Hello group,
I have a few workflow questions that I hope to have answered by the
group, in
order to work on images for my website, and for printing to an inkjet
printer
for personal display.
I have a Nikon Coolscan II, and the last Nikon software update for it. I
also
have Silverfast 3, with the last updates for that version. Ed Hamrick is
faster
than I am, I just downloaded Vuescan 6.7.1 a week or two ago, and now he
has
6.7.2 out, I don't know if there is anything new in it that will work
with the
old Nikon.
I run Picture Publisher 8 for image editing, and have Photoshop 4
coming, I
found a new, unopened copy on clearance price, which will make it a lot
more
affordable to run than buying the more recent versions at $1000
Canadian!
My computer is a Packard Bell PII, running Windows 95, with 48 MB of
memory,
and I have an Epson 860 Color Stylus printer on LPT 1. I am reluctant to
upgrade
to Windows 98 or 2000, as I don't know if it will recognize some of my
legacy
devices like the old AZT modem, or the Adaptec SCSI card, or the
Coolscan.
Here are the questions I am looking for some assistance with:
1. Which of the three scanner software programs is the most likely to
give me
a usable scan?
2. For web images, should I set the final size pre-scan, and pick a 72
dpi resolution
then, or is it better to scan at a higher resolution and then reduce it
after
editing?
3. For printing to the inkjet, I have read here and other places that
the image
I send to print should be about 1/3 of printer resolution. The Epson 860
is
1440 x 780, or thereabouts. Which number should I be 1/3 of, the 1440 or
the
780?
4. Should I upgrade to Vuescan 6.7.2?
5. Can I upgrade my OS with losing the modem or scanner? It would be
nice to
be able to use the printer's USB connection, which I don't think is
supported
very well in Win 95
Any information would be appreciated, I have just begun to experiment in
the
digital darkroom, and hope the collective experience of the film scanner
group
will be able to help me along the way.
Noel Charchuk
Calgary, Alberta
--
