RE: filmscanners: Magnification of light - AND brief density math lesson...

["Austin Franklin" <darkroom@ix.netcom.com>]

> But thank you for the explanation, as I've gleaned enough from it
> to get the
> basic idea (which is all I really need anyway).

You're welcome!

> Austin, have you ever written out _your_ workflow?  I'd be very interested
> in reading it, along with what products (hardware, scanner s/w,
> other tools)
> you use.

I'm a REAL minimalist.  I develop my own film, and make sure it has NO
particulate matter on it after it is dry, and put it into ClearFile holders
to keep dust off of them, then into a 3 ring SEALED notebook, and into a
file cabinet.  I use a filtered film drying cabinet.

I use compressed air and blow any particulate matter off them before
scanning.  I am anal about this, I do NOT do any dust spotting in PS unless
I have NO choice.

I use a Leafscan 45.  It has a single ND filter for scanning B&W, so I avoid
ALL the problems associated with scanning RGB and converting.  I always scan
at optical resolution of the scanner.  I set my setpoints in the scanner
driver, set my tonal curve in the scanner driver, and scan.  I may make two
or three final scans if I don't like something...but I do NO adjustments in
PS except image size with no interpolation.

My scanner does 16 bit scans and applies the setpoints and tonal curve to
the high bit data and returns 8 bit data to me.  It really is a simple
workflow...and I believe I get fantastic results.  I use no USM, nor any
other three letter acronym on my scan data.  The most I do is use the stamp
tool to make up for some defect, possibly a scratch, in the negative.