Books on scanning

[Robert Brummitt]

Hello,
I'm somewhat new to scanning and I was thinking of buying this book,"Scanning Negatives and Slides: Digitizing Your Photographic Archives" It seems interesting and full of how to's but maybe you all know a better book.
I hate to fork out $30 and find there is something better.
I have an image(See Onion photo. Bottom right) that I noticed has Scanner Banding and this is what got me started on my quest to use my scanner better.
   

[KeithR]

Hello,
I'm somewhat new to scanning and I was thinking of buying this book,"Scanning Negatives and Slides: Digitizing Your Photographic Archives" It seems interesting and full of how to's but maybe you all know a better book.
I hate to fork out $30 and find there is something better.
I have an image(See Onion photo. Bottom right) that I noticed has Scanner Banding and this is what got me started on my quest to use my scanner better.
  
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Not sure about the book, but I found this site to be a big help!
[a href=\"http://www.scantips.com/]http://www.scantips.com/[/url]
When I started to do scans, this site answered a lot of questions. I found it very helpful!

[Per Ofverbeck]

Hello,
I'm somewhat new to scanning and I was thinking of buying this book,"Scanning Negatives and Slides: Digitizing Your Photographic Archives" It seems interesting and full of how to's but maybe you all know a better book.
I hate to fork out $30 and find there is something better.
I have an image(See Onion photo. Bottom right) that I noticed has Scanner Banding and this is what got me started on my quest to use my scanner better.
  
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

If you´re going to use VueScan software (which is an excellent choice), there are few better sources of information than David Stein´s tutorials:

[a href=\"http://homepage.mac.com/onelucent/VS/vsm.html]http://homepage.mac.com/onelucent/VS/vsm.html[/url]

and

http://homepage.mac.com/onelucent/VS/vsc.html

I´m sure you´ll find useful stuff on these pages even if you use some other software.

[Chris_T]

Hello,
I'm somewhat new to scanning and I was thinking of buying this book,"Scanning Negatives and Slides: Digitizing Your Photographic Archives" It seems interesting and full of how to's but maybe you all know a better book.
I hate to fork out $30 and find there is something better.
I have an image(See Onion photo. Bottom right) that I noticed has Scanner Banding and this is what got me started on my quest to use my scanner better.
  
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Based on your other post, I assume that you will be as critical about your scans as you are with your print presentation. My following comments are based on this assumption.

I have been scanning 35mm transparencies for a few years, and only wish that I started out with this book. If I were only able to get one or two nuggets out of it (and there are plenty), it would have worthed the $30. First and foremost, it talks about "raw scans", which most scan books/tutorials don't touch. Then it gets down into details about the best film types and mounts for scans. And there are plenty more in between.

Regardless of which scanner, or scanning books/tutorials you end up with, the most critical concept you should start with is to separate and understand how a scanner's hw and a scanning sw is contributing to a scan. But here's where the problem starts for many scan newbies. The scanner manufacturers seem to go out of their way to blur/hide the distinctions. (Actually, the camera manufacturers tend to do the same, until raw comes along.) The books/tutorials (including scantips) further the confusion by suggesting to "get the best possible scans" from the scanner. Here are two articles on raw scans to get you started:

[a href=\"http://www.naturephotographers.net/mh0202-1.pdf]http://www.naturephotographers.net/mh0202-1.pdf[/url]  (Note "Input Method 2)

http://www.lumika.org/gear_nikon_scan_vs_photoshop.htm

Any decent film scanner's native sw will support raw scans, but unfortunately you will have to dig through the manuals to find out how to do it, or search online for such tutorials. If you do, you will not need any third party sw, unless you want something to speed up the process, such as batch scanning, etc.

[Chris_T]

If you´re going to use VueScan software (which is an excellent choice), there are few better sources of information than David Stein´s tutorials:

http://homepage.mac.com/onelucent/VS/vsm.html

and

http://homepage.mac.com/onelucent/VS/vsc.html

I´m sure you´ll find useful stuff on these pages even if you use some other software.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=200702\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

My experience with Vuescan was not positive, perhaps I missed these tutorials. To begin with, the trial version does not support raw scans. While VS is revised every other week, or so it seems (which you may consider either positive or negative), the manual has not been updated for years, and there are no revision release notes to describe the operational changes along the way. Some call it a non-stop beta, for good reasons.

[Doug Fisher]

>>I noticed has Scanner Banding and this is what got me started on my quest to use my scanner better.<<

Have you done the basic thing and made sure that the top two inches of the glass scanner bed are absolutely spotless and smudge free?  Problems there can easily cause banding.

As I posted on the large format forum, here is a good Silverfast tutorial:

http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/si...-scanning.shtml

Doug

[dmerger]

I agree with Chris T and the advice in his links.  I get the best results by using my scanner software to make just hardware adjustments (focus, exposure, ICE) and make all software adjustment in Photoshop.  The only time I can see any reason to make software adjustment with scanning software is if your scanner can capture in high bit but output only in 8 bit.  If that is the case, you'd be better off buying a decent scanner.

[interpolator]

Hello,
I'm somewhat new to scanning and I was thinking of buying this book,"Scanning Negatives and Slides: Digitizing Your Photographic Archives" It seems interesting and full of how to's but maybe you all know a better book.
  
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=200607\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I read the above book by Sascha Steinhoff.  It is very good for an entry level how to of scanning.  It is especialially useful to owners who use the Nikon Coolscan scanners; as the author uses almost all of his examples using the Nikon product.  The author does a rudimentary comparison of Nikon Scan 4, Vuescan and Silverfast software and does a basic discussion of the need for color management in scanning.  If you have some familiarity with scanning you are left asking for more; as it really is pretty basic.

Regarding color managment in scanning, I believe Andrew Rodney's color management books has a chapter on scanning that is far more concentrated and useful on the color management aspects of scanning.

[Robert Brummitt]

Thanks for the help. I spoke with someone and he thought that maybe its not me but the scanner itself. He suggested that I rotate the image 90 degrees and seen if I get the banding again.
I went over to the local library to get its one book on scanning. Hopefully it will provide tips and ideas.
I think I will also invest in a class on how to scan at the local Community College. It just shows you that even how simple that scanning can be. There are ways that it can foul you up as easily.