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Scanning your prints with flatbedscanner?


SchokkerJJ

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I was wondering if some persons here on the Leica forum use a flatbedscanner to scan their prints that came out of the darkroom.

 

I am thinking of buying a scanner to scan my bw prints so I can show them on internet...any advice on a suitable scanner or some scanned examples?

 

 

Thanks!

 

Jeroen

 

Schokker Photography

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hi valtof, I am not planning to scan my negatives because I already have a Dual scan IV negative scanner. I do a lot of b&w darkroom (full frame) printing, mostly 7 x 9,5 in. and I want to scan these prints for webuse only. So I think a very basic scanner will do the job?

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If you can edit properly, then for web presentation few will be able to pick out your flatbed scans of negatives from those gathered from the dedicated film scanner. It took solid work to get the film scanner to do as good a job when I first got it. For prints it is another matter, but for web presentation only, of documents, or properly produced photos, a cheap as chips flatbed should eat the task these days.

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Jeroen, I use an Epson Stylus CX4800. Don't know where you reside but it was a hundred bucks here in the US of A. However, a set of the 4 ink cartridges is about $70. Bought it for printing & scanning documents, photography as secondary use. You can see how it works if you search my posts. Everything except chromes were scanned on it. I send my films to a professional lab for processing. Occasionally I scan a print & post it on this site. I reckon the scanner is not professional quality but I have enjoyed putting up the occasional post.

 

"Don't start vast projects with half-vast ideas."

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I find that most of my colour prints that come from commercial labs are O.K. for density and colour balance and are therefore acceptable for for scanning on a flatbed. But make sure your flatbed has anti-Newtoning glass because some glossy print surfaces create Newton rings when scanned. That said, I usually specify gloss prints for scanning purposes because a sharper image is produced.

As for black and white prints nearly all commercial labs print these a way too contrasty and these generally are unsuitable for scanning. Further, almost any black and white print benefits from some dodging and burning which most commercail labs have no idea how to do. Therefore I limit my scanning to colour; a pity, since I shoot mostly black and white.

 

Yours,

Robert Morrison, M4-P, etc.

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If it's simply for web publishing, I think any modern cheap flatbed can do it well... I have made use of my PSC1500 HP All-in-one and really it works fine (not fast, of course). Usually HP provides also some good Software, and in this respect maybe a "pure scanner" (not an All-in-one) can have something more... time ago I had an HP flatbed and remember that the utilities on scanning were richer than the ones provided with my present All in One: usually, in its web site, HP details well the Software embedded in the peripherals' boxes.

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I've done it before with an old flatbed scanner, it can be done and for web posting it's a good option. I must say however that such scans hardly ever do any justice to the original wet print. As said, for web posting only, any cheap (2nd hand??) flatbed scanner will do a fine job.

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