Hi Mark,
That's interesting. Does Silverfast scan both RGB and IR at the same time?
Cheers,
Bart
OK, I was a bit "shorthand" in my initial response, so you wouldn't be able to know exactly what is implied. The operative phrase is "at the same time" - what does one mean by that. The answer can be yes or no depending. So let me take you through the procedure and there will be no further ambiguity.
To get one thing out of the way first in light of the post just under your first one - SilverFast does not use - and for a great many years never has used ICE for dust and scratch removal. It has its own tool called iSRD for scanners with an infrared channel and it is superior to ICE. I won't side-track into the whys and wherefores of iSRD in this thread, except to say anyone associating ICE with SilverFast doesn't know SilverFast. As well, for the benefit of RIP to know, in SilverFast 8.5 for the Epson V850 the "Find Frames" tool finds and delineates all the frames in the scan frame extremely quickly and accurately. I just did it to make sure what I knew before is still true, and it is.
Now, turning to the use of iSRD in batch scanning mode, let us say that I insert two strips of 4 negatives (8 images or to be 8 frames) into the holder, place the holder onto the scanner platen, close the lid, fire-up SilverFast. Here are the steps:
In the top row of Image settings: select Transparency, Negative, 48 bit, Filmstrip 35mm filmstrip holder (this is important). Then hit Prescan. The pre-scan of the whole page takes less than 30 seconds. Then enter Frames and hit Find Frames and again select 35mm filmstrip holder (important). This finds all eight frames accurately in less than 5 seconds. Let us say we want to scan all eight in a batch with the same settings using iSRD. Select any one frame and open the iSRD tool. This tool can be customized in several useful ways, but again, a topic for another thread. Keeping it set to Automatic is usually just fine. In the Scan Dimensions panel, select the resolution and linear dimensions you want, and the folder you want the images to end-up in. Make any other adjustments you want right here (or wait to do a number of those in an external editor - partly a matter of preference, but again a whole other topic for another thread - or - shameless plug - in my book). Go to frames and click on Apply Settings to All Frames (important). Hold down the Scan button for a few seconds until it says Batch Scan. Click and go for coffee. While you are having coffee SilverFast and the Epson V850 will dutifully scan all eight frames all with iSRD doing its thing. In the process of doing this, it makes two passes - one for the RGB channels immediately followed by one for the iSRD, so they are sequential, not simultaneous, but they require no user intervention.
As for the time taken, in the example I quoted above, where 3600PPI at negative native dimensions in 16 bit, SilverFast with the Epson V850 took 3 minutes and 16 seconds for one complete sequential pass of the RGB and IR channels and processing the file into the folder I destined the images. Each file is 113.2 MB. Opened in Photoshop and resized but not resampled to 360 PPI (say for the Epson printer), the linear dimensions for these scans are 9.45 by 14.17 inches.
As for the OPs concern about wear and tear on the scanner: I don't know of a process that performs both the RGB and IR scans simultaneously in one pass - that doesn't mean there isn't one; I am simply unaware of it. The engine will last as long as it it is designed for under normal use which includes scanning with the IR channel. This isn't exactly a low-end device so personally I would not be concerned about this. Your real concern should be process convenience and time taken. In this regard SilverFast 8.5 with this scanner model is a very good batch scanning solution. Long-winded amplification of my initial two-word suggestion! :-)
