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Apogee Photo Magazine

Adjusting Your Nikon Scanner Software for Optimum Results,
Part 1

by  Michael  Goldstein

 

(Editor's note: Although this article deals specifically with the Nikon Coolscan, the controls and techniques are virtually the same for all scanners of this type, and should be transferable to any scanner.)

 

         The printed manual that comes with the Nikon Coolscan series of scanners is good for implementing the installation, and basic settings, of these scanners. This can be augmented with the HELP menu of the Nikon Scan series - 3 software, and the excellent manual that is included on the installation  CD-ROM.  

         

        However, simply pressing the SCAN  button at this point, and using the results, will not necessarily result in the best scan you can achieve. The Nikon software includes a number of very useful adjustment tools  (several of them very similar to adjustment tools found in Adobe Photoshop), that will allow you to achieve scans so high in quality that further adjustment may not be necessary. 

 

        There is a school of thought that believes you should not adjust your scanning parameters before scanning, but should scan everything, and do further adjustments in an imaging program. However, I disagree. I found that, using this philosophy, some high-contrast images would produce unadjusted scans that I could not correct to my satisfaction inside Adobe Photoshop, a program I have lived with for the last four years. After learning how to correct the scans in the scanning software, I was able to produce publishable images from scans of these same images. 

 

        Having wrestled my way through the many variables and procedures involved, I hope this information can save you some of that time and effort. I should say that scanning, like image color correction, is a learning experience. In the future, I may very well come to reassess some of the ideas  that are proposed here, and I welcome any comment on them, favorable or otherwise!

 

       For the procedures that follow, you can assume that any settings or tools not mentioned were left at their factory default settings. The scanner was set up as a separate entity, rather than as a Photoshop plug-in.

 

SCANNER INSTALLATION SETTINGS

 

 Set up the scanner for the film type and color space you require. (For slide film, I’ve used  “POSITIVE” and “CALIBRATED RGB.”)

 

PREFERENCES

This image shows the screen layout for the Nikon Scan 3 software. The " Factory Settings" screen is shown here. I usually operate with the Tool Palette activated, and with the "main screen" adjusted slightly below the "Tool Palette" screen, so  I can easily switch between them with the mouse. Note the vertical presentation of the "preview" image, with the black border around it. No cropping border is shown. For the "Installation Settings", the three wide silver buttons in the upper left corner of the main screen are used. Pushing the blue "Prefs" button below these buttons will present the Preferences menu. If the Tools Palette screen is not activated, pressing the "Tools" button will allow it to be displayed.

 

1.      Color Management

• Enable: “Use Nikon Color Management System.” (Press the “Prefs” button, then choose “Color Management” from the Preferences list.)

2.      Single Scan

• Before Scan: Enable “Autofocus” and both “Autoexposure” settings.

•  After Scan:  Enable “Save to disk.”  The scanner software will automatically save your scan into a disk file after prompting you for any changes to the default sequential file name “IMGxxx.” You have the option of changing the folder and prefix for your disk file names, as well as the number.
   

3.      File Saving   Default File Format - TIFF (Press the “Prefs” button, then choose “File Saving” from the Preferences List)

 

Pushing the blue "Prefs" button, at the left side of the main screen, will produce the Preferences menu, as shown. For each of the selections shown in the "Category" List at the left, a number of adjustments to the software may be made.

 

Note: The default location for saved files is C:\MY DOCUMENTS.  (Make sure you know where the saved files will go after you save them.) In the process of being prompted for a filename (or accepting the default), you have a chance to change the default folder where the file will be saved.

• You can save different sets of software parameters and load the ones you wish as your “defaults” for the job at hand. (One thing that Nikon seem to have missed is the ability to save your default file format as one of your default parameters, to be changed each time you load a different set of default parameters.) Once you have specified a file format, it will remain as the default until you change it manually.

• I use the settings I discuss here for all my printing requirements (slow, clean, high-resolution scans), but I have a second set of defaults (lower resolution, smaller dimensions, and with some utilities turned off to scan faster) for creating small JPEG scans. However, I must change my file format from TIFF to JPEG manually before doing this.

• If you use a JPEG file format, choose “High Quality” and not “Excellent Quality.” You’ll get a much smaller file size with no easily noticeable change in quality.

4.      Preview Settings  (Press the “Prefs” button, then choose “Preview Settings” from the Preferences List)

1)      Enable all options except “Multisampling.”        

2)      Insert film in the scanner and press “PREVIEW.” A display of your image should appear in the software window.

                        

TOOL PALETTE SETTINGS MAIN SCREEN TOP MENU  - Nikon Scan - Tools - Tool Palette 1

 

Activating the Tool Palette dialogue box presents the user with a wide variety of choices in configuring the scanner software. Adjustments of "Layout Tools", "Information", "Crop", and so forth, may be implemented by 'clicking' on the right-facing arrow to the left of each category title. This will open an adjustment window for that category. Some categories will require adjustment only on occasion, while others will need tweaking quite often. Adjustment windows for a number of categories may be open at the same time, making scan adjustments for any image very fast.

5.      Layout Tools

•  Press the CCW rotate button to rotate your scan so that it’s produced as a horizontal image. This will allow use of a larger PREVIEW window and easier pre-cropping of your image.

 

6.      Crop  (These instructions assume you have a preview of your scan on-screen.)

 

In the Tools Palette, the "Crop Window" adjustment window has been opened. The "Settings" have been changed from "Reset to Factory Defaults" to "Tiff Defaults" (author's favorite settings).

 

1)   Enable “Keep this output size.” This lets you set your output dimensions and your resolution, allowing the software to establish the file size based on your parameters. Your choices may be changed at any time, depending on your projected use for the scan. (My default crop dimensions, based on my printer requirements, are: L - 9.6 inches. W - 6.32 inches. Resolution - 270 ppi. This results in a 12.5 Mb file size.)

 

2)   Click on one corner of your image, and drag a crop border to the opposite corner. The image can now be varied in size by using the SCALE slider in the CROP TOOL, or by clicking on one corner of the crop border and dragging it diagonally. You may also drag the sides vertically and horizontally--within limits.

 

• If you crop out the black border that appears after the preview, you’ll eliminate it from having any influence on the exposure of your scan. You’ll also make greater use of the available contrast range and save yourself the chore of cropping it after the scan.

• Some people suggest that you scan at the largest resolution possible (2900 dpi) and adjust your image size later in your imaging program. Depending on your ultimate use of the scan, you may want to choose that method.  I’ve tried both methods.  I scanned at 2900 dpi (very small physical image dimensions), and a file size of 27 Mb.  I also scanned at 300 dpi, using 13 inches as the long dimension, file size of 27 Mb.  I resized the resulting scans in Photoshop for 9.6 inches on the long dimension and a resolution of 270 dpi. The resulting prints were identical. Scanning at the highest dimension would, however, allow you to crop to include only a small part of the resultant scan while still enjoying good resolution in the resulting print.

 

Click here for Part Two. In the next part Goldstein covers Digital Ice setting, unsharp masking, and curves.