Which software tools for hybrid work flow?

[Doug A]

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When I had a darkroom years ago, virtually all of my photographic output was full frame prints of 35mm B&W negatives on 8x10 paper. I recently started using film again and I am tending in the same direction. I am using an M2, Tri-X and BW400CN, a Canon 8800F scanner and an HP 7660 printer. For scanning I use the ArcSoft Photo Studio 4 software that came with the scanner. For post processing and printing I have been using iPhoto, but I downloaded a trial version of Lightroom 3 yesterday and started experimenting with it.

 

I'd appreciate some advice concerning software, keeping in mind that my plan is to scan B&W negatives and print them on 8-1/2x11 paper. VueScan is often mentioned on these forums. Would it be a good choice, or should I look at other scanning software too? Last night I used Lightroom to spot several photos that I recently scanned from negatives I shot and developed 30 years ago. It went very well. I like Lightroom. I've read good things about Aperture 3 but I've also read about memory leak problems that have kept me from trying the trial version. Any thoughts on these two programs, or other options I should consider? (I've read enough about Photoshop to conclude that it's too complicated for me.)

 

Thanks in advance!

 

--Doug

[chrism]

Vuescan is a great bargain. This article gives the basics on how to get the best from it. Lightroom can do vastly more than iPhoto, and despite being a dedicated Apple user these many years, I find it suits me better than Aperture.

 

Chris

[Doug A]

Thank you for the pointer to the article. It confirms my impression that VueScan is well supported by both the publisher and the user community. I just bought the Professional Edition.

 

One thing I didn't mention is that in addition to my own work I also help with my wife's post processing and printing. Her work is 100% digital color and much larger in volume than mine. We like to keep our projects separate. (Neither of us will say it but she is a better photographer than I am.) We will continue using iPhoto for her work because it meets all of her needs and she is comfortable with it. Using Lightroom for my own work would help to keep the projects separate in my mind, as well as separate on the hard disk.

 

--Doug

[Lucklik]

We will continue using iPhoto for her work because it meets all of her needs and she is comfortable with it. Using Lightroom for my own work would help to keep the projects separate in my mind, as well as separate on the hard disk.

 

--Doug

 

With the free iPhoto Library Manager it is very easy to use separate photo libraries.

[andym911]

I also have a mainly hybrid workflow.

 

I use either the Coolscan or Epson flatbed scanner.I have never really understood why Vuescan is so popular or indeed needed, I use the Nikon/Epson original scan software and find it very good, and not lacking.

 

For managing and editing I use LR and PSElements.

 

That gives me all the tools that I need to be able to have the files ready for print.

 

Good luck and enjoy

 

Andy

[NZDavid]

I don't think Photoshop would be too complicated, and Elements is a reasonable price. If you use a Mac, Graphic Converter does all the basics (and more besides) and is very economical. See: Apple photo software - Mac picture editor, photo editor, image editor, graphics conversion

[iShutterbug]

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Doug,

 

I started out the same way. I have practically every software package up to date but I only use Photoshop and a few filters/plugins. I agree with NZDavid and my recommendation is if you are going to go through a learning curve then why not learn the best and most powerful. You don't have to start out using every feature, just what you decide to put out the picture you want.

 

I infer you're doing your own b&w film processing--so you get a gold star--okay a silver halide star--but I have to add you might try shooting color negative film (and getting it developed at CVS or Walgreens) because one day you might wake up and decide you want to experiment with color. In doing so you will find that you have much more data "information" in each negative that you can utilize [in Photoshop], especially with black and white prints as the desired end result. And nobody would know the difference and you'd end up with superior prints. Specifically, the Nik Silver Efex Pro plugin for Photoshop lets you--among many other things--easily select various "filters" (yellow, red, blue, orange, green, etc.) you can modify all or selected parts of your image and the results are absolutely stunning and IMHO the heights of creativity. You can't do that if you took the picture in b&w, you're stuck. Once you see that power and creativity you'll never go back to "just" b&w I think. Would you go back to writing with a typewriter vs. word processor, the sliderule vs. the calculator or even computer? THIMK!

 

Don

[chrism]

I have never really understood why Vuescan is so popular or indeed needed, I use the Nikon/Epson original scan software and find it very good, and not lacking.

 

Andy,

I think the reason is that Vuescan simply works on Macs. Nikon Scan is no longer being updated on the Mac, and some Mac users find it either won't open or keeps crashing. The Epson software that came with my last Epson flatbed stopped working after a minor OS upgrade and I switched to Vuescan at that point for that particular scanner. I'm lucky in that I can still get Minolta DImage Scan and NikonScan 4 to open on my Macs for the 5400 and the 9000, but to tell the truth, I find it easier and faster to use Vuescan for both of them, especially since I am always working in the same environment. I find it rather amazing that Ed Hamrick provides versions of Vuescan for Windows, Mac and Linux, that it supports just about every scanner on the market, and that there is an update almost every time I open the app! All this for next to nothing when compared to the price of Silverfast restricted to one scanner only. Such software providers must be encouraged!

 

Chris

[Doug A]

Thanks for the responses. I've pretty much decided what to do for now.

 

I bought the Professional version of VueScan. I like working with it and the results with my Canon 8800F have been excellent.

 

After playing with the trial version of Lightroom 3 for a while I downloaded the trial version of Aperture 3 to compare it. The first thing I saw when the canned intro ran were the Faces and Places features. Interesting toys, but of no real use to me. But I persevered and edited a few of the files in Aperture that I had already done in Lightroom. I found I could achieve just about the same results, but I found that I prefer the Lightroom work environment. (I use ed commands in a vi environment in Terminal on the Mac to edit Unix files. Mode switching feels natural to me.)

 

I have also learned that graphical editors like Silver Efex Pro or even Photoshop can be run inside Lightroom, so committing to Lightroom as a front end does not preclude using other editors. Unless something major changes in the next couple of weeks I will buy Lightroom when the trial period expires.

 

--Doug

[Doug A]

I infer you're doing your own b&w film processing--so you get a gold star--okay a silver halide star--but I have to add you might try shooting color negative film (and getting it developed at CVS or Walgreens) because one day you might wake up and decide you want to experiment with color.

Don,

 

I am already working with color negatives. My return to film began when I decided I would scan some, if not all, of the hundreds of rolls of b&w and color film I shot in the 50's, 60's and 70's. At the time I developed the b&w film, made proof sheets, and printed only a few shots. I had the color film commercially processed and chose a few shots from the 3-1/2 x 5 prints for larger commercially made prints.

 

As I work my way through the old negatives now I find that I prefer my b&w work, just as I did when I took them. I am now converting a number of the color files to b&w. Lightroom has some pretty interesting editing tools for doing that, including color filters like you mentioned.

 

Looking at all of my old film eventually convinced me to shoot some new film. I bought an M2 and a CV f2.5/35 Color-Skopar and started shooting Tri-X which I develop myself and BW400CN which I take to Walgreen. Then just last week I scanned some really dusty and scratched color negatives with the infrared dust removal set to high and was amazed by the results. When I took the last roll of BW400CN to Walgreen I bought a roll of Kodak Ultra Max 400. It's in the M2 now.

 

--Doug