Feeling Calm & Relaxed?
It has been a very, slow week. I never heard back from Epson regarding my problem with the line etched onto my 35mm slide scans and what caused it. Fortunately, Officeworks were happy to replace the scanner and I started all over again. While perusing the whirpool forum I discovered other users had had similar issues so at least it wasn’t just me. One interesting suggestion I discovered was scanning at 600 dpi, which seemed overkill. I was happy with 300 dpi until I tried 600 dpi and was amazed at the difference it made to my photo book. Good photos became great with that extra clarity and some of the questionable ones turned out fine to use. The down side is that it takes longer and means that I have to rescan many, if not all the slides I wanted to use, but there were already eighty with the line blemish anyway. While scanning I used Dust Removal, Auto Orientation and the majority of the time I also used Colour Restoration, but sometimes I had to experiment with whether or not it helped, especially in scenery shots. I saw an old movie on TV which gave me a healthier perspective on my blue or rusty colour issues but it really depends on how good the photo was to start with and how critical it’s use is to you. After using Epson’s User Guide and a couple of unhelpful phone calls, I eventually worked it out for myself. While writing this post I found a video on Epson’s website demonstrating the V350 Photo Scanner but it’s an overview not a tutorial. “Built to Perform” Epson says – We’ll see.
Scanning has became the new meditation, slowly and step by step. It takes time but should be worth it when I FINALLY get the photo book (re)done as many of these images have not been seen for a very long time.
How to Scan Slides:
- Turn on the Scanner to warm it up. Check the USB is connected. Take out the white document mat from inside the scanner top to uncover the transparency unit behind it. Clean the glass if necessary.
- Place slides into the holder upside down & back to front. They all go in the same way, regardless of orientation. It’s fiddly at first but you’ll get plenty of practice and improve your dexterity as you keep your fingers well away from the film.
- Open Epson Scan Software.
- Select Mode: From the list box at the top right of the window select the Full Auto or Professional Mode to scan your slides. Professional Mode has a preview function and allows you to select a target photo size but Full Auto is fine for now.
Full Auto Mode:
1. Customize Button.
- Tick for Film, Dust Removal, Colour Restoration & Auto Photo Orientation.
- Set the Resolution at 300 or 600 dpi to suit you.
- Choose a File Location, Name & Start No, and format for your scan files.
- Click OK.
2. Click Scan button. As it scans you will see a thumbnail preview of each slide. Once they are in your file folder they can be checked in full or thumbnail view.
3. Check scanned images are ok, edit name if necessary. They seem to be 6 x 4 size.
4. Load up next batch of slides. Follow the same procedure but keep an eye on the dust, colour, orientation & file name which may have defaulted.
At least you can walk away & leave them while it takes about five minutes to scan 4 slides so enjoy the sunshine, the pouring rain, a precious flower or my next post on Professional Mode but beware of over analyzing every time you see the sky!!
Explorers Tree 