Scanning is done in several steps. First, a thumbnail index of the filmstrip is generated. From this index, a preselection is made. In the next step, previews of the selected images are generated. Then, the preview must be edited to prepare the image for the scan. This chapter describes these steps in detail. There are hardly any differences among Nikon Scan, VueScan, and SilverFast in the scanning procedure. For best results, none of these steps should be skipped; but for high-volume processing, a step might be skipped to save time.
Contents
| Thumbnail Index – Filmstrip Offset and Presorting |
| Preview – Corrections Before the Scan |
| Scan – Create the Image File |
| Multi-Sampling/Multi-Exposure |
The index scan is the quickest way to get an overview of the inserted filmstrip. The thumbnails on the index are low-resolution and can only give a rough idea of image quality, but they are good enough to presort and to correct any filmstrip offset.
For negatives with normal exposure, there is a pronounced contrast between image and frame gap. For these, automatic image positioning works reliably. However, it is a different story for night shots, where image background and frame gap have almost the same density. In those cases, the frames may have to be manually aligned. Many programs from scanner manufacturers do not provide for manual alignment, but VueScan, SilverFast, and Nikon Scan are all capable.
The most convenient place to rotate or mirror the images is in the thumbnail view, although it is still possible later in the preview or final scan. Rotating in the thumbnail view prevents the possibility of creating reversed images by mistake.
The thumbnail index is only available if there is more than one image in the scanner. This feature simplifies batch processing. VueScan cannot generate thumbnails but goes straight to the preview instead. However, it can save a thumbnail index in parallel with previews and scans. Silver-Fast can save thumbnails directly, but Nikon Scan cannot.