Can someone help me in getting the best scanning settings for my Nikon super coolscan 5000. If I want to produce max quality scan from a 35mm slide. I am getting lost between resolution, crop, etc. The default settings does not looks good.
Unfortunately there's no easy answer since the ideal settings will be different for each image. Resolution is perhaps the exception: I would always scan at the highest resolution possible to produce a "master" file that I can later use for multiple outputs (so I don't have to repeat the PS work for each one).
Crop is obviously up to you, but very important is maximizing the dynamic range by doing a pre-scan and adjusting the white and black points according to the histogram.
Personally I don't worry about color accuracy form the scanner so I don't bother calibrating mine.I do all the color work in Photoshop which has much better tools for it.
Guy has forgotten more about scanning than I have ever learned, but for my money, I want my scan as close to color perfect as I can get. For that reason, I color calibrate my scanner. I don't mess with correcting color in the scan process other than making sure the scanner is calibrated, but it helps me a lot.
I usually scan at the native 'optical' resolution of my scanner. Reslutions above this value may show noise, since interpolation is done in the process. The best I can offer is to run some tests to see which resolution gives you the quality you need.
My scanner is calibrated and profiled. If needed, I will use the scanner software to remove color casts, then I work on the master image file in PS to fine tune and make further creative adjustments. I do not sharpen the scan, and I always set the black and white points to achieve the optimum dynamic range.
As Guy said, cropping is up to you. This is a creative decision you will have to make. When I scan, I scan the full frame to create a master file and then decide if cropping is warranted. On the other hand, if I see that the crop is extreme, I will crop at scan-time so that I can make a good high-resolution file from which to work. Experimenting/testing will show you the direction to take in your own work.
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3 repliesCan someone help me in getting the best scanning settings for my Nikon super coolscan 5000. If I want to produce max quality scan from a 35mm slide. I am getting lost between resolution, crop, etc. The default settings does not looks good.
Thanks
Crop is obviously up to you, but very important is maximizing the dynamic range by doing a pre-scan and adjusting the white and black points according to the histogram.
Personally I don't worry about color accuracy form the scanner so I don't bother calibrating mine.I do all the color work in Photoshop which has much better tools for it.
Guy
I usually scan at the native 'optical' resolution of my scanner. Reslutions above this value may show noise, since interpolation is done in the process. The best I can offer is to run some tests to see which resolution gives you the quality you need.
My scanner is calibrated and profiled. If needed, I will use the scanner software to remove color casts, then I work on the master image file in PS to fine tune and make further creative adjustments. I do not sharpen the scan, and I always set the black and white points to achieve the optimum dynamic range.
As Guy said, cropping is up to you. This is a creative decision you will have to make. When I scan, I scan the full frame to create a master file and then decide if cropping is warranted. On the other hand, if I see that the crop is extreme, I will crop at scan-time so that I can make a good high-resolution file from which to work. Experimenting/testing will show you the direction to take in your own work.
-PB