In this article I will describe the second component of the CMS option in SilverFast Ai and SilverFast Ai Studio. [Read more →]
Short movie shot on a flatbed scanner
March 4th, 2010 · Distraction, Humour, Scanner, SilverFast, Uncategorized, Video
This short movie was shot entirely with a flatbed scanner. It’s called “memoirs of a scanner” and it tells us an interesting story packed with…..nah! See yourself!
BTW the filmmakers used a HP flatbed and it was not documented whether SilverFast was involved. Pls put a note in our comments area if anybody knows any details.
new SilverFast Video on youtube
March 3rd, 2010 · HowTo, Reviews, SilverFast, Video
After the IT-Enquirer extensively covered SilverFast recently, Erik Vlietinck has made a video to demonstrate, how uncomplicated it is, to bring color-faded negatives back to life in no time using the SilverFast Archive Suite.
Watch the video on youtube
or read the latest IT-Enquirer articles:
- Bringing back to life colour-faded negatives in ten minutes
- What can software do to improve a scan?
→ No CommentsTags: it-enquirer·photo archive·SilverFast·workflow·youtube
Quicktip: Color Management System in SilverFast (part 1)
February 26th, 2010 · HowTo, Photography, Processing, Quicktips, Scanner, SilverFast, Tips and Tutorials, analogue photography
Basically color management allows for a complete controlled color reproduction through the entire imaging workflow.
In other words, the colors of your originals are maintained over the entire process of manipulation with a high accuracy percentage.
There are two color management systems in SilverFast scan software, the one contained in SilverFast Ai and Ai Studio and the one found in SilverFast SE or SE Plus.
This first article is dedicated exclusively to explaining the color management system in SilverFast Ai and Ai Studio.
SilverFast Ai and SilverFast Ai Studio
This big versions of the scanning software SilverFast have a very complete color management system which allow for a completely controlled scans in terms of color.
To access the color management system in SilverFast please click the “options” button (under Mac select the general tab first):
Options button
In the options dialogue click the “CMS” tab
CMS tab
The CMS dialogue has three main sections
Color management system's sections
The first section “Color management” lets you define how SilverFast will communicate with your different devices and which color profiles will be used for that task.
Color management section
Input -> Internal menu specifies the color space system that will be used between your scanner and your program (either SilverFast or your post-processing applications). ColorSync for the Macintosh and ICM (image color matching) for windows.
The option none is also present in case you want to give up color accuracy between your scanner and the programs.
Input -> Monitor menu specifies the color space system that will be used between your program (SilverFast or editing application) and your computer monitor.
Again, ColorSync for Mac and ICM for Windows.
None if you want to pass data to your monitor without any matching
Automatic if photoshop should take care of how colors are presented by your monitor. This option is active only when starting SilverFast from within photoshop.
Input -> Output menu specifies the color mode that will be used for the resulting file or image (either electronic or printed). This defines the type of data transferred either to your printer or to your imaging application (e.g. photoshop, corel draw, etc.)
there are four options here:
- RGB is recommended if the scanned images will be used for internet or other digital media like DVD’s, CD rom, etc.
- ColorSync/ICM should be selected if a printer color profile should be integrated to the resulting file or printed picture
- LAB CIE Lab represent all visible colors and is device or media independent, many colors contained within this color system can not be represented by normal computer monitors, most printers, paper, etc. This should be used by professionals and scientists who work and know how to interpret the values represented in this color space.
- P&P CMYK mode tells SilverFast to internally make the four color separation for printing. If you plan to make post processing in photoshop or any other external editor, you should make sure the same color space is active there, having different profiles ind both applications might lead to color discrepancies.
The second section “Profiles for ColorSync / Profiles for ICM” will be explained in the following article.
→ 1 CommentTags: Alejandro Morales·Color management system·Color Managemet System·Colour Management System·Farbverwaltung·SilverFast Ai
Digital Analogue – beautiful stop-motion video
February 10th, 2010 · Digital Photography, Distraction, Humour, Photography, Video, analogue photography
Really cool video made from a combination of old cameras mixed together with modern day sound and video. I even recognized some cameras I used to photograph with – back in the days.
