Scanner software??

[earthmanbuck]

Epson is offering free downloads of SilverFast 8 for Mac users who have certain scanner models in order to get around some features that aren't available in Epson Scan 2 because of incompatibility with Catalina (or something like that). I downloaded it for my V550 and gave it a go, and also scanned with Epson Scan 2 to compare. It was actually my first roll since I upgraded, so I hadn't used either program before (I used the old Epson Scan previously).

My first impression is that SilverFast is a better program—the scans came out a lot sharper. However, it is nowhere near as user friendly. I understand there's going to be a learning curve with all the extra functionality, but for the time being I have a couple burning questions I can't seem to find answers to:

1) Is there a way to save scan settings as a profile? It is defaulting the scan location to my Pictures folder every time, which I don't want. I would also like to to set my preferred PPI as the default.

2) Is there a way to add other film types in the colour profiles? I think it's a cool feature to be able to select what type of film you're scanning, but the particular one I used (TMax P3200) wasn't there. The old Epson Scan just had three basic settings (colour neg, colour slide, B&W), and that was fine for my purposes, but if they're giving extra options it would be nice to have options I'll use.

I think I had another one that's slipping my brain, so if I remember it I'll add it.

 

[earthmanbuck]

Bumping this—with a new title—because I'm losing my mind over here. I've been trying unsuccessfully to scan the same 11 frames for an hour and a half.

SilverFast does an awful lot, but it is probably the least user friendly program I have ever dealt with. I finally got it set up to scan what I wanted—including manually selecting each frame and waiting several minutes for it to dust correct each of these frames—and it crashed. It seems like it can create some good scans, but there's way too much work involved when I just want to see what's on my roll—especially if it's going to crash.

Epson Scan 2 is so much easier to use, but as far as I can tell it doesn't allow you to set a frame size (e.g. 4x6) and then manually place frames where you need them—which is a huge problem if the auto-detect function is not catching everything.

I basically just want something where I can choose whether I'm scanning neg or slide, what size the frames are, and manually select the frames if needed (including a zoom in feature so I can make sure I'm getting everything that needs to be in the frame). Does such a miracle program exist???

 

[webestang64]

I use Vuescan at work, mostly for prints on the flatbed and film with a Nikon Cool Scan 5000........ VueScan Scanner Software for macOS Catalina, Windows 10, and Linux

 

[Derrel]

I also use VueScan on my Minolta dedicated 35 mm film scanner, and on my Epson flatbed scanner. My software is several Generations old, since both are older scanners.

 

[Derrel]

Scan Magick???

 

[Alexr25]

I agree about Silverfast's lack of friendliness but its power and scan quality make it worth persevering.
Settings can be saved to a file and loaded from JobManager which is accessed through the "Image" menu or vis the shortcut "command J". Once you are in JobManager the basic functions such as save, name and retrieve settings are pretty intuitive.

 

[earthmanbuck]

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone...of course, right after I posted this I was able to get SilverFast working relatively painlessly. I think it was just a matter of getting it set up to that particular roll, but then it more or less saved the settings for each strip of film. However, I will keep these recommendations on hand for the next time I get overly frustrated.

 

[earthmanbuck]

Alright, anyone know what exactly is going on here? This was the result of trying to scan a black and white roll with SilverFast this evening. I restarted the program and the scanner numerous times and kept getting stuff like this. I eventually ended up using Epson Scan 2 for this roll.