Hello everyone, looking for some help from folks who using an Epson V600 scanner. I’m currently scanning using 16b grayscale and not quite happy with my B&W scans. I would appreciate any help
Welcome to the forum @raisedbyorcas
We’re all glad to help…but we should have an idea why you’re not quite happy.
Can you give us a few hints?
Other than that, there’s always the guide (open it with the link in the black site header) and there are many settings and presets available in NLP’s second tab. Have you tried any of these?
I’m not sure I quite follow?
I don’t know why you are disappointed with your scans but I suppose it’s because of the scanning process.
The Epson V600 has an effective optical resolution of ~ 2400dpi. You do not need (and will be disappointed) if you scan at 6400dpi.
For inverting B/W scans with Negative Lab Pro, the documentation states to scan in RGB and to select the B/W film type in Negative Lab Pro.
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Yes, in fact according to tests with a USAF 1951 target the resolution is less than 2400 ppi, more like 1600 ppi. The same test with the premium Epson scanners gives 2400 ppi.
I feel like my scans are coming back soft. I know this isn’t user error camera wise because my lab scans are near perfect. So it must be something I’m doing wrong as far as scanning.
Also, where some of my confusion comes from in this process, based on a bunch of content I’ve on here, Reddit, and other websites is, should I be scanning in color and converting to black and white or should I be scanning in black and white?
So basically this scanner is scanning documents and that its ability to scan 135 and 120 film are bonus features?
It is a very decent scanner for scanning printed photos and for scanning film negatives in an okay resolution for the web. As long as you don’t scan far beyond 2400dpi.
I have the same scanner and I also have problems with soft scans when scanning at 6400dpi. I made a rookie mistake when doing my first batch of scans this way.
A dedicated film scanner (e.g. from Plustek) will outperform the V600 for analog film.
Regarding your B/W workflow, I strongly suggest to adhere to the approach recommended by NLP (scan in RGB, preferably as linear RAW (RAW DNG in Vuescan) instead of TIFF as the linear RAW format will offer better color inversion (less banding) than regular TIFF.
I’m new here. Is there a link to that method?
Find the user guide here:
I have tiff files how do I use them with NLP
No. it is better than a document or print scanner, that only requires 600 ppi generally, and of course it is a transparency/negative scanner, not just reflective. You just have to be realistic about the maximum resolution obtainable which, as has been said, bears no relation to Epson’s claimed resolution.
This is from the conclusion you shared which negates what you said
“The Epson Perfection V600 Photo is a flatbed scanner, intended mainly for scanning paper originals. The ability to scan photographic prints, slides and negatives should be considered a mere add-on feature for occasionally scanning the one or other item. The image quality is completely adequate for scanning documents. As for scanning photographic prints, it is to be considered rather modest, and for digitizing slides and negatives, it’s simply insufficient.”
Not sure any of the information being shared is helpful.
As I said, you have to be realistic about the resolution you can get from it, 1600 ppi is not great. You didn’t initially explain what your problem was with the your results that caused you to make this post in the first place, suggesting that it must be a problem with how you were using NLP. Your screenshot seems to suggest that your scan is actually out of focus which would be a scanner problem unless it is a setting in the software. These scanners should be able to achieve focus on the glass for documents or a fixed distance above the glass for film in the holder. Sometimes this second setting is not accurate and so holders were made with adjustable height to allow for this. The depth of focus is very shallow.
NLP has all the necessary functions and lists a few hints on its first tab.
Read the hints (see green box)
Set your preferences (red box)
After converting, you’ll see this.
Select a ToneProfile (try to find the one that creates an image that is close to what you want)
Adjust to taste with the sliders in the green box or anything else.
Don’t expect to magically get “the best” result.
“Best” is very subjective and others might want other looks than you.
Try things and learn what and how to adjust for the results you like/want/need.
If the softness were coming from inadequate resolution (PPI) in the file, you would see hints of pixelation. That is not what I’m seeing in this photo. This photo looks simply out of focus, which could come from mainly two things: (1) the negative is not as sharp as you may have imagined because of an issue focusing the camera when you made the exposure - and remember often times this problem doesn’t show up on 4x6 prints from a film lab, but will show up magnified well beyond that on a computer monitor; or, (2) the negative is sharp but the scanner is out of focus because the distance between the film and the scanner lens is wrong. I recommend trying different heights of the film holder first to see whether that solves the problem. A third possibility is that the scanner lens is not very good, but I don’t think that should be an issue within the technically recommended limits of scan dimensions for negatives using this model. The lens should be able to yield sharper results than what we see in this scene. You could test the lens quality with a scan of a reflective target intended for this purpose.