Quicktip: Scanning 35mm film for Full HD TV output
January 29th, 2010 · Digital Photography, HowTo, analogue photography
The previous three articles (I, II and III) should provide users with the necessary tools for managing resolution in SilverFast.
And the introductory article Scanning for TV explains some common issues to be taken into consideration. [Read more →]
→ No CommentsTags: Alejandro Morales·Photography·scan·scanning for tv·SilverFast
Quicktip: Managing resolution controls in SilverFast (Part III):
January 12th, 2010 · Digital Photography, HowTo, News, Photography, Photography Business, Processing, Quicktips, Scanner, SilverFast, Tips and Tutorials
The previous articles (part 1 and part 2) described the different parts of the resolution control panel in SilverFast, how to use the resolution slider and the “Q-Factor and Screen” values.
The last part of the article deals with the input-output value entries of the resolution panel (number 3 of the graphic) [Read more →]
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SilverFast for the Reflecta ProScan 7200
December 26th, 2009 · News, Scanner, SilverFast, analogue photography
The german specialist for slide technology Reflecta has introduced the new CCD scanner ProScan 7200 for quick image processing at the end of november. The ProScan 7200 scans 35mm negativ and positiv filmstrips as well as framed slides with an optical resolution of 3600dpi x 3600dpi and a color depth of 48bit. An additional infrared channel built into the scanner enables automatic dust and scratch removal.
The SilverFast scanner software was specially adjusted to the technical details of the ProScan 7200 for achieving optimum results.*
More information on SilverFast for your Reflecta ProScan 7200 as well as downloadable test versions you can get here …
* Note: SilverFast supports the ProScan 7200 under Windows 2000, XP and Vista by now. Versions for Windows 7 and Mac OS X will follow early in 2010.
Auto-Sharpening function USM for SilverFast HDR and DC is now aligned to the scanner
December 25th, 2009 · HDR, News, Processing, Scanner, SilverFast
The human perception is aligned to the recognition of edges and lines. So the sharpness impression of photos can be increased by contrast rise of small brightness changes. Conventional sharpening functions often increase the detail contrast of the complete image in general and therefore strengthen also any image interference of the original, details get lost. In contrast the SilverFast Unsharp Masking USM carefully raises the contrast at edges and lines. The sharpened images appear losslessly much more detailed. [Read more →]
→ No CommentsTags: digitizing·effective tools·image quality·SilverFast·unsharp masking·USM·workflow
Quicktip: Managing resolution controls in SilverFast (Part II):
December 24th, 2009 · Digital Photography, HowTo, News, Photography, Printing, Processing, Quicktips, Scanner, SilverFast, Tips and Tutorials, analogue photography
In the Previous article I described the different parts of the resolution control panel in SilverFast, and how to use the resolution slider.
This article deals with the second part of the resolution panel, the “Q-Factor and Screen” values.
Where Q-Factor stands for Quality factor and Screen value is related to the lines per inch used for printing.
I know, it looks very complicated and confusing. But don’t worry, the default values are optimized to obtain the best quality possible.
These two values are part of a formula derived from the analogue printing world where screening technology is used to create different shades of gray (if you carefully look at a printed picture in a magazine or newspaper with a magnifying glass, you will be able to see this matrix of dots which create the picture).
As I mentioned, the formula is by default optimized.
The short and understandable version of the formula is:
Q-Factor x Screen (lpi)= dpi
The purpose of this is to scan pictures with the optimal resolution for analogue printing and optimal file size. If your pictures are to be printed with a digital printer (like the one in almost every household), this should not be a matter of concern for you (and it is recommended to leave this as is).
If you are working with magazines and newspapers then you should discuss this with your editor and printer to exactly know the values and the sizes they will be printing your images so the quality loss is reduced to its minimum.
The use of this values does not necessarily mean true optical resolution, it is likely that some sort of interpolation will take place (regularly for downscaling).
A more detailed explanation can be found here
In the next article I will explain the scale and output values equation (part 3 of the resolution panel) and how this can be used combined with the “resolution slider” or the “Q-Factor_Screen” formula to obtain the desired results in terms of resolution.
→ No CommentsTags: image quality·Q-factor screen value·scaning resolution