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Quicktip: Managing resolution controls in SilverFast (Part II):

December 24th, 2009 · No Comments · analogue photography, Digital Photography, HowTo, News, Photography, Printing, Processing, Quicktips, Scanner, SilverFast, Tips and Tutorials

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.

Resolution panel

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.

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