While you are *learning* to scan, you should not expect to produce any scans
that meet the highest quality expectations you might have. I'm sorry to be
blunt about this, but from my own experience it will take 6 months to 1 year
of scanning and photo manipulation experience to really acquire skills that
will produce excellent scanning results consistently.
It depends on your quality standards. Certainly ALL manipulations harm
information. The expertise in scanning and post processing is centred on
effiiciently producing a pleasing result, whilst introducing the least
problems. My first few months' scans are not good, I re-did a lot of them
because I'd learnt so much. This was years ago now...
This subject is extremely difficult. I can't give you generalised advice.
Apart from anything else it's a matter of taste.
What I would advise is that you start scanning. Scan 5 or 10 rolls of film
over the next month, take your time and don't expect any of your results to
be "final".
Which slider to move? Any! When I first started scanning I only ever used
to use the Input sliders (black point, gamma and white point). Then after a
few months I progressed onto using Curves, having read the Margulis book.
Curves does everything that Levels can do, but much much more. It took me a
long time to get expert at it.
I can't recommend stuff on the web, because I read Margulis.
To deal with dark ground and bright sky look up techniques for "contrast
masking". e.g.
There's a lot of stuff about, here's another article:
t_masking.htm
Jawed
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Ed Verkaik [mailto:verkaik@sympatico.ca]
> Sent: 19 January 2004 22:36
> To: Jawed@cupidity.force9.co.uk
> Subject: Re: [filmscanners] RE: the histogram in Nikonscan
>
>
> The sliders on the left at the top and bottom of the Y axis,
> are the Output
> white and black point.
>
> It sounds to me like you are raising the output black point,
> which would
> indeed make the shadows of your picture lighter.
> >>>
>
> Jawed,
>
> Thanks for the reply! Can you tell me what the risks or
> negative consequences
> are of raising the output black point? I see it decreases
> contrast, but do you
> lose information, or introduce any other problems? We have
> to scan hundreds of
> slides with bright sky and dark ground and I wondered if
> lifting that slider up
> to brighten ground (rather than moving the midtones slider to
> brighten overall)
> is suitable. Do others regularly do this (or the equivalent
> in PS) or not?
>
> EdV
>
>
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