[filmscanners] RE: Suggestions for scanning 4x5 transparencies

["Laurie Solomon" <laurie@advancenet.net>]

What makes you think that printing grayscale using either the color inkset
to do it or even just the black ink from the inkset on inkjet paper would be
any different than printing in color other than the fact that there would
not be identifiable colors, althought the black may take on a color cast?
Be the inks pigmened or dye based, they are different than the dyes used in
and with photographic emulsions on either regular photographic papers or the
Ilfochrome papers.  While a high-end drum scan might help determine if it is
the printer or not, it may not be the sole factor if it does show some
difference.  Each type of media and process has its limits.  I think, if you
scanned the image in as a gray scale and converted it to RGB so the file
could be sent to a LightJet or a Chromira direct digital to photgraphic
print using Ilforchrome paper, you would find that the finished print would
be different in terms of snap and contrast than either the inkjet print or
the traditional Ilfochrome (if it were in color you would find that certain
colors did not have the same saturation as either the inkjet print or the
traditional Ilfochrome).

>The Epson printer did reproduce the grays much as we saw them on the
monitor.

Could that be because your monitor work space and printer profile were color
managed so that WSIWYG where as the monitor was not calibrated to a profile
for the Ilfochrome print (i.e., the paper, the dyes, the chemistry, and the
processing method specifics) so there was no WYSIWYG?

I am not trying to get on your case but only raising questions that need to
be attended to and researched.

-----Original Message-----
From: filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk
[mailto:filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk]On Behalf Of snsok@cox.net
Sent: Friday, October 25, 2002 9:14 PM
To: laurie@advancenet.net
Subject: [filmscanners] RE: Suggestions for scanning 4x5 transparencies


Thanks. Knowing the physical differences in the print media/ink, we avoided
any comparison of color and concentrated on differences in greys. The Epson
printer did reproduce the grays much as we saw them on the monitor.

For these two reasons, we thought the loss of contrast and snap in the grays
was more likely in the scan than in the print. I guess we could explore this
point by having the transparency scanned with a high-end drum scanner.

Stan

-----Original Message-----
From: filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk
[mailto:filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk]On Behalf Of Laurie Solomon
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 11:51 PM
To: snsok@cox.net
Subject: [filmscanners] RE: Suggestions for scanning 4x5 transparencies


>The grays in the
>image (lots of tree trunks) didn't pop out very well compared to an optical
>enlargement done on Cibachrome.

This may be more due to the Epson printer, the inks and papers used, and the
limitations of each than to the scanner per se. First Cibachromes (now
called Ilfochromes since its acquisition by Ilford) tend to be a much more
contrasty and vibrant media than is the case with inkjet inks and papers.
Moreover, each process uses dyes that have their own limitations which are
not the same; thus, achieving a similar outcome may be impossible no matter
what scanner one uses  with respect to this dimension.  This is not to say
that the choice of scanner may not have an impact on the nature and quality
of the scan; it just is not going to be the main determinant of the finished
print where the limnitations of the printer, inks, and papers will have a
greater bearing on the appearance of the finished product than the scan
unless the scan is really very poor or limnited in its quality.

-----Original Message-----
From: filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk
[mailto:filmscanners_owner@halftone.co.uk]On Behalf Of snsok@cox.net
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2002 7:58 PM
To: laurie@advancenet.net
Subject: [filmscanners] Suggestions for scanning 4x5 transparencies


A friend works mostly in 4x5 color transparencies. He's interested in
acquiring a scanner capable of producing a decent image file for printing up
to 13in x19in on a new Epson 2200 printer.

He had a 4x5 scanned on a flatbed at a local photo store. It looks like the
image was scanned at 1600 ppi. The Epson printer was able to produce a very
nice sharp image from it after adding some edge sharpening. The grays in the
image (lots of tree trunks) didn't pop out very well compared to an optical
enlargement done on Cibachrome.

Can someone lend some advice about particular flatbed scanners that might be
adequate for this situation. He would prefer not to spend as much as needed
for something like the Polaroid SS120. The Epson 2450 appears to have the
right stuff.

Thanks,

Stan Schwartz
snsok@cox.net

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