Posted by Tom Guffey on January 10, 2008 at 5:51 PM
Has anyone installed Siverfast software on a Nikon Coolscan 5000? Wondering if there is a significant improvement on the finished scans. Any input/comments would be welcome.
Tom, I do not have a Coolscan, but if you are using the original scanner software and have the Silverfast, I recommend trying it. I used my original ScanPro software that came with my Microtek and it worked OK. However, after waiting almost a year later I installed the Silverfast and like it better. To me, it seems to just have a better quality to start with once brought into PS for follow up work.
Silverfast is excellent. I use Silverfast AI with my Microtek 1800f. I also use the Scan Pro software from Microtek.
Sometimes, Scan Pro will give me a better scan than Silverfast, and vice versa. My scanner and my monitor are calibrated and profiled, so I don't know why there should be any difference. I suppose that some transparencies simply scan better using one driver or the other.
Silverfast is excellent! If you have not installed it from the CD supplied with your scanner, go ahead and install it. Once it's installed and registered, go the Silverfast website and then download and install the lastest version. You'll be happy with it.
-PB
Posted by Tom Guffey on January 11, 2008 at 3:34 PM
Thanks guys, for the input!
Posted by Mike DiVita on January 12, 2008 at 1:14 AM
Tom,
I've used Silverfast with my 5000ED with good success. It's no faster than NikonScan. With the additional IT8 scanner calibration, the color did come out more consistant then NikonScan. I still needed to work the files in Photoshop though. I also had a problem with the NikonScan as it stopped working after loading either CS or CS2, I don't remember which. At the time Nikon claimed the software wasn't supported to run from CS(2?) but I couldn't get it run standalone either without crashing. Documentation for Silverfast is pretty poor but Ian Lyon's website has some excellent tutorials on how to set things up properly.
Discussion
4 repliesSometimes, Scan Pro will give me a better scan than Silverfast, and vice versa. My scanner and my monitor are calibrated and profiled, so I don't know why there should be any difference. I suppose that some transparencies simply scan better using one driver or the other.
Silverfast is excellent! If you have not installed it from the CD supplied with your scanner, go ahead and install it. Once it's installed and registered, go the Silverfast website and then download and install the lastest version. You'll be happy with it.
-PB
I've used Silverfast with my 5000ED with good success. It's no faster than NikonScan. With the additional IT8 scanner calibration, the color did come out more consistant then NikonScan. I still needed to work the files in Photoshop though. I also had a problem with the NikonScan as it stopped working after loading either CS or CS2, I don't remember which. At the time Nikon claimed the software wasn't supported to run from CS(2?) but I couldn't get it run standalone either without crashing. Documentation for Silverfast is pretty poor but Ian Lyon's website has some excellent tutorials on how to set things up properly.
Mike