. Most of us just want all the basic data in the file so that we can later adjust in an image editor like Photoshop. Many times the best looking scan is NOT the file you want to use in an image editor.

[IK13]

Originally Posted by Bob Michaels

Vuescan does let you control a large number of variables which you cannot do in most scanner drivers. Hence it can appear hard to understand.

Simply try using the default settings, then vary only those that need improvement. It is very easy to overcomplicate Vuescan.

Always remember that many of the Vuescan variables are for those who will never use an image editor but want good final files right out of the scanner software. Most of us just want all the basic data in the file so that we can later adjust in an image editor like Photoshop. Many times the best looking scan is NOT the file you want to use in an image editor.

So ture...except it seems that most people that hang around here in RFF actually really want that - just scan and be done.

[JeremyLangford]

I do not want the scan to be my final image. I always take my image to photoshop to apply curves adjustments for color and contrast and an Unsharp Mask. The problems I have been having lately are that once I make an S-curve to the curves of the scan, and then apply an Unsharp Mask, I have a ridiculous amount of grain. Im hoping that the roll I shot was expired or something.

[JeremyLangford]

When editing in photoshop, an Unsharp Mask should be applied while the image is still full size right?

I have been changing the image size to 600px (the size I want to finish with for the web) and then applying the Unsharp Mask, and curves adjustments for a long time.

Now that I am waiting for the last step until I reduce the image size, I am getting the results I have been wanting.

[kaiyen]

yes, you should do some minimal, just barely visible sharpening upon capture. You should scan at full size, do a tiny bit of capture sharpening, do all your editing at full size, then, when you know what size you want to output, make a copy at that resolution and size with additional, appropriate sharpening. Only use that file for that size and that resolution. Period. If you decide to print bigger, then do it again.

And, to be blunt, if people are scanning with any scanner, with any scanner software, with the intent/hope that the output scan will be the final result, then they aren't taking their scanning seriously. Do you just do contact prints for everything, all the time? And if you do, is that because you chose to do a contact print and expected that print to be the final version, or did you perhaps have to make a lot of adjustments prior to that to get it the way you wanted